New Grad 1st job in skilled nursing fACILITY/ASSISTED LIVING?

NC Girl BSN · Jul 30, 2009

Take the job and keep your eye open for newer jobs down the line. Its not like your stuck at the job forever. Your gaining some skills and experience while you prepare for the job that you really want. I would be weary in beleiving everything that people say about nursing. Alot of people say you need to get one yr of med surg expereince but I have no desire to do that and I really don't feel it will affect me in the end. Good Luck to you!

bluecarebear00 · Aug 7, 2009

I am also a new grad and just accepted a job at a SNF in the Bay Area. No, it is not a dead end. I went to career fairs and the recruiters/hiring managers all said that because of the hiring freeze, new grads should look into accepting jobs that may not have been their first choice (such as SNFs and rehabs). I went to open houses and the recruiters said the same thing- that because of the hiring freeze, many recruiters/managers changed their attitude about nurses who only had experience at a SNF. They said that they would look at this as experience and would consider someone who worked in a SNF over someone who had no experience whatsoever.

I have several family members who started off at a SNF and were able to get hired at a hospital. I've even had aunts who were hired on the spot after hospital interviews here in the Bay Area (this was a few years back though) and they came from SNFs. They chose to work part time at the SNF while working at the hospital, but they ended up coming back full time to the SNF because they said they liked it better. They were able to build a relationship with the patients and they made life-long friends at the SNF they worked at (and they said it was less stress and easier to work there). They have been there for more than 10 years. There's still so many things to learn at a SNF including time management, prioritization, problem solving, etc. Plus, sooner or later, the job market will improve and we will be able to pick and choose. In the meantime, I'd get as much experience as I can. Some SNFs are better than others (especially when it comes to support) so you may want to look up their reputation and what workers there have to say.

Hope this helps! Goodluck!

Bre14 · Sep 14, 2009

Thanks for this post. I am also in the Bay Area and went into all the hospitals and about 25 SNFs looking for a job. I have an interview at a SNF tomorrow and am worried that it will look bad in the future but am not in a financial position to be picky at all. I had a recruiter at a Hospital here tell me basically take whatever you can get in this economy and that is what I am doing. Things have to turn around eventually but people have to eat in the mean time and I hope working won't ever look bad on a resume. :)

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 14, 2009

op: from what i have read on this forum and learned from my co-workers, it is not a career ender. i know many who work with me in med surg that worked in ltc for decades (by choice) and never worked in a hospital until now... they were hired over new grads with no experience.

by the way, this was posted by an experienced nurse (i think he owner of this board) a while back but it still holds true today... https://allnurses.com/nursing-articles/new-grads-few-386051.html

ibme · Sep 18, 2009

update: I turned down the position because they only wanted to give me 2 days orientation and then I'd be on my own with NO other nurse in the building working nights.. and that would be whenever they finally got medicare accreditation (s/p?) since they are still waiting. :no:

Lovely_RN, MSN · Sep 18, 2009

You made the right decision. :up: :up:

update: I turned down the position because they only wanted to give me 2 days orientation and then I'd be on my own with NO other nurse in the building working nights.. and that would be whenever they finally got medicare accreditation (s/p?) since they are still waiting.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

update: i turned down the position because they only wanted to give me 2 days orientation and then i'd be on my own with no other nurse in the building working nights.. and that would be whenever they finally got medicare accreditation (s/p?) since they are still waiting.

the only reason i find this to be funny is because i know it is true! good for you for turning them down. it is sad that in these times nothing surprises me any more regarding employers. absolutely nothing!! good luck with your job search.