Hey everyone, I'm hoping to get some feedback on what the job market is like for RNs before I commit to a sizable expense for an accelerated program. I am hearing anecdotal things as to what the job market is like for new grads, some of which sounds bad, and I would appreciate any insight anyone has on this.
Many of the accelerated programs I see are very expensive and I am out-of-state, which just exasperates the tuition. Given that, what salary is reasonable to expect for an entry level nurse coming from a well-regarded program? I see different things here and there that suggest it can be very high so I am curious how much of that is reality. For the record, I'm not going into this for the money, rather, I'm trying to get comfortable with the major loans that it's going to take to do this.
To answer your nursing specialty question... if you do really well in school you can get into a specialty after school in a area where there is still a shortage. I was able to get an ICU job fresh out of school here in MD. Most of my classmates got jobs in critical care (CCU, SICU, MICU, and ER), others were able to do L&D, some are in oncology...very few of us went into Med/Surge here. In other areas of the country where demand isn't as high they make you do the year in Med/Surge before going into a specialty. I did get in state tuition...but even from out of state it is alot cheaper than Hopkins. Funny when I applied to MD I didn't have a clue it was such a good school, just thought it was close to home and nursing school is nursing school...then my mom told me how competitive it was. I find around here the medical people are usually impressed when you tell them you went to MD.
A first year lawyer will start out at what a lot of nurses make after 30 years. Just a thought.
Shouldn't matter if Nursing is what you really want. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists - check out their duties and their pay and their autonomy.
Being out of state should not last beyond your first year in a new state, should it? Have you tried the community college route? Should be considerably cheaper than a state or private U and you can get a future employer to pay for a lot of your BSN completion degree later or even pay off some of your loans when you hire on and stay a certain length of time. What about the military?
A first year lawyer will start out at what a lot of nurses make after 30 years. Just a thought.
Shouldn't matter if Nursing is what you really want. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists - check out their duties and their pay and their autonomy.
Being out of state should not last beyond your first year in a new state, should it? Have you tried the community college route? Should be considerably cheaper than a state or private U and you can get a future employer to pay for a lot of your BSN completion degree later or even pay off some of your loans when you hire on and stay a certain length of time. What about the military?
Actually, you'd be shocked. Most first year lawyers are making less than 50K. Law has become oversaturated, and unless you're in a top 20 school, get ready to be a public official making around 40K a year. Sad, but true.
Not to knock lawyers because there are good ones but I can think of hundreds of other jobs I'd rather do than enter "that" field. No thanks. And in all seriousness, the comment about the legal field being saturated is very true. I read an article in the Wall St journal last fall - cover story - stating the exact same thing. Top 20 school or forget it.
Janis your replies have been great, thank you! :bowingpur
janis9799
89 Posts
To answer your nursing specialty question... if you do really well in school you can get into a specialty after school in a area where there is still a shortage. I was able to get an ICU job fresh out of school here in MD. Most of my classmates got jobs in critical care (CCU, SICU, MICU, and ER), others were able to do L&D, some are in oncology...very few of us went into Med/Surge here. In other areas of the country where demand isn't as high they make you do the year in Med/Surge before going into a specialty. I did get in state tuition...but even from out of state it is alot cheaper than Hopkins. Funny when I applied to MD I didn't have a clue it was such a good school, just thought it was close to home and nursing school is nursing school...then my mom told me how competitive it was. I find around here the medical people are usually impressed when you tell them you went to MD.