PLEASE I HAVE A QUESTION about nursing scheduales...

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi, I was thinking of leaving the teaching field to become an RN! I've already got accepted into a BSN school, now the problem is if I'm brave enough to take that leap. I love the children and public schools, not too much complaints here. But, my only complain is having to be a full-time teacher, as there isn't very many (if any) part-time teaching jobs. My dream is to work in NICU!!!! and I was wondering if it is possible to become a NICU nurse and only work 1 day a week. Per-diem? Or even part-time. I don't need to work and my husband has great benefits...so I'm not too concerned about that. But, teaching just takes 50+ hours a week and it's sooooo tiring. So exhausting. Grading papers at home off the clock continuously. Can someone please tell me if it is possible to work 1-2 days a week in a specific floor/department without being a "floater"? I live in California and don't know too much of how it works. ALSOOOOOO biggest concern here...if I were to only work 1 day a week, would they still give me all the holidays?????? even if i'm only 1 day a week? Thank you all in advance for any help, opinions, and comments. It's greatly appreciated!!! :)

Beverly.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
New grads here make just over $21/hr...and raises are slow.

I'm in PA...my area is 25 plus...more so in the big medical centers (which still have pensions btw);I made 20-23 as a new grad LPN...maybe you need to move where I'm at, LOL. ;)

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

To add:

I made 43,000 as a new grad LPN, 55,000+ as a new grad RN, plus good perks (vacation 503 retirement and pension eligibility; including good differential pay)it really depends on the facility and the area. :yes:

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Yes, all the job postings I saw were 32 starting to 55!!!! Really good money!!! :)
The problem with California is that is over inflates the reality of the market. Right now California has a 47% rate of unemployment with a large proportion being new grads. While the hourly rate seems wonderful never forget that the housing that surrounds those areas is exorbitant in price. Furthermore facilities are moving towards only hiring BSN grads or those ADN grads already in a program to finish their BSN.

As a new grad you will probably not be able to find part time employment for all new grad orientations/residencies are full time. Once you get some expereince under your belt you can decide how much you can and cannot work.

The days of writing your ticket in nursing are for the time being...gone. There are a plethora of new grads out there...finding a job can take an average of 14-18 months in many areas of the country....with again California being the hardest to find a position.

Follow your dreams but go in well informed.

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Specializes in None yet..
Yes, all the job postings I saw were 32 starting to 55!!!! Really good money!!! :)

..depending on the cost of living. Gotta look at both sides of the balance sheet!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
The problem with California is that is over inflates the reality of the market. Right now California has a 47% rate of unemployment with a large proportion being new grads. While the hourly rate seems wonderful never forget that the housing that surrounds those areas is exorbitant in price. Furthermore facilities are moving towards only hiring BSN grads or those ADN grads already in a program to finish their BSN.

As a new grad you will probably not be able to find part time employment for all new grad orientations/residencies are full time. Once you get some expereince under your belt you can decide how much you can and cannot work.

The days of writing your ticket in nursing are for the time being...gone. There are a plethora of new grads out there...finding a job can take an average of 14-18 months in many areas of the country....with again California being the hardest to find a position.

Follow your dreams but go in well informed.

Very important points here. Of course, if you already live in CA, you're familiar with the cost of living, but for people from out of state, there's often a lot of sticker shock.

I live in the SF Bay Area, and as a new grad, I am literally looking at EVERYTHING within 5 hours of home for hospital work. I have a couple of random per diem jobs (nothing in a hospital), which are starting to pick up a bit (yay!), but I really want to get into the hospital setting. I am looking at potentially being away from my family for half of the week in order to make this happen. I'm hoping to get in somewhere that my family will enjoy as well, so that they can come up when possible, and we can do something fun while they visit. If I end up in Bakersfield, I'm on my own! LOL I'd love to get something closer to home. Even at the low paying hospital here, the base salary for a new nurse is $35, plus the differentials and such. One of my per diem jobs pays $50 an hour, and I could be working anywhere from 2-10 hours (minimum 2, even if it takes 30 minutes). Another pays $20.

I was going to comment about the whole "deserving" to get into nursing and that whole thing. I think that there's more honor in working when you don't have to than in sitting on your butt doing nothing productive because you don't have to work. Of course, as a mom, you'd be busy either way (few would argue that SAHMs are lazy!), but I don't think you're less deserving of a nursing school slot just because you have the luxury of adequate income. I just wouldn't broadcast it to your classmates or coworkers, because most ARE struggling, even in CA.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

You have some lofty goals, good for you! Just please do a lot of research before committing to a nursing program. The odds of walking into a NICU position are very slim, much less finding a very part time or per diem position in one. That being said, if you have the right contacts your odds increase some.

Best case scenario, if you know the right people you may have a fair shot at a NICU position and with that as the new kid on the block you can expect a probably pretty lousy schedule. You will also [again best case scenario] be expected to at least rotate holidays. There is absolutely no way of getting all holidays off unless you work in a clinic or as a school nurse. If you are lucky enough to achieve that, as your seniority improves you will have a shot at better schedules and hours that may be more to your liking.

I see you are in CA, it's my understanding that at least in the metropolitan areas the job market is very tight, and that's for any position so I imagine the odds of landing a NICU position right out of school are even worse. As I live no where near California I can't offer first hand advice on the job market there, but I am sure somebody with more knowledge than myself will be happy to help you out by offering a perspective on the true state of hiring and not the "nurses always find great high paying jobs!!" crap that the schools feed prospective students.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to you!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Hmmm...to each their own! I mean I totally understand what you're saying, but me saying I don't have to work or worry about benefits, (because that's one thing nurses throw out there almost immediately when they find out I'm teaching in a union with excellent benefits and want to leave to be per diem, will almost always be thrown out there) is a personal preference. Me stating I don't have to work doesn't mean I don't deserve that spot in nursing school nor did I not bust my @$$ to get all my pre-reqs, and test high on my TEAS test. Absolutely not!!!! I'm going to nursing school to become a nurse with every intention, otherwise I would have applied to something else that isn't nursing! What I choose to do with my nursing career (IF, and a big if, if I decide to switch careers, with all due respect, is probably up to the person doing it for the rest of their life) whether it's part-time or full-time is quite frankly up to me. I never said it would be a side job my friend. HI I'M A TEACHER...WE MAKE LESS THAN RN'S, lol! Teaching may not be blue collar per say with physical hands on labor, but it might as well be with all we endure. Just not willing to put nursing as a first priority over my families first! And how much income I do have isn't a choice anyone wants to have, and that isn't a reason to give spots to other people who have less money. I got accepted according to my GPA and test scores, and let me tell you, I rocked those. In the end, I have an amazing and supportive husband who busts his behind and earned his career so that I can have a choice to be a stay at home mother and wife. My husband is not a cop, he is a railroader (doesn't get any more blue collar than that. With farming being at the top of the list, and railroading right behind it)! I'm sorry that most nurses have gone into nursing because their husbands lost their jobs and need the extra income, or are single mothers who need to support their kids, (from what I got on your previous post, please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I got, which isn't fair to all the other nurses who aren't in that situation, or future nurses who want to become a nurse simply because they love it even if they have all the money in the world), but I think this says a lot more about someone who does not have to work, yet chooses to get into a tough career to try and make a difference in peoples lives, who need medical attention and comfort. As I almost died with my child when I was 7 months pregnant, and had to endure surgeries during. I know exactly what some patients are going through. I appreciate your post and I understand you aren't trying to sugar-coat the nursing field!!!! But it's not a good idea to say "both the admissions committee and student cohort may prefer that the limited number of seats go to people who have the driving ambition and who also have every intention of working as a nurse" without knowing someones true motive first. I can sit here and tell you several reasons, why medically, I am driven. But I'm not going to give you my life rundown really fast. And please don't take my previous comment as a sarcastic response to yours, by all means, please don't! Text never reads well over electronic devices!;) I'm sincerely responding with the mere intention, to express, that it is not a good idea to assume anybody's intentions, and judge someone you don't personally know! I've been through more medical problems, than most 60 year olds! And I'm only 27!

Paragraphs please. As a teacher, I'm shocked that you don't already know this!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
matrn2074 has been reported

For what?

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The problem with California is that is over inflates the reality of the market. Right now California has a 47% rate of unemployment with a large proportion being new grads. While the hourly rate seems wonderful never forget that the housing that surrounds those areas is exorbitant in price. Furthermore facilities are moving towards only hiring BSN grads or those ADN grads already in a program to finish their BSN.

As a new grad you will probably not be able to find part time employment for all new grad orientations/residencies are full time. Once you get some expereince under your belt you can decide how much you can and cannot work.

The days of writing your ticket in nursing are for the time being...gone. There are a plethora of new grads out there...finding a job can take an average of 14-18 months in many areas of the country....with again California being the hardest to find a position.

Follow your dreams but go in well informed.

Thanks for your encouragement and for your genuine response! It is more than hard to find a job here for anyone. But in the nursing field, you are very likely to find a job if you have a BSN! All my friend's who have BSN's have had no trouble getting jobs in SoCal. But my other friends who had ASN have had some struggle. Totally not fair though!!!!!!!

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Very important points here. Of course, if you already live in CA, you're familiar with the cost of living, but for people from out of state, there's often a lot of sticker shock.

I live in the SF Bay Area, and as a new grad, I am literally looking at EVERYTHING within 5 hours of home for hospital work. I have a couple of random per diem jobs (nothing in a hospital), which are starting to pick up a bit (yay!), but I really want to get into the hospital setting. I am looking at potentially being away from my family for half of the week in order to make this happen. I'm hoping to get in somewhere that my family will enjoy as well, so that they can come up when possible, and we can do something fun while they visit. If I end up in Bakersfield, I'm on my own! LOL I'd love to get something closer to home. Even at the low paying hospital here, the base salary for a new nurse is $35, plus the differentials and such. One of my per diem jobs pays $50 an hour, and I could be working anywhere from 2-10 hours (minimum 2, even if it takes 30 minutes). Another pays $20.

I was going to comment about the whole "deserving" to get into nursing and that whole thing. I think that there's more honor in working when you don't have to than in sitting on your butt doing nothing productive because you don't have to work. Of course, as a mom, you'd be busy either way (few would argue that SAHMs are lazy!), but I don't think you're less deserving of a nursing school slot just because you have the luxury of adequate income. I just wouldn't broadcast it to your classmates or coworkers, because most ARE struggling, even in CA.

You are absolutely right, I agree with everything you just said!!! Thanks. And I'm so sorry to read that you aren't having luck up there!!! I'm so surprised down here, my friends have had no trouble. Usually it's the other way around in California! Then again, Bay Area is gorgeous, so go figure!!!! Good luck, I really wish you the best! :(

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
For what?

Subsequently removed for gross issues with ToS

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Paragraphs please. As a teacher, I'm shocked that you don't already know this!

I'm on a tiny cell phone, don't care to indent or separate while I'm texting hundreds of words! I just assume an adult can read this accordingly!!!! What a first world problem, my sincere apologies! ;)

Oh, and "MATRN2074" got reported by other people, because he started off by nitpicking ridiculous things that were incredibly extraneous to this post, which eventually led to inappropriate comments, kinda like your previous post! If you don't care to be polite, or don't want to sincerely be of any help, you may gladly leave this conversation! Thank you. :)

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