Pre-nursing and the requirements

jennaroo · Oct 23, 2012

I just registered for some of my pre reqs today, I asked my advisor whom is also the nursing school coordinator at my college, if not having any on the job experience of any kind in the medical feild prior to graduating was a big deal and she said "no, that being a new nurse is what it is... a new nurse, you do not need to have job experience where you are not trained yet"......with that being said, I keep reading here how employers are seeking nurses with prior experience???? I guess my experience may be different seems how I live in a small town? Not sure? Regardless, I recently started volunteering at our hospitals breast health center, just to get some exposure under my belt, as well as to have at least something to put on my resume, as I do not plan to work through nursing school......I may revisit this decision in my last year of school but for now I will stick with the volunteering because it's only 1-2 4 hour shifts per week....thats doable for me right now, but a job, school and kids just will not work at the moment.......

I'm curious what other's are doing as well though?

ShadowPlanet · Oct 23, 2012

I do work study (pretty much paid volunteering) at the VA since I receive GI Bill funds. I'll switch over to volunteer as soon as my contract is over/I'm out of GI Bill. I work in the nursing education office, and get a lot of great advice from nurses there. The recruiter recommended that I get my CNA and volunteer there for a year or so and then go into the LPN program and then RN --> BSN since the wait list at the community colleges is insane (anywhere from 2-4 YEARS depending on the school) and I could go for my LPN without much of a wait.

Through the work study, I did flu shot registration and escort services as well. I'm hoping to make a great impression so my superiors will give me good reviews and possibly let me use them as references on my resume.

I'm not working, so school is my #1 priority, and I average about 24 hours a week at my work study.

Doing this stuff gives me hope. Hope that I can do the nursing program and succeed at my goals.

bigsick_littlesick · Oct 24, 2012

I first got a job as a housekeeper and later moved up to being a CNA. Will graduate from nsg school this December (w00t w00t). Hopefully my "foot in the door" will work out and I will have a job after passing NCLEX or shortly thereafter.

Also, I found taking an EMT-B class through my community college benefited me a lot in terms of doing skills in front of people and not being nervous. Plus, it introduced me to emergency nursing which I fell in love with!

Volunteering at a hospital helps too because people will see your face and perhaps they may hire you as a CNA or some kind of tech later if you can rub shoulders with the right people.