luckyfortune

Hi Lisa_usa, I'm also Filipino and moved here to the US in 2002. I had a BS in Marketing Management and decided to go back to school too. I proudly finished Nursing in 12/2007. I'm now a Registered Nurse :) Here are my suggestions: 1) Make sure you do have at least a year of residency to avoid paying out-of-state tuition fees. In my case, I live here in California and waited for a year before I took my pre-requisites. I also had a green card before but I'm now a US citizen. 2) Before taking up classes, I do suggest for you to find jobs in healthcare. Nursing is a labor of love and it's not that easy. It can be very challenging and stressful but very rewarding. I worked in an Oncology clinic before I took classes for my pre-reqs. In that way, you would be able to get the feel of the medical industry. It's good to know that you really like it. 3) You may also check out all possible nursing schools in your area. Talk to counselors and compare all of the schools' pre-requisites. I did the Associate's Degree in Nursing here and it was a 2-yr program. It took me a year and a half to take the pre-reqs. So about 3 1/2 years total. 4) Eventhough I had my BS in the Philippines, I wasn't able to credit any course. I think it would depend on the school or university you apply for. If you apply for the BSN program, you may credit some of the GED courses (such as Psych, etc). I went to a community college and I had to take A &P, Microbiology, Algebra, 2 English classes (I think), humanities course depending on what they require. Also, some schools would require you to take English classes here. I don't think any of the English classes you took in the Philippines can be credited. But you can ask the counselors. I also took one Algebra class (Elem. Algebra). Schools have their own required courses before applying for their nursing program. So before you take any class, make sure you can credit those to most of the schools you want to apply to. My school also required some assessment tests (English/Math) to be taken before you apply to the Nursing program. 5) Also, paying an agency to credit your transcript may not be necessary. Again, talk to the counselors. 6) I do have a friend who lives in Iowa who is now working as a CNA but she is taking classes for the LVN program. Some schools also offer that. Some has LVN then RN programs. 7) You need to do some networking to meet people who are in the profession. It's good to know how it is to be nurse. It's a demanding job and financially rewarding too. But if you are just into the financial part, it might be hard to survive the challenges. You also need to have internet access for most of the time while searching for the schools (but I'm pretty sure that won't be a problem). 8) If you have kids, be prepared to do some time management too. I had my first baby while in school and she was about 6months old when I started. It was very difficult and it took me a very long time to adjust. Also, the testing part in Nursing school is way different in the Philippines (I think). It took me a while to adjust with the testing part. It's not easy. Everything is critical thinking and English is our second language. So eventhough we had our Management degrees in the Philippines, it will take time to get used to the Nursing questions. But we work hard so I'm sure you can make it too! I hope all these could help you with your journey in Nursing. I would be happy to answer any of your questions if I can. Check your Nursing organizations there in Ohio. I'm not quite familiar with your state. Oh lastly, if you are married or with kids, don't forget to communicate with your husband and kids or your family. They will help you get through with Nursing! Best of luck with your nursing career plans! :)

Thanks to all for your suggestions! I'm a new grad RN and will be doing 12 hr. nights in February. I'm starting to worry about my sleep schedules but reading all the stories helped me a lot to feel positive :) I'm new to this site and it's great to have this forums!

scadams29: Best of luck with your NCLEX! I live in SF bay area and will be working in the Oncology unit in one of the hospitals in the East Bay. Where are you from?

Hi Mercy65, Are you working 12 hours on days or nights? I'll soon be working nights (12hrs too). How do you manage with your sleep schedule? thanks!

Hi Machita, You can call the operator and asked to be transferred to the unit. Once you talk to unit clerk, introduce yourself and let her/him know that you are a new grad..Then ask for their manager's name. Then write a cover letter addressed to the manager and try to meet her personally. I think that should work. Don't ask for the other contact info. They don't usually give that over the phone. Maybe start with the name of the manager first. Good luck!

I suggest the Kaplan strategy book. It helped me a lot too aside from the actual Kaplan course study. Best of luck to you!

Hi, There is HOPE! I graduated in Dec. '08 in the Bay Area too but took a very long break. I thought at first that it would be easy to find a job. But NO..it took me four months of seriously searching for a job. I applied online, sent out my resumes, attended job fairs, and even had interviews done. Managers were vocal that they liked me but they are only hiring a few positions. It is very competitive out there since there are a lot of new grads. And with this economy, hospitals usually have limited funds for training new grads. But I took charge of my job search. I went to the hospital here in the East Bay and talked to the manager. I got an offer after a month! I'm very excited to start this February! So, there are jobs in hospitals..just keep on looking and meet the managers! :) Yes, Eden Hospital I think has a new grad program too. I heard that Kaiser cancelled some of their new grad programs. But just focus first on graduating and passing your NCLEX! Best of luck! :) BTW, I still keep on receiving updates from UCSF. It tells you that they have openings for Clinical Nurse 1 position. So I wonder if they do really are hiring new grads.

Hi Machita, Just a quick note. I too am a new grad but graduated in 12/08. I had a long break last year and searched for a job for 4 months! I got so frustrated too. I tried to apply online so many times, sent out my resumes, went to job fairs and had some interviews too. Managers were vocal that they liked me but they still did not hire me. I think it is also because of the bad economy and limited budgets for new grads. Sometimes internal candidates are hired first than external candidates... Don't lose hope. Stay positive. I got an offer last December to work in a hospital. What I did was I called the operator of the hospital and asked for the manager's name...made a cover letter that same day and went straight to talk to her. She must have liked me since she asked me to come back twice also to meet her night staff nurses. It took me a month to wait until she called and offer me a job! I'm not working yet until Feb. So great things can happen! You just have to believe in yourself and take charge of your job search. There is a lot of competition out here (I live in SF bay area). THere is a huge glut of new grads and the only way to compete with them is by presenting yourself professionally, showing your great talents and interest and meeting the managers. They have the hiring powers so go for it! Also, it helped me fix my resume when I talked to a manager one time. She asked me questions that she couldn't find from my resume -such as what was my clinical preceptorship, how many hours I had...I forgot to write med/surg in my preceptorship..I only wrote the hospital name..so check your resume and make it clear and brief..Try to meet the managers in the units to give you more confidence in presenting yourself. I hope this helps! Best of luck with your job search! :)

Thanks for the link scadams29. I'm a new grad too and will be soon working in an Oncology unit for a hospital. I was hoping to get a med/surg position but with the economy today, it is so difficult to just get a new grad job in the acute care setting. How do you like it so far?