nursing student need experience

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2007

hi, tiffanyh!

one of the best ways i can think of to get experience is to get a job as an aide in either a nursing home where you will do a lot of basic nursing care and assisting with adls or in an acute hospital as a nursing tech that specifically allows nursing students to perform some nursing skills such as inserting foley catheters, doing fingertstick blood sugars, etc.

as for help with a cover letter and resume, there used to be some links at the top of the allnurses pages under the "jobs & resumes" button (see above). however, you should also visit the big job posting sites like monster.com because they all have sections on them where they give you advice and information on how to write a resume and a cover letter. several of the nursing job posting sites also do the same.

here are some articles i have bookmarked about cover letters and resumes:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/36957.html - "resume-writing 101". includes a set of links at the bottom of the article to the resume information at the major job seeker sites.

http://www.nurseweek.com/features/99-8/resume.html - "looking good on paper: professional advice for building powerful resumes" from nurseweek. a short article on the critical basics to incorporate into your resume.

http://www.wetfeet.com/article%20types/resumes.aspx - a listing of links to articles on writing up a resume as well as some information on cover letters from wetfeet.com

http://resume.monster.com/resume_samples/nurseres_cover/ - this is a sample of a cover letter written by a nurse for a nursing job on the monster.com site. you can look at more sample cover letters here http://resume.monster.com/archives/samples/

http://www.vault.com/nr/main_article_detail.jsp?article_id=20934&cat_id=0&ht_type=9 - a step-by-step guide of what goes on a cover letter done in the format of how the letter should appear.

http://resume.monster.com/articles/lettersthatsell/ - "cover letters that sell". this article contains an outline and guideline of what each paragraph of a cover letter should contain.

http://www.worktree.com/tb/cl_cover.cfm - "covering cover letters". includes a summary of what a cover letter should contain.

http://resume.monster.com/articles/donot/ - "ten cover letter don'ts"

http://www.vault.com/nr/main_article_detail.jsp?article_id=18576&cat_id=0&ht_type=9 - "sample cover letters: first impressions count - avoid common cover letter mistakes".

welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Jan 5, 2007

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a job in a hospital as a nurse aide or a nurse tech. After my first semester of NS I was able to apply and it has been invaluable!

I have a position on the Student Flex Team. We basically work as aides/techs all over the hospital. It pays decent and is very flexible. The only requirements are to work two 8 hour shifts per month and one holiday per year (I worked New Years Day). It is wonderful for nursing students.

I would just go to the hospital and talk with them...they are used to dealing with students, or go online to see what they offer. I know every semester we get every hospital in the state (literally) coming to the nursing building trying to get us to work for them (plus free food, pens, candy, bags, etc) as aides/techs/new RNs.

Also in the summer between your junior and senior year you can apply for a nursing externship! You get to do all sorts of invasive procedures alongside an experienced nurse (Foleys, blood draws, IVs, NG tubes, suctioning, etc).