Need Advice- Moving to NY

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Specializes in PEDS & NEURO.

Hey all,

I need some advice about moving from Maryland to New York as a new nurse. I graduate soon from University of Maryland with a Masters of Science in Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL). To clarify because so many people are confused about this, I am a new nurse I have no clinical experience as an RN. Maryland has a special program for people with undergraduate degrees in another field looking to go back to school to be a nurse. I have worked as a student nurse in the Neuro Intermediate Care Unit and in the Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit/Intensive Care Unit. All of my clinicals were completed at Johns Hopkins or at University of Maryland's Medical System (the hospital with the infamous "Shock Trauma").

I am interested in working in Brooklyn, hopefully in PEDS or NICU since that is where most of my experience is. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me with a couple questions I have...

Does anyone know the names of some hospitals in NY (Brooklyn/ Manhattan) with great pediatric units?

Does anyone know if I can start applying for jobs before I take the NCLEX in the state of NY?

Does anyone know the starting salary for a new RN (only student nurse experience) with a masters of science in Clinical Nurse Leadership?

Please help if you have the time. As you can imagine, most of my instructors are bias and think moving away from NY is slightly insane since maryland has some of the best hospitals in the nation. I really need some help!

Thanks!!

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Specializes in Gastroenterology.

The job market for new grads in NYC is tough. You can certainly start applying before you take your NCLEX, but most places will wait until you pass to really look at you and you will certainly need to pass before you start working.

If you want to be in Brooklyn I would focus on Maimonides which has a large peds department and is a good hospital. They have the most births of any hospital in the US (!) which is partly due to the large orthodox jewish community in the area. NY Methodist is also in Brooklyn. I had a clinical on the peds floor there and thought it was good although it's kind of small. If you're looking to Manhattan then NYU Langone and New York Presbyterian Columbia have big peds departments. You may also want to consider Elizabeth Seton which is sort of a LTC center for pediatric patients. I have a friend who started as a new grad there and although she said it was tough emotionally she found it a really supportive organization.

Starting salaries in NYC for new grads are $72-90K. I don't know if being a clinical nurse leader will get you a bonus on top of that.

Good luck to you and don't move to NYC until you have that job in hand - this is not a nice place to be unemployed in!

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Specializes in RNC in OB and experience in Peds.

if you want to be in brooklyn i would focus on maimonides which has a large peds department and is a good hospital. they have the most births of any hospital in the us (!) which is partly due to the large orthodox jewish community in the area.

just a side note but they actually do closer to 7k deliveries a year, so they are the busiest in the state of ny, not the us. i use to work for winnie palmer hospital in orlando, fl and we did twice that much (14k+) and we were like number 2 in the country. just some fyi...
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Specializes in Gastroenterology.

14K, wow! I stand corrected. Guess I heard that one wrong. Thanks!

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Specializes in PEDS & NEURO.

thanks for the advice! I have come to the reality that I am most likely going to have to start working nights on a med-surg floor if I want to start in NY. Which is going to be tough considering I could have a PEDS job in maryland right after graduation. A lot of people have told me it looks horrible if you do not keep your first RN job for a year before leaving. Is that true?

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Specializes in Gastroenterology.

I know of a few people who started out in peds as new grads but they were willing to wait until a peds job opened up so it was a longer search for them. It depends on how much it means to you to start off in peds and if you can afford to wait.

I would agree with the one year rule. Given the amount of training they have to give new grads how can you expect a manager to write you a good letter of recommendation with less than a year? Several new hires I know have been asked to give a two year commitment.

Why do you want to leave MD so badly?

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If your willing to look on LI, they are more new grad friendly or so I hear. Stonybrook University Medical Center is good start it is about an hourish east of Brooklyn. Also try the Northshore-LIJ health system. Again, though LI is not an extremely cost effective place to live so don't move unless you have the job!

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If you are persistent and just keep looking you can find something! I know new grads who did get jobs in PEDS and NICU, although they may have had personal connections. But, it is possible! I did a clinical at Children's Hospital at Montefiore, which is up in the Bronx. It is farther away, but it is a FABULOUS hospital and I had a fantastic experience there. I rotated to several floors, including the PICU and Pediatric ER. I am not sure if they take new grads, but it is definitely worth looking into!

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I went straight into peds as a new grad and i know other coworkers who did. My advice is to apply for positions all over NYC including several peds hospital. If they want to interview you, why not? Come up for the interview and you never know, they just might hire you. However, don't leave your other job until you have secured a position here, because, like someone said, it's not a nice experience be unemployed here.

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