Last semester students when will you apply for a job and what specialty?

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I just started my final semester and been told,advised by instructor to start to apply in february,I'm so excited and still dont believe I will apply for nursing job (I feel like I still dont know so much and question myself and I'm full of fear that I wont make in my first job),and also I'm still undecided what area of nursing to choose,like my instructor said it is good to pick med-surg to learn time management skills..so I have a question to you when will you start filing application for jobs and what area are you applying for...thanks

Specializes in LTC, Cardiac Step-Down.

I'm not a senior, but I will say that your instructor is right. It's really not too early to apply for jobs. Most units where I've worked will begin your orientation to the floor before you get your RN, and then continue it after you pass NCLEX. This way, you have a pretty good idea about what the floor is about. It also will help build your confidence since you'll be taken under the wings of an experienced nurse who will show you the ropes. Also, beginning to look now means that you'll have time to look around and try to find the "right" unit for you, instead of having to take the first one that comes along because of bills and whatnot. If you've gotten this far through school, you'll be fine when you hit the workplace. Like nursing school, you just have to jump in with both feet and start swimming.

Specializes in General adult inpatient psychiatry.

I'm a senior and will be graduating in May. I'm interested in pediatrics, specifically adolescent med-surg and have already talked to one manager who assured me that sooner is better than later for applying for jobs. I've already put in several applications at one hospital and will be calling HR next week. The nurse that was precepting me for my practicum told me she graduated in May and applied for a job in April and still was able to get it without a problem, but I'd like one less thing to worry about during my last semester. Pediatrics is also a specialty that doesn't seem to have a shortage in my area, so job competition is going to be tough. I like pediatric med-surg...it's like adult med-surg but you get the family to care for too and lower patient:nurse ratio. It's like 2-3:1 rather than 6-8:1.

There are a variety of areas that I would like to work in, including psych, dr's office, outpatient surgery (esp cosmetic), ER, LTC, and i'm sure the list will expand as I continue to gain experience. However, my preceptor at my current clinical, who has a large variety of experience in a dozen different settings put it this way... If you start in the ER or Med Surg, you will learn a lot of proceedures that you would not learn in other locations. If you start somewhere like LTC or outpatient or a specialty unit, you will not get the wide variety of experiences that you would get somewhere like med-surg or ER, and when you chose to move to another position, or work agency, you will end up with gaps. Employers expect gaps and lack of knowledge coming right out of school, but they might pass you up for that if say... you have 5 years of nursing experience in LTC and then go to apply for a hospital position.

So I'm going to aim for a med surg or ER position, get my year in, and then see where my next move is. I do a LOT of driving, and will have to drive almost an hour to work still to work in either med-surg or ER as an LPN, so once I get my RN, a big factor in where I chose to work will be educational opportunities (1 place has a year long nurse grad program that is excellent) as well as driving distance. I would be overjoyed to work somewhere 5 minutes from home, one day in my life. But I'd of course rather drive 20 minutes than work in a toxic environment.

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