Nursing student

Editorial Team / Admin · May 21, 2015

Are you in the US? If so, nursing school provides you with a general license; nurses do not go to school for particular specialties. Also, you give nowhere near enough information to help with choosing schools- you haven't even provided us with a state. However, there are resources available to you in finding a school- your state's BON website should have a list of approved programs, as well as ACEN and CCNE websites, which will list schools accredited by those agencies. Statistics of certain nursing programs you should look at would include NCLEX pass rate, percentage of students who complete the program, and other statistics like that.

As far as getting into ER nursing- contrary to what the media and even nursing schools may tell you, there aren't very many areas that are still seeing a nursing shortage. Instead, many areas are seeing an oversupply of new nurses, and many are finding that it can take up to a year or longer to find that first nursing job. So it is possible and probably even extremely likely that you will be unable to find an ER job as a new grad. You may have difficulty finding any hospital job. However, you will want to get nursing experience as soon as you can instead of becoming a stale new grad a year out from graduating with zero nursing experience. You may need to look outside acute care for that experience- long term care facilities, rehab facilities, etc. Then, once you've gained some experience, you can try to move into the specialty of your choice.

There are a few things you can do to help improve your chances of finding a job- begin working in health care before completing the nursing program. There are several options for this, including CNAs or unit secretaries. Join professional organizations such as your state nursing association and the Emergency Nurses Associations. Sometimes, these organizations will offer reduced rates to nursing students. Use these as opportunities to both learn and to network- sometimes that first job offer comes based off of who you know rather than what you know.

level1 · Jun 3, 2015

I like your advice. I'm determined to land an ED job once I graduate. I'll have my CNA soon and then I'll get a tech job in the ED to work all throughout nursing school. That'll be roughly two years as a tech to help me get seasoned and impress my future coworkers/supervisors when I come to them in search of that RN job. Honestly, I wouldn't be a nurse if I couldn't work in Emergency.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

Well, ER nursing isn't the end all. In all honesty, there are a bunch of roles that a nurse could do such as surgery, labor and delivery, ICU, psych, infusion, flight, etc. If I had to just to ER for the rest of my life I would go nuts. ER isn't all it is cracked up to be and specializing early can almost make it harder to break out of the mold.

I became a paramedic and worked in the ER during nursing school. I fulfilled several roles as a unit clerk, paramedic, and patient care tech. I tried floor nursing and hated it. I am going to put in another year here and then I am going to try and become a labor and delivery nurse. While ER is nice, it's not all the excitement you see on TV. Yes you may get a gun shot. Yes you may get a stabbing. Someone may have cut their finger off. Someone may be drowning in their own secretions. Maybe you can get that code back.

However, most of the time it is people coughing during flu season, ******** during March and April, vomiting in the summer, and then coughing again in the winter. Most won't die. More people leave the ER discharged than are admitted to the floor. I get coughed on a lot. It becomes routine. Oh, it's Dr. X on. Better get the diluaded, zofran, and fluids for all belly pains. Oh, it's Dr. Y? He's more reserved in the meds he gives so toradol may be a bigger one tonight. It becomes routine and most patients are not exciting!