New grad NP working as floor nurse

[JeanettePNP]

Let's say you go straight from BSN to NP without getting nursing experience first. After graduation you apply for floor nursing jobs in your specialty to build experience. Will you be considered the same as any new grad nurse without experience? Is having the NP degree a plus or minus when it comes to applying for regular nursing jobs? Will you be considered overqualified?

[Annaiya, NP]

KM8011, is your 9 years of experience in peds? And are you apply for jobs in those specialties or are you applying for ICU jobs? I ask because in my experience, you have to have RN ICU experience to get ICU jobs, but that specialties like H/O, cardiology, neurology, neurosurgery, endocrine, etc. don't care what area your RN experience was in as long as it was seeing kids in a hospital.

[Km8011]

My 9 years of experience is all in peds and mostly working at the hospital in an acute care setting. I am currently working as an RN at a children's hospital at the same job that I had while I was in school and before I even started my MSN program.

I have not really applied for ICU jobs because I know I do not have the background. The only follow up I have gotten on NP jobs in areas that I do not have experience were at my place of employment. The rest of the facilities either never contacted me or I only spoke to an HR person and never got further than that. Therefore, I have not continued to put out applications for jobs that I have no experience in as an RN.

I really cannot imagine interviewing for Acute Care PNP jobs without having any experience. The two big out of town interviews I went on consisted of all day interviews where lots of situational questions were asked. These kinds of questions are not the easiest for me, but having lots of interviews have help improved my ability to answer these questions better. I think one of my big questions I am left with is not knowing what I am doing right or wrong in interviews. I have received no feedback after any of my interviews, and I am lucky if I am even contacted. The facility I work at did not feel the need to contact me at all after the 5 or 6 interviews I went on. I have been a nervous wreck thinking about all the things I did and said and if any of them costed me the job. Truth be told, I am not very confident in my ability to be a good NP and I wonder if it is showing in interviews. I feel that my school prepared me very poorly, coupled with the fact that the places I did my clinicals were mostly in the clinic setting because the children's hospital here does not use a lot of inpatient NPs because it is a teaching hospital. Therefore, my inpatient experiences in school were fairly slim, other than the rotation I did in PICU and CICU. I know that the part of the country I live in does not use NPs like they do in other parts of the country and is actually known for being very restrictive. I wish that I really could have had some strong inpatient experiences while I was in school, so that I could talk about it in job interviews.

[nomadcrna, DNP, CRNA, NP]

There are a huge number of NP jobs out there. I'm surprised.

[JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP]

According to my state's BON, you are held to the standard of your highest level of education and/or degree.

It seems to me that having an NP degree but then seeking an RN position and working in that capacity for a period of time would be a negative for your potential to be hired as an NP later on. Why? Because when I'm reviewing resumes as a potential employer looking to find a NP for an open position, I'm going to wonder why you didn't work as an NP after your education and licensure. Were you lacking in confidence? Did you interview for NP jobs and give us because no one wanted to hire you? We you afraid to take on the responsibilities of a provider? Once all those questions start flying around in my head, I shred that resume and move on to interviewing the next person.

That entire thought process may have absolutely nothing to do with your abilities, but as an employer I'm not going to waste my time interviewing someone who doesn't seem like a slam dunk.

I appreciate your sharing your perspective. I intend to apply to both RN and NP positions and we'll see where it takes me. If I get offered a decent RN job before an NP offer comes through, you bet I will take it.

As far as how it will look to a recruiter down the line, I can only do what I can. If not being able to find an NP job straight out of school will doom my career forever, that's not something in my control so I guess I'll have to deal with it.

[Annaiya, NP]

As far as how it will look to a recruiter down the line, I can only do what I can. If not being able to find an NP job straight out of school will doom my career forever, that's not something in my control so I guess I'll have to deal with it.

Everyone knows what the job market is like for new grad NPs right now. Both of the two areas I'm in right now for clinical are hiring and both said they would not consider a new grad. There is nothing wrong with needing a job to pay the bills or to gain more experience to be able to move into something else later on. I think the issue is more about how long it's been since you graduated and how much stuff have you forgotten. That's the part employers who don't know you would be concerned with. RN and NP jobs are just so different.

[Annaiya, NP]

Km8011, that sounds horrible! I'm surprised you were able to get clinical hours for ACPNP in a clinic. My school strongly discourages any clinical sites that aren't inpatient. But one of the children's hospitals by me employs about 250 PAs and NPs (and it's a teaching hospital), so I haven't had much trouble finding preceptors. Does your school have any career services to offer that might be able to help you with your interviewing skills? Good luck in your search, I hope you can find something soon!