new nurse, whidbey island, wa - help

[jmm09c]

Hello,

I am graduating very soon from florida with my BSN and will be moving to whidbey island since my husband is in the Navy. I have a 3.90 gpa, and will have plenty of recommendation letters. I know that my license will probably take a couple months. However, I have been looking at available jobs both on and off the island and I don't see anything that I am eligible. They all require experience in those fields, but being a new grad I don't have any.What can I do to help get a job? I am so scared I will never find work. Any advice please, thank you.

[A_Flood87]

In WA the law is that you have to go through a residency as a new grad (or so I was told, and it only applies to hospitals. You can get on at a nsg home or rehab etc. if you can't get a hospital job). Hospitals will start posting job openings for their residencies and if not you can call the HR department and ask what their policy is etc. I live in Kitsap county and I couldn't find a job (we only have Harrison hospital and they only want BSN students and are REALLY cliquey from what people tell me) so I ended up working all the way in Tacoma for the first year. Now, as much as I want to work at the hospital, I'm at a short term SNF in Silverdale. I like it but it's busy. And being Navy we're not here long, one more year. So it's nice with a toddler and a deployed hubby to be close to home. GL! Search for the residencies and call some nurse recruiters in HR, they're really helpful most of the time! GL!

[jmm09c]

wow...I had no idea that a residency was required. I honestly have no idea where I would get into one. I really really don't want to work at a nursing home, but I guess I might have to. I just fear that if I don't end up in a hospital relatively quick then I am going to lose my skills and then no one will hire me in the hospital setting. We won't be moving out of washington for quite some time, and may actually be staying once his navy career is up, so I am looking for something more permanent. I will definitely be calling the hospitals once it gets closer. thanks for the info.

[Bandaide, ADN]

I have not heard that a Residency is required - it's just much better than not having one. There is someone from my class (we just graduated and passed the NCLEX) who is now working on a unit as an RN.