mcchampe

I received my State of MI license in August and obtained my WI endorsement a few weeks ago. Back in April a home health agency contacted me and I had three interviews. They liked me and encouraged me to contact them when I got my WI RN License Endorsement. Despite the "almost job offer", I put off phoning them for a few weeks before I panicked and called them last week. I can serve food and beverages at $2.63/hour for so long. ;-) My interview was this morning and they offered me a job! I'm just waiting for my letter of acceptance which will indicate my salary, benefits, etc. Then I will have 2 weeks to accept or deny the offer. Although I am happy that I FINALLY got an interview and a job offer (I was getting ZERO interviews all summer. How frustrating ), I am hoping that a OB/NICU unit will want to interview w/in the next two weeks. I know, it's selfish...but it's my true passion. Over the summer I earned my Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) Provider certification to make myself a more qualified candidate, but this hasn't helped at all. I guess I will have to learn a lot in my first job and see where it will lead me in the future! I am not ruling out Midwifery yet, but I am excited to be in home health. It is my second favorite field of nursing. :) Overall, this offer is bittersweet for me. It's not my dream job, but it's exciting that this agency wants to train me despite knowing my passion for OB nursing. Yeah, I told them that. LOL. I'm shocked they still want me there. If OB Nursing is the gold medal, then Home Health is the silver medal. It's pretty damn good, but I'm still aiming at winning big! Thanks everyone for the feedback. I hope all is well with you

Thank you for all the feedback. I suppose I'll keep applying and hope that something comes my way.

Hello. I am a newly Registered Nurse with no affiliations to a hospital. I have zero paid experience, just my clinical semesters in nursing school. My senior II semester in nursing school was outstanding, as I was placed at a birth center. I focused 175 clinical hours on post-partum, labor & delivery, & antepartum sections on the birthing unit. It solidified my LOVE for OB/GYN nursing (and I'm actually really good at it!). I am currently applying for any nursing position, but ideally I want to land my dream job as a labor & delivery, post-partum, gynecological, and/or NICU nurse right away. Like I mentioned, I have been applying on a variety of floors, clinics, and nursing homes with absolutely no luck. I have yet to land an interview. :-/ I am a MI RN and I am looking in the state of WI and in MI. The other day I applied to get my WI RN License, in hopes that this will help my chances to land an RN Job. Is it true that hospitals won't even look at your application if you don't have the license pertaining to that particular state (or compact state)? Hopefully this was a good thing for me to do. My other question is that I am about to enroll in a Neonatal Resuscitation Program to obtain my NRP Certification. Before I pay the fees for the book and the course, I wanted to get some feedback from other RNs. Will this make me "qualified" for a position in NICU, L&D, and/or post-partum units? Is there anything else that will make my application stand out more? Thank you in advance. I am excited to see what everyone has to say!

Missed that. Looks like you gotta travel for the 1st interview. It'll be worth it!

I am in the same boat as you, I believe. I graduated in May 2010 and just obtained my RN Licensure. My problem is that I am from a town on the MI/WI border, so I am currently trying to find a job in the UP or in Wisconsin (preferably in the Milwaukee area). I am having a hard time getting hospitals to even look at my application. My solution is to apply for a WI License and hope that having that extra licensure will get my application looked at. Have you considered getting your FL licensure?

I agree with the above posts; Kaplan 2010-2011 edition was extremely helpful! Go through the book content first (NOT the test), use the disc & read each rationale on WHY you got questions wrong and/or correct, and then take the book test & (again) read each rationale on why it was wrong and/or correct. I also used Virtual-ATI, which was somewhat useful. It took me almost 2½ months to complete. Plus: you had a good review on all nursing topics. Negative: you didn't get rationales on why you got answers wrong and/or correct. Saunders disks were very useful. Again, use the rationales and the strategies on why you got answers wrong AND/OR correct.

jxRN, I applied there. There's a New Grad Position on the LDR floor! Thanks! =)

Thank you all for your responses. To mseisback, in the future I would love to do midwifery. I have considered going into studying it right away, but feel like it would be more beneficial to practice as an OB nurse while going into that field. I am only 24, so I have plenty of time to go back to school! What do you think? All the responses were helpful. I am going to keep my head up, follow the suggestions, and keep you updated! Thanks again.

I am a recent BSN graduate from Michigan (May 2010). I am aspiring to be a Labor & Delivery nurse. I have applied to many positions within MI, WI, TX, DE, & CA with zero luck. My main focus is finding an OB job in WI. This is my absolute dream career; must I wait for my dream job or do you think I am able to get this job right out of nursing school? I need advice, a reality check, or words of wisdom. Any Labor & Delivery Nurse Recruiters out there? I don't mean to be frustrated, but I feel like not many hospitals want a new graduate nurse, especially one that has zero nursing experience (and no license). I was never a CNA, LPN, or had an externship (mine got canceled a week before it began). Maybe I am being impatient; I graduate in a week. ha.