New needs new path...experienced nurses please advise....

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I am a recent graduate fortunate enough to have found a job with a plastic surgeon. I love my job, however I am concerned about my future and want to make sure that I have options for advancement as this job doesn't pay very well and I want to potentially expand my horizons.

I hold a Bachelor's of Arts and an ASN. The hospitals in my area will not hire ASN's regardless of already being bachelor's educated. I don't want to waste my time getting a 2nd bachelor's degree and am considering getting an MSN. Most of the hospital nursing jobs I applied to said I would need my Master's just to get a job in Med/Surg, things are that competitive in Northern California and it's easy to see why when new hospital nurses start at about 90k.

So...I need help from some experienced nurses...should I get a generic MSN that will enable me to enter the hospital setting as a new grad? Should I go for my FNP and stay in the clinical setting in Aesthetics? I don't know for sure what I want to do in nursing, I just want to know that I have options available to me and job security as there is an extreme surplus of nurses and not the shortage we were all scared into.

What path would give me the most opportunity and be the most "in demand"? I am finding that nursing is not a secure or in demand job at all. When you need a master's for an entry level position something is upside-down.

My other option would be to really push the OR aspect of my job as I work in the operating room frequently. Perhaps if I became an OR certified nurse or something this would enable me to enter a hospital setting above the new grad level.

Please help...what would you do as a new nurse when "new grad" is a four letter word as far as hospitals are concerned...

(sorry, I meant "new nurse needs new path in my title")

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An MSN for an entry-level position? Have you considered moving?

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Absolutely I have considered moving and have applied out of state, yet hospitals are consistently unwilling to hire an ASN - even with a bachelor's in another field. I've been to 7 years of school...all of them worthless in a nurse managers eyes.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, ED, Nurse Instructor,.
An MSN for an entry-level position? Have you considered moving?

I totally agree with you. I don't know many MSN nurses who still work in a hospital clinically setting full time. I know some who work prn just to keep their skills up. They may work one week end a month. This is a joke.

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Specializes in LTC, New to Tele/ Cardiac!.

I am a newer nurse as well so don't take my advice to heart, but I think you have the right idea to possibly get OR certified. This would enable you to expand your credentials in the OR nursing world.. If you want you could move out to the northeast! Most of the RN's that I work with are ASN graduates and I work in a small community hospital. I am a BSN and in the minority. Getting your MSN would be unneccesary if you want to continue working in patient care. If you go for your Master's I would not settle for just a general MSN and go for NP, if you want to go in that direction. But for the time being, get OR certified. It will make you more marketable :) Just my opinion though! Good luck

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The hospitals in my area will not hire ASN's regardless of already being bachelor's educated. Most of the hospital nursing jobs I applied to said I would need my Master's just to get a job in Med/Surg, things are that competitive in Northern California and it's easy to see why when new hospital nurses start at about 90k.

Are you in the Bay Area? That's been a relatively tough area for new grads to get their first break in even before the recession.

Still, I'm thinking that in those places that are restricting applicants to those with higher degrees means that they aren't hiring much at all. That new grad BSNs or MSNs, and maybe even some experienced nurses, are also being turned away. They just get told a different reason... "no experience" "not enough relevant experience"... as opposed to saying they don't qualify based on their nursing degree. I imagine if an ADN with the exact skill set and experience to fill an open job walked in, they'd "make an exception" and hire them.

It doesn't make it any easier for you; I just don't know that it would really be easier if you did have that BSN.

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