Cherry2000

My instructors have told us to send out our resumes to places we would like to work even if they do not have any openings listed. I know that for myself and at least one more student, we have been offered jobs by doing this. Are you able to relocate? Other parts of the country have significant shortages but moving can be daunting. For myself, I looked at areas outside of the location of my schoolmates. Luckily I live further out than they do.

Ugh. I'm stressing over this and I'm hoping that I can get some help putting it in perspective. I just graduated from my FNP program in May and have a couple of lines on some positions. A big thing for me is to have my student loans paid. Here are the places I've been talking with: Cardiology: most likely not going to pay my loans but definitely in an area that I love. They've been slow getting through the interview process with me so I'm not really entertaining them. They do keep calling though. Primary Care 1: Yes, I do want primary care. So this place; love the staff. The $$ is not great, but more than I'm making as a RN. Perk: federal loan forgiveness. I could have them all paid off within 5 years and be free to move on because the non-compete is minimal. Contract is for 1 year. Primary Care 2: Further drive. Interviewing next week. My friend is going to work for them and gave them my name. They are very interested in me. Also qualifies for federal loan forgiveness and non-compete is minimal. Contract is for 1 year. Much more opportunities to make more $$ at this office. My problem. I verbally told PC1 that I was accepting their offer. This was before I learned of PC2. PC1 is supposed to me sending me a contract and haven't signed anything yet. Is it awful of me to back out of PC1 (as long as my interview goes well?) How unprofessional does that make me look? Guilt and a sense of responsibility are killing me!

Wilson Hospital in Johnson City (Binghamton area) is a level 2 trauma and has ICU, CCU and a neuro suite. I can't speak for the type of people that work there because I am on a different unit, but I really like the hospital as a whole. Critical care units are the only ones there that have 12 hr shifts. We do our share of open hearts and the CCU probably would be a good fit for you. It is also one of the better paying hospitals. Cayuga Medical Center would NOT be a good fit for you. It is a small hospital and although it is very beautiful, on the end of the lake and everything, the acuity is very low. No open hearts there. They don't even put cardiac stents in at this point. Sounds to me that your best bet would be a hospital in Syracuse, Rochester, or possibly Wilson if you choose to come south. Good luck!

SUNY Binghamton has a good accelerated program if you don't mind the gray, dreary winters.

Clove oil on a toothache works really well. Saved my husband's behind one weekend. :) Strong black coffee for an asthma attack. I don't know if it was just the placebo effect or not, but it got me through until I could get to my inhaler!

I took ACLS before I graduated and it helped me get my job. If you don't have any interest in working telemetry, ICU, CCU... then it probably isn't necessary. It is a very intense course and you must know your cardiac rhythms before you go. It isn't something that you can walk in without preparing for. At the end you have to be able to run a megacode successfully.

My husband and I are in a similar situation. He works a weekend shift and I'm training on days but going to nights in a couple of weeks. I hardly ever see him because I work on the days he has off and vice versa. I'm looking forward to when I get some say over my schedule because I plan to work same days as he does...at least Monday and Friday. That way we can spend time together. My advice is to try to figure out how you can afford a sitter. Otherwise it will be very difficult to rearrange your schedule. Good luck!

I definitely agree that you need to tailor your resume and cover letter to the position that you are applying for. Each resume you send out will need to be tweaked. Also whenever you are applying for a position try to find out the nurse recruiter's name. That could be as simple as just calling up the hospital (or whereever) and asking. Second, I know you want to play up your customer service skills but I think you are putting a bit too much emphasis on your previous employment. See if you can simplify that part to maybe just job title, company and dates of employment. When you interview you can stress your people skills. If you got any awards in nursing school or have a good gpa that could go on there as well. I would focus more on your clinical rotations. Talk about what you did during clinicals. Employers know that not all GNs have extensive hospital experience and that's why they train you. Good Luck!!!!!

We were told they could pull hair from anywhere... arms, legs, back, whatever you have. So unless you plan to shave EVERYTHING, I'm sure they can get what they need. Btw, in my facility, this is only if you miss the urine screen...

I just graduated in May and as a new grad I was given $5000 tuition reimbursement for my degree which pretty much amounts to the same thing as a sign on bonus. The way they do it is each paycheck you get an equal percentage so, mine is roughly $100 every two weeks for 2 yrs. There was no contract and if I leave I don't owe anything. They also paid for my review class and gave me a Littman. Not bad! :)

I am graduating from TC3's nursing program this May. If they changed your major I would think that is definitely a good sign but I didn't notice that when I was applying. I really enjoyed my program and like the instructors. I think that they are really fair when it comes to everything. Good luck!

There is no wait list for TC3. You do have to apply every year and they only take 60 students each fall.

Google new grad resume and cover letter... that should help some. That is what I did.

What everyone has forgotten to mention that along with it being time consuming, it will also depend on your support network. Do they understand why you are so busy? Does your significant other understand? If not, you can do everything right, and your relationship will be strained and could possibly end. You can't control everything and nursing school becomes your number one priority. I can't tell you how many times I've said "When nursing school is over I am going to ...." Luckily for me, school comes easily to me and my husband is amazingly supportive. So for me, that means that even though things suck at times, I know that it will be ok in the end. Not everyone will be so lucky. I don't want to scare you. I just want you to look at it from another perspective. I have really good friends that I only see once or twice a year because things are just too busy.

I went last year and I graduate this year. It gave me an idea of what to expect and what kinds of jobs were out there. We also had 4 yr schools there recruiting transfers. It was interesting and an opportunity for local places to sell themselves to you.