moodyred01

When I was in nursing school there were tons of interships and positions available here. Now, as verified by many people in the work place that I've talked to, there is only a small percentage of that available now and they go to people with the most experience. The job market has changed dramatically in the years I was absent. And yes, I was incredibly naive to believe all of my instructors and the other nurses who told me about job availability. Everyone keeps telling me to suck it up to reach my goal but my point is that DOES WORKING IN AN OFFICE OR LTC ACTUALLY IT INCREASE MY CHANCES OF GETTING A JOB IN A HOSPITAL? Everything I've seen around here says probably not so I had spent time trying to focus my effort in an avenue that would lead me in the direction I actually wanted to go. Do not presume to know how much I do or do not want this.

In the past I applied to office positions despite the fact that I wanted to work in the hospital. I thought it would help me gain experience to earn a hospital job but after seeing so many applications and talking to other nurses my understanding was that the experience wouldn't count towards 'hospital experience' anyway. My life circumstances at the time were such that staying home with my SN child was a high priority, so if something wasn't going to count towards what I wanted to do later, and make a decent income, then it wasn't necessary. I didn't understand at the time that the market was becoming so saturated that any job would be fiercely competitive. I didn't start from a position of 'I'm too good for this'. I'm doing the best I can with my life circumstances and trying to make the best decisions possible. I haven't applied to office positions recently because the pay would not be enough to cover childcare costs for my kids now. I would be losing money on that salary. It might be worth it if it moved me closer to my goal but my understanding was always that once you worked in an office you were sort of written off for hospital positions. So I'd be losing money or barely breaking even and getting nowhere. I understand now that I don't have much of a chance at all of ending up in the hospital. I can ensure you I'm not self entitled at all. I'm just having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I chose a degree in a field partially because everyone talked about how there will always be jobs, etc. and that's not entirely the case. I didn't realize I needed to work while going to school and working for my degree so I could get a job in an office, so I could maybe get a job in an LTC so that maybe I could keep working on my BSN, so that maybe one day, maybe, a hospital would hire me. I had no idea how competitive it is.

I'm confused about the response to my 'attitude' and 'sense of entitlement'. FWIW I HAVE applied to positions in offices and other areas. I'm not comfortable working in home health because I have no experience and would be out there on my own with no immediate help. I have looked at prison positions previously but never saw any that didn't require experience. The one area I didn't want to work in was LTC and when we were in nursing school we were told that if we didn't want to work somewhere then we shouldn't because it affects your whole life. I guess I believed them when they made it sound like having a nursing degree actually meant something and that we would be able to get a job with it (a job we actually want). I didn't get into nursing to work in an LTC where you are understaffed and overworked. If I had to do it with the promise of moving on I would. FWIW I've looked at LTC facilities here and they also require 1 year of experience. I checked again last night and did not find a single RN position that didn't require experience. I never thought of school nursing but I could look into that though I don't think the hospital will see that as relevant experience either. There's nothing wrong with knowing where I want to work and where I don't. It seems ridiculous to judge someone for that and say they aren't cut out to be a nurse because they don't want to work in LTC. I made a huge mistake believing that having an RN degree 'guarantees' you'll always have a job. If I'd known this and it had been at all possible I would have never taken a break between graduating and now. If I work in an LTC it will lower the time I can spend on school. It's worth it to give up that time if I'm working in the field I want to but giving up valuable time on my BSN to work in a job I don't want with no promise it will help me get where I want doesn't sound like an automatic 'yes'. But I guess it's pointless to work on my BSN thinking it will make me a more attractive candidate it they are still going to throw out my app because I don't have hospital based experience.

Because I will be working full time and have less hours to devote to school.

I've been doing work in immunizations clinics hoping that would help. So far I've been told repeatedly that by 'experience' they mean 'hospital based experience'. It didn't seem like there was a point to work in a dr. office (where I wouldn't make enough to cover childcare) or a nursing home (where I don't want to work and it doesn't gain me experience). I just got a response from the recruiter and she said they had 3,000 applicants for the position so they get to be choosy. Sigh. I'm being choosy because if I take a full time job in a part of the field that I don't actually want to work in it will drastically slow my progress in my BSN. I DO NOT want to be stuck working in a nursing home. Some people would consider that snobby but I didn't become a nurse to do that. :shrug I don't want to work in home health because I have no experience and I think it's risky to put myself out there in solo practice without a foundation of experience.

Yes. Only applying for hospital positions. I have no desire to work in an office, clinic, home health or nursing homes. If that is the only kind of work I can get as a nurse I'll drop working on my BSN and pursue a different bachelor's and switch fields. I also can't pursue my masters in nursing without hospital based experience. I have applied to so many different hospitals at this point. Many in my area are only hiring BSNs now, too. :/

In my area I've been told repeatedly that they are for new grads and for nursing looking to transition back into the hospital or from one unit to another. I'm taking a refresher course currently and my instructor said I should apply for internships. I'm getting so confused.

I've worked doing flu shot clinics. No one will hire me in non-intern positions because I don't have any hospital based experience. And now they might be rejecting me because I have some out of hospital experience? I don't know what I'll do if I can't get someone to hire me soon. I feel like I pretty much 'ruined' my degree by not getting a hospital job immediately.

I've been a nurse for 4 years and have not worked in the hospital setting but am trying to get back in so I've been applying for positions like internships and positions at certain hospitals that are listed as having no experience required. Then I'm getting rejection notifications saying that my background and experience don't meet any positions they have available. What does that even mean?! I spent hours last night filling out 13 different applications for positions and in one email they dismissed me. So disillusioned and frustrated. How can I apply for an internship and be rejected based on lack of experience?!

Thanks! I am concerned about more than just flu vaccines. I was wondering if anyone had had any trouble claiming exemptions for boosters and other vaccinations.

You might want to pop over to the student forum. You'll find lots of info there! I think your lifestyle and the school you attend can influence your experience. It was amazingly time consuming but once I got used to that it didn't feel so time consuming. I was pregnant during much of my school and already had a toddler and a husband who worked and went to school full time as well so these things made a big difference in how stressed I was. I would recommend talking to students from a particular school/program before committing to anything. Our school was amazingly disorganized and I wish I'd known that before I started. But I made it through feeling well equipped so that's a good thing!

Can an employer force you to be vaccinated or updated in order to remain employed? Even in states where there are medical, philosophical, and medical exemption options?

So are we required under our license? Or just some companies require it? I know there are tons of docs who don't keep up to date so I'm curious here. What if you are medically or religiously exempt? Don't they have to respect that?

The bridge program ADN- MSN is 12 months. You then enroll to become a CNM which is 24 months, I believe. I've looked into this too. I've heard Frontier is one of the more pricey schools though. Most ADN-BSN programs are 12 months after which you could go to a regular BSN-CNM program for the same amount of time. The only difference is you don't end up with a MSN and a CNM.

Are we required under our licensure to be up to date on vaccinations? Do most employers require this? Can you file exemptions?