Kspice

Hi, How did things turn out for you? I starting IWU's psych np program in the fall and have concerns. Advice? -Kurt

It's central Illinois... an hour away from the soy bean capital of the world. I would say that's pretty rural! I'm really thinking about traveling nursing in a couple years, go to New Zealand or Australia for a little while. that would be rad. As for as looking for a year goes, I think if you really want to start, you would take a job in a nursing home or anything. But that's just me.

No prob. I ended up in rural Illinois. But it's a level 1 trauma and a teaching hospital, so there's lots of opportunity to advance.

Hey bro, Sorry to say this man, but all the hype about male nurses having an easy-in is a bunch of hype. I graduated in December 2009, with a 3.3 gpa and a summer a great summer internship. I set out with the goal of an ICU in Chicago. While in nursing school I got an offer at a rural hospital for the ICU and turned it down because I was bent on living the city life. After a few interviews in Chicago and the burbs for non-icu positions I decided to try the rest of the US. I have applied to at least 1-2 teaching hospitals in every state and the only place that called me back was Vermont for a non-icu position. From everywhere else I got the same response, "too many applicants, too-few new-grad positions available. So to sum it up, after 6 months of searching I ended up with 4 offers and took a position on a Cardiac step-down. All said and done, I'm happy with what I've been given. However, the idea was put into my head before and during nursing school that the red-carpet would be rolled out for me being a male nurse... It wasn't! So my advice to you is if you know what area you want to work in, get an internship, work as a tech, or just start calling/emailing nurse managers of places you want to work. Good luck chap! P.S. "over-saturated" is never permanent in health care.

Hi everyone, I'm a first time poster, long time reader. I will be graduating this December from a BSN program in Illinois. I have been applying to many hospitals and want to make my first nursing position as positive as possible. I recently received a job offer from level 1 hospital in the ICU. They will reimburse me $5000 of my tuition for a 1 year commitment, they will pay for my NCLEX test and review courses. After I get all my certifications I will be making about $25/hr. I still have other interviews coming up, but they are only giving me 5 days to make a decision. I would really like to start in an ICU, however I would also like to be in the Chicago area and this hospital is in a rural setting. I want to ask for a 5% increase when I call the HR person back. How should I go about doing this? Thanks, Kurt