me2hypr4u

Yay, I got my call and email today too! They have not specified who will be in what department yet. They will communicate that with you during your training. I'm not certain, but the way it was described was like if you requested Med-Surg during your interview, you may be working with a variety of Med-Surg settings during your training (ie. general M/S, M/S Oncology, and Progressive care units). After 3 months they will do a performance evaluation and if the reviews are positive, they may offer a permanent position in the unit they feel you will work best in.

I would ideally want the ED (someday :T), but requested Med-Surg/Tele to start off as a new grad.

I had copies of all my recommendation letters & life support cards in my portfolio. But they didnt forward it & still wanted me to send another copy to the other person. So I went to pick up my portfolio today, and the lady said that they increased the acceptance pool to around 36 people! That was a gigantic jump and pretty much increased everyone's chances. So they pretty much accepted half of the people they interviewed. I am ecstatic! So I think once the background check goes through and they have all our recommendations, then we are in! I don't think they will be cutting more people unless something is not cleared/provided.

Congratulations to everyone who got the email! I too, am one of the final candidates. What was so strange was I couldn't sleep soundly last night because for some reason I had a feeling that I may get a call/email from PPH today. And of course I was imagining all sorts of responses...the acceptance AND denial LOL. So does anybody know whether this is still a screening process? As in would more be rejected if they feel the letters of recommendation are not strong enough compared to others? I almost peed my shorts thinking it was a final acceptance. Then again, you never know and I don't want to get too excited, then hear that they have to cut more people. Congrats again to all of you in the boat with me, lets cross all our hands, toes, legs, eyes and wish we all get a position!!!

Great job getting through it everyone! I'm sure we all had our good & bad moments during our interviews, but I'm glad I experienced a different method of interviewing. I must agree that there were some stations that I did well on, and a few I wished I answered better. I know they noted what specialty/unit we would like to work in, but didnt know how else we were evaluated on. I wonder if it was based on a numerical score and the highest scoring applicants get the positions, or if they choose the top 2 or 3 applicants within each of the group of 8? I'm sure we are our own harshest critics and we don't give ourselves the credit we deserve. Congrats at least for finishing and for not freaking out and running outta the interviews haha! Best of luck to us all :)

Thanks Roxy518. Yeah I guess with today's overall economy, CA is not the only place that's suffering. Okay, that is very good advice. Desperate times call for desperate measures right? Glad I'm not the only one out there faced with such decisions. I should consider myself very lucky to even have an offer. I think it will help me in the long run too, having RN experience early on...even though it isn't acute care. But nowadays, it seems like hospitals leave us no other choice but sub-acute/home health care since they only have 5 openings for 27474823254 applicants!! I know a couple of new grads that graduated almost 2 years ago (guess they're not new grads anymore, hah) ,and cannot seem to find an RN job because they were too picky. No...thanks for the long and detailed reply! That's what us nurses do best...DETAILS! Thanks again for your input.

Thank you for your wise words and detailed suggestions, Meriwhen. I agree, with the California nursing job market being so competitive and so rare nowadays, any opportunity seems better than nothing I suppose. I have contacted some nurse recruiters, but the couple I have contacted did not reply. This laser clinic RN job is not a permanent position forever. I ultimately would want to work in an acute-care setting. Nonetheless, they seem pretty flexible and I would still consider working there part time even if I DO get into a New Grad program. I just don't want hiring managers to trash my app and prefer someone with completely no experience. I understand most hospitals want someone w/o experience to mold their ideal nurse for their facility, but it's not like me working in a little laser clinic zapping armpits will change how I care for clients in an acute-setting. Anybody else faced with this dilemma? It may be a no-brainer to some, but I just want to consider my options and not screw myself over and get stuck in the position of experienced RN....but none in acute care, then struggle getting into a hospital when i'm 60+ years old, hahaha. Thanks for any input, I appreciate it. Love allnurses.com....some great RNs out there :)

I'd like to hear some feedback from nurse recruiters or anyone who has been in this situation. I've been trying to get into a New Grad RN Program for several months now and have not had any luck. I know most new grad programs consider applicants with 0-6 months, and some some less than one year, experience. My dilemma is that I just received a job offer for an RN position at a local laser clinic (non-acute settiing). If I still would like to eventually get into a New Grad program and get into an acute-care setting, should I still accept this job offer, or would this hurt my chances of getting into a New Grad program? I heard different things from different new grads. Some say don't do it because once they see that you've used your RN license for ANY position and for ANY AMOUNT OF TIME, that they do not consider you as a new grad anymore and disregard your application. Others have told me to take the job and work there for the meanwhile to get some experience until I am accepted into a New Grad position. I've also seen some new grads take small jobs at the flu/immunization (ie. Mollen clinics), so does that hurt their chances too? To help my situation, I'm in California, so the job marker here is worse than most places. So if anyone can give me any suggestions or have been through this, please help! Many thanks :)

Hi fellow New Grad RNs!! Looks like I may be seeing some of you on Tuesday :) Does anyone know if this will be a Group Interview? I know most nursing interviews are individual, but group ones aren't unheard of either. I was a little perplexed when the email said one hour with 7 other applicants. Wasn't sure if it'll be a group interview, whether we'll each separately be interviewed by several different interviewers at the same time, or if it'll take about an hour to interview all 8 people. If anybody knows anything, please let us know. Thanks!!