New Grad Nurse

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  1. Should I move to a new state after taking the NCLEX or stay where I am and gain experience

    • 7
      Stay, gain experience, and then move
    • 0
      Move right after nursing school

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I currently attend nursing school in Wisconsin and am of junior status. The other day I had a mini panic attack realizing that graduation and the NCLEX exam are both approaching VERY rapidly. I have a general idea of what nursing fields I want to work in, but I fear that I won't be accepted in those positions because I will be a new graduate nurse with no experience. I also want to move from Wisconsin to California after I graduate which makes me anxious that moving to a new place with no healthcare connections plus having no experience being a new graduate will impede my chance of actually obtaining a nursing job in the field I am most interested in, let alone, I fear I won't have that many job opportunities because I am moving away from all my connections. Is there anything I can do to optimize my chance of getting a nursing job while I have moved to a new state in addition to being a new graduate nurse with little experience?

Thanks for reading this!

- A nervous nursing student :)

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I believe that I heard that it can take 6 months to get your license for California. I'm not sure if this is just a rumor, but two our nurses who are interested in traveling were talking about it the other day. You might want to look up the logistics for each state BON.

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I currently attend nursing school in Wisconsin and am of junior status. The other day I had a mini panic attack realizing that graduation and the NCLEX exam are both approaching VERY rapidly. I have a general idea of what nursing fields I want to work in, but I fear that I won't be accepted in those positions because I will be a new graduate nurse with no experience. I also want to move from Wisconsin to California after I graduate which makes me anxious that moving to a new place with no healthcare connections plus having no experience being a new graduate will impede my chance of actually obtaining a nursing job in the field I am most interested in, let alone, I fear I won't have that many job opportunities because I am moving away from all my connections. Is there anything I can do to optimize my chance of getting a nursing job while I have moved to a new state in addition to being a new graduate nurse with little experience?

Thanks for reading this!

- A nervous nursing student :)

Where in California?

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

From what I've heard, the Southern California New Grad market is very, very tough

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I would suggest you take your boards in Wisconsin then move to CA assuming the California and Wisconsin BONs will comply together. I have plenty of nursing friends in Los Angeles who are having trouble finding hospital jobs. However, if you go to smaller cities you'll be able to land a job. After going to nursing school in LA, I moved back home with my parents in Santa Barbara county here in California and I landed a hospital job very quickly.

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Yes this is true. Kaiser hospitals does not even accept new grads, Versant programs are very difficult to get into unless you know people or have incredible nursing school grades.

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Apply to residency programs. Several people I graduated from nursing school with immediately moved to other states (left MA and moved to FL, PA, CA, NC) for jobs. Most did not have connections in these other states.

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Where in California?

Vallejo is where my family lives! It's northern California by Napa and Sonom

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Apply to residency programs. Several people I graduated from nursing school with immediately moved to other states (left MA and moved to FL, PA, CA, NC) for jobs. Most did not have connections in these other states.

Great idea! I've been looking into that and it looks promising, thank you!

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