MPH graduate switching to nursing

[sourapril]

I am a little frustrated right now because I got my Master of Public Health in May 2009, and wasn't able to find a job in that field. Then I decided to pursue nursing because it has been on my mind for a while. When I was younger I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted. Now I am more mature and more confident I know being a nurse is best for me. Eventually I want to be a FNP or pediatric nurse. I am taking prerequisites and will be done with them in 3 months. My next step is to apply to either accelerated master or bachelor program.

I don't have much working experience except I worked at a hospital's oncology department for a year as a research technologist and interned at a local health department for a semester. Other than that, all I had was school school school. Right now I am just volunteering. I wanted to volunteer at local hospitals but all the volunteering positions are kind of demeaning. They have you push patients around or do office work. I have done that before for a year. Not that these things are not important but I am more interested in doing something at a higher level. Currently I am volunteering and helping a big organization to set up a cancer resource center in my city. When I was reading some of the posts I was surprised to find out that a lot of new grads weren't able to find jobs. I am debating whether I should get CNA first and gain some experience. Will CNA new grad find a job immediately? I am just so tired of not being able to find a job after I graduate. It happened to me twice already, once after college, once after grad school. What should I do?

[elkpark]

Working as a CNA may increase your chances of getting an RN position with the employer for whom you're working as a CNA (lots of facilities prefer to hire from within as much as possible), but, at this point, there's no guarantee any new grad will be able to find a job immediately.

[sourapril]

Thanks. Sometimes it's hard to step down when you have a higher degree.