Pre-nursing student who wants to be prepared

[cdmccarthy]

Hello all! First-time poster to this forum, so please forgive me if this has been addressed in other threads.

I am a non-traditional pre-nursing student. I received my BS in Biology in 2011 at a Florida university and have worked as a microbiologist since then. I am making a career change and will be applying for an ASN program to start Fall 2016. My undergrad grades were not stellar (2.97 cumulative GPA, mostly because calculus and organic chemistry kicked my butt) so I won't be applying to any BSN or ABSN programs. I plan to to an online RN-BSN bridge program after I complete the ASN.

Now, to my question. I've done some browsing on this forum and I've seen a lot of complaints from new grads about not getting hired for many months after graduating/ taking their boards. I am looking for advice on what I can do now and in the next few years while in nursing school to make myself more hire-able when I graduate. Volunteering in a hospital? Using my RN (ASN) to work in a non-nursing position at a hospital like patient transport?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Things you can do to help with finding a job:

1. Work in a facility in an unlicensed role (CNA, unit clerk, etc). This establishes an employment history with the facility, can provide references, and can provide access to internal job postings.

2. Keep your options open. Not everyone can work in their first choice specialty. You may need to accept a job in a specialty that isn't your first, second, or even third choice to get your foot in the door.

3. Network. Join professional organizations, attend the meetings, and network with the people who just might have some influence- sometimes, it's more who you know than what you know.

4. Realize that relocation may be necessary. Some areas are saturated with new grads and experienced nurses looking for employment. Other areas are desperate for nurses of any experience level.

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Welcome to allnurses.com

Thread moved to Pre-Nursing forum.

[AspiringNurseMW]

What Rose Queen said. Also, a piece of unsolicited advice, don't assume that getting into an ASN program will be easier, often because of the shorter time frame and affordability they may be even harder to get into than BSN or ABSN. Where I live, the ASN has more applicants but less seats than the 2 neighboring BSN programs, and apparently employers love the graduates.

[cdmccarthy]

Thanks for your responses. I have done my research on the admission requirements and competitiveness of the school/program to which I plan to apply. The ASN program is a less competitive program, or it will at least be easier for me to get into. They only look at pre-req GPA (which I have a 3.77), not the overall GPA. Thank you for the advice!