New Grad: New York City or San Francisco

whodatnurse · Apr 16, 2010

"What northern california nurses want, they get."

I wish we ALL could be (Northern) California...

GURRRRRLLLS

peaceofmind8 · Apr 18, 2010

Wow smugirl, so is that the SMU 2009 class that only placed 6 in Bay Area hospitals? This makes me seriously wonder ... the sticker price is so high for school, what does everyone do about their loans after they graduate with no job? Did others find work outside the bay area? Did you find something?

smugirl · Apr 18, 2010

Hi Peaceofmind8,

Yes, our school was very expensive because its private so my classmates have tons of loans. I know that some of classmates have deferred their loans, others are working non-nursing jobs while applying for nursing jobs, and others work as RNs in a non acute care setting. I'm part of the latter.... also, yes, some classmates relocated for their experience.

peaceofmind8 · Apr 18, 2010

What kind of job are you doing now? All told, how many of your class do you think have found jobs in the field out of state and non-acute included? In your opinion, would you do it all over again knowing the results? I completely understand taking out loans for school but since I consider nursing school to be more of a career-training program than anything, the idea is definitely to find employment afterwards, not to wait tables (again!). I am in San Francisco and seriously considering SMU ABSN but very tentative. Thanks for your input!

want2banurse35 · Apr 18, 2010

I live in the Bay area and will be applying to nursing programs for Fall 2011. Hopefully it gets better by then its just scary reading some of the posts. I have several friends that are currently in SMU nursing program and they are petrified that after taking out huge loans they may not be able to find jobs. :eek: :eek:

smugirl · Apr 21, 2010

I am working in a case management setting. It's not a glorious RN job in any way shape or form.

This is the summary of what I know about my classmates: 2 at John Muir in Walnut Creek, 2 at Kaiser Oakland ED, 1 at another hospital in Mtn. View, 1 at a San Diego Hospital, 1 at a New Mexico hospital, 1 at a SNF in Colorado, 1 at Stanford (palo alto) hospital, 1 @ St. Rose Hospital in San Leandro, and 1 will be entering the UCSF MSN-NP in Mental/Psychiatric health this Fall 2010. That's as far as I know, but some people I don't keep in contact with.

I would say for now, don't rush into nursing, if you don't have the means to pay for tuition, especially at SMU. Although nursing as a profession is worth it, you also need to be practical during this recession. It is slightly more promising now than the spring 2009 class that graduated before us who only had about 4 employed graduates by december 2009.

smugirl · Apr 21, 2010

Also keep in mind that you don't want to graduate during a difficult time because after a certain amount of time of being out of school (graduated) you are no longer considered a "new graduate" and often times cannot apply for a "new grad" job anymore. At that point things get complicated because you can't apply for those new grad jobs and don't meet the requirements of a staff RN position either (usually require at least 6 months experience).... so its even more difficult to find a job!

mixtapes · Apr 21, 2010

I was going to apply to the SMU ABSN program. I was not sure if I would even get accepted b/c I know the competition is fierce. I didn't have the luxury of time to be on a waiting list. I was living in San Francisco but moved to New Mexico b/c I got accepted into an accelerated nursing program. It's a fraction of the cost of SMU. I will still have a lot of debt but not as much. I'm counting down the minutes until I return to SF!

I only have one more semester left of school. I really want to come back to SF but don't know if I can find a job. I'm going to try and get a job as a nurse tech in New Mexico. After graduation, move back to SF and maybe work as a tech through a staffing agency to get my foot in the door while scraping to get by and maintain my skills.

I can't believe it's this tough!!!!

Does anyone know if Children's Hospital in Oakland is keen on hiring new grads? Do they have an internship for new grads. I can't seem to find much on their site. :coollook:

peaceofmind8 · Apr 21, 2010

Thanks for the heads up SMUgirl ... I found out this morning that I was in the top 20 for the CCSF new applicant lottery which I'm pretty sure means I got into the RN program there but I'm not assuming anything until I check with the office tomorrow ... It sounds like it makes the most real world sense to follow that route for a minimal investment and low risk rather than doing the BSN at SMU or the MSN at USF (I was accepted to all of them which is pretty shocking!). I can patch together a BSN with all the prereq's from SMU and continue on to a Master's when I have some time in the field. That seems like the smartest move right now although the USF program certainly is appealing (for $68,000) -- still time to decide. I really appreciate your comments because unfortunately I think alot of people are paying alot of money and dedicating tremendous time and energy to this path which has become so uncertain in these times.

mixtapes · Apr 21, 2010

peaceofmind8,

Wow, you got into the USF MSN program! I would take that offer over all of them. If that is your long term goal then go for it. Hopefully, the economy will be better by then too. I am not sure what your clinical experience would be like with CCSF but look into it. I can only imagine that USF would be amazing.

smugirl · Apr 21, 2010

Hey Mixtapes,

I had two friends/classmates who precepted at Children's in Oakland and they formed excellent relationships with the staff over there and left feeling like they had a fairly (about 80%) good chance of working their post graduation. However, like most of us, CHO ended up not having the budget to create a new grad program and they did not get the jobs they counted on having. As of right now, I'm pretty sure they don't have anything because my friends would have applied for them and spoken directly to their hiring manager, instead, they're jobless. But, just to make sure, I'd call the hospital or HR to recheck.

peaceofmind8 · Apr 21, 2010

mixtapes - yes, the usf program sounds great, i've only heard positive things about it and the fact that it runs for two years makes me feel that it will be a long enough time for the economy to warm back up so I chose that over SMU ... then i got accepted to ccsf (yesterday)and that threw me into a tailspin because of the low low price! the curriculum definitely is not nearly as comprehensive and now i realize the difficulties in bridging an adn to a bsn and then an msn. yikes!