Opportunities in the Washington DC area for a New Graduate 2014

[tdiaz]

Long time lurker, first-time poster.

So here's the situation. I just graduated from a program in Virginia and am re-locating to the DC metropolitan area. While in school I was told to start applying to positions in December of 2013. I did, I received offers, and I turned them down. The big problem is that my applications were in areas that were not in DC.

So in one month I'll be taking the NCLEX, and a few days later I'll be moving out of my apartment because I am 100% going to be in the metro area for the next 6-8 years of my life. I've talked to some hospitals about the potential to work as a CNA (given my active license in VA) until I can obtain a job as an RN, and have been informed that such a plan is generally frowned upon by hospitals for the sake of learning how to be a nurse in the right way. I completely agree with their logic, but I am therefore at a loss regarding what I should do for income and student loans.

Has anyone made a move like this before? Any advice regarding how to make it work will be appreciated.

Sincerely,

tdiaz

[hanoi98]

I know it's a little bit late now, but my fellow classmates who had job offer in DC, opted to get the RN license with DC. After they pass Nclex, they will be licensed in DC and can start right away.

If you know that you will work in DC, should get a DC license and can start looking for a job now.