New Grad WHNP

[jkaur159, BSN]

Hey all! I am a new grad women's health nurse practitioner. Graduated 2023 Spring. I do have 6+ years of labor and delivery experience. I am having a difficult time finding a job as a WHNP. I am current located in the Bay Area, San Jose to be exact but would be willing to commute to other areas of Bay Area if needed. I have been reaching out to whoever I can possibly reach out to via LinkedIn, recruiters at Stanford etc. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on what else I can possibly do ? I am starting to feel a bit discouraged now. Thank you in advance. 

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

You may want to consider looking into getting a year of experience in primary care first. My guess would be that WH clinics are looking for experienced NPs just like many other specialty clinics prefer NPs with experience in that specialty. Primary care/family med is kind of the foundation where you probably need to get your experience first. Alongside primary care stuff, I'm pretty sure you'll be doing a lot of women's health regardless.

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

Congratulations on graduating!  You may want to expand your search to areas outside of the Bay Area.  The Central Valley is generally underserved.  Working in such an area would also provide an opportunity for you to apply for loan repayment/forgiveness programs through HRSA and/or the state.  A lot of doctors and other providers will work in a more rural area and then commute home on weekends.  The key is for you to get that first job.  Once you have 1 year experience, you could more easily find a job closer to home.  Look at Sacramento, Redding, Stockton, Modesto, etc.  I used to work in Burney, and we had doctors and NPs that worked there and commuted back home to the Bay Area on weekends.  I know Ob/Gyns and Planned Parenthood were looking for NPs in the Redding and Chico areas a few years ago.

Best wishes.