Job outlook for new grad NPs without nursing experience

lweatherby · Jun 2, 2011

I am a NP student at UPenn. Yesterday we had a panel of recruiters from local hospitals come and speak about how they screen candidates and what they are looking for. There were 5 recruiters there and each one said that they would NOT consider hiring a NP without nursing experience. They said that the physicians have alot of input in who they hire and they are not about to consider a NP without nursing experience. The recruiter from the pediatric hospital said she is not impressed at all by where you did you clinicals because everyone does clinicals. If you do not have nursing experience, then your application is tossed. They were much more concerned with nursing experience than with NP experience. Horrifying news for the direct entry folks.

Having said that, I think it depends on where you are in the country as to how true that is. I can understand in Philly where there are so many good schools and they have a large applicant pool. However, in rural areas and other parts of the country there may be a smaller applicant pool and/or more jobs. They may be more willing to hire someone without nursing experience.

I only have two years of nursing experience and I am hoping that is enough. I am from rural Texas and will be returning there to work. I am very optimistic that I will find work.

The educators really need to tell students that it may be more difficult to find a job without nursing experience. Not because you can't do the job(that is a different forum) but because recruiters may not even give you a chance without that nursing experience.

Trauma Columnist · Jun 2, 2011

That is true. I live in IL and in the hospitals where I work (5 of them), the recruiters don't even pass along the resumes of the direct entry applicants.

Of course, in my area, we do not have a lot of direct entry applicants so they use this as an initial "weed out" and then go on to nursing experience, certificates, specialties, etc.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 12, 2013

If I had followed this advice -- get acute care experience first, THEN go back to school to be an NP, I would very likely (still) be an unemployed RN with NO acute care experience, NO master's degree, NO NP licensure, no NP job.

I would have loved to get acute care experience first. I went back to school only after I felt I had exhausted that avenue. Maybe people who easily landed their first acute care job really cannot imagine how difficult, draining, demeaning and brutal the process can be. Maybe they assume there must be something wrong with you if you couldn't land a job within X months of graduation. I am fortunate that I went to an excellent school for my master's that was willling to give me a second chance to have a nursing career despite not landing that all-important acute care job.

AT this point... working in acute care is something that I chalk up to "life experiences I would like to have but probably won't" up there with flying an airplane and running for public office. I do have a great NP job doing things I love every single day and I'm grateful for that.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 12, 2013

Many of us do not have years of nursing experience. The medical approach is all we know.

And that is a problem.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 12, 2013

Some units absolutely will not hire Advance Practice Nurses who have no nursing experience. Our unit made that decision after several bad experiences with NPs who had no bedside experience. We don't even interview them now. But depending upon where you live, your milage may vary.

allnurses Guide · Dec 12, 2013

Most new grad NPs have little difficulty finding a job without nursing experience, for right or wrong, that's the fact of the matter. If you work in a region that has a lot of competition for NP jobs or if NPs fall under the DON it may be more difficult for you without experience.

My NP job didn't care at all about my prior bedside experience, in fact they were more interested in my non-nursing work experience.

This doesn't mean that RN experience isn't helpful, just that most employers don't seem to care much, especially when it's the medical office that is hiring you.

You will absolutely get push-back from RNs if you work in a Hospitalist or Intensivist position, as those are the positions in which bedside nursing experience is most beneficial, as well as the simple fact that no one likes taking orders from someone less experienced than themselves. It's likely more about the latter.

allnurses Guide · Dec 12, 2013

And that is a problem.

A problem in terms of poor outcomes?

Susie2310 · Dec 13, 2013

In reply to the OP,

Physician training involves, as I understand it, generally tens of thousands of hours of training. Physicians must first obtain an undergraduate degree, usually in a science, followed by four years of medical school, then approximately 3-7 years in internships/residency, followed often by more years of specialty training. Masters level nurse practitioner training, according to one prominent university web site I checked, involves hundreds of clinical hours and requires one to first obtain an RN, a BSN, and then complete three years of schooling in an MSN NP track (usually three years); if one wishes one can then complete a DNP (a couple of years more). Physicians follow the medical model in their training; nurse practitioners follow the nursing model.

Another poster on this thread said: "From zero clinical experience to a licensed provider in 2.5 years . . . Not touching me or my family . . ."

I would add that my family and I receive our medical care from physicians exclusively precisely because of their extensive training in the practice of medicine.

mzaur · Dec 16, 2013

I am a NP student at UPenn. Yesterday we had a panel of recruiters from local hospitals come and speak about how they screen candidates and what they are looking for. There were 5 recruiters there and each one said that they would NOT consider hiring a NP without nursing experience. They said that the physicians have alot of input in who they hire and they are not about to consider a NP without nursing experience. The recruiter from the pediatric hospital said she is not impressed at all by where you did you clinicals because everyone does clinicals. If you do not have nursing experience, then your application is tossed. They were much more concerned with nursing experience than with NP experience. Horrifying news for the direct entry folks.
Having said that, I think it depends on where you are in the country as to how true that is. I can understand in Philly where there are so many good schools and they have a large applicant pool. However, in rural areas and other parts of the country there may be a smaller applicant pool and/or more jobs. They may be more willing to hire someone without nursing experience.
I only have two years of nursing experience and I am hoping that is enough. I am from rural Texas and will be returning there to work. I am very optimistic that I will find work.
The educators really need to tell students that it may be more difficult to find a job without nursing experience. Not because you can't do the job(that is a different forum) but because recruiters may not even give you a chance without that nursing experience.

Of course they want RN experience. Recruiters in major metro areas have the pick of the litter, and with more and more schools pumping out NPs, they can afford to be picky. Since you're moving back to rural Texas, you'll have no issues finding work.

For those considering FNP direct entry, I think your best bet is to get work in a rural area for two years after graduation (and take advantage of NHSC loan repayment). Getting a first job in a competitive job market without RN experience as an FNP will probably tough.

I don't know about other specialties, but I hear for PMHNP that RN experience doesn't matter at all.