Passed NCLEX February 13th, Graduated May 2018

[jquinn3]

Hello folks, as the title implies I graduated in May from a university in Philadelphia. After graduation, I traveled in Europe for a bit before attempting to find a career. As soon as I returned, I experienced some difficulty receiving my ATT, but was finally able to sit for my test and pass the previous week. However, now I find myself in a bit of a conundrum. I know as a new nurse in Philadelphia most have to wait for nurse residency applications to open up to find any sort of meaningful employment. I was hopeful anyone would have some advice in regards to how I should proceed in finding a job. I have been working as a server while waiting to sort out my boards. Should I continue working in the restaurant till nurse residency programs open up? Should I apply for nursing jobs that I don't meet the experience requirements for? Or should I apply for healthcare jobs outside of nursing in the meanwhile? Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Thanks