Coffeebeanie

What about urgent care in a hospital? Sounds like you have experience with a mixed crowd and could do with slightly less acute then ED.

During a discussion about our careers, my significant other said the following: "You make too much for what you do. I admit I am jealous. Like, people in big companies, who make sales products that make their companies millions, I understand why they make what they do. I understand why Pharmacists and Doctors make what they do too. They might get sued, so pay has to compensate. And people with AA degrees make just as much as you so your BS really doesn't mean anything. " Some back story: My partner and I have been together 4 years. I recently transitioned from a CNA to a New Grad on the night shift, off orientation for the last 4 months in Med/Surg. I passed my boards in Dec 09. I have my BSN and he has a BS in Physics. During nursing school I only commuted to see him on weekends so he did not see all my studying. His sister is a pharmacist and my sister is a doctor. We live in Northern California, with him working as a new grad for a very prominent tech company. Right now, I do make more then him. But once he is off New grad pay I am sure that will go up by leaps and bounds. I work in a public hospital with plenty of AA and BS nurses and I love my floor. Initially I took his comment as downright disrespectful! We both have bachelors backgrounds and deep knowledge in science, just in different ways. Sure he is a smarty for going for physics, but nursing was hard! Where is the credit!? I'm smart too! For the sake of being constructive, I am going to ignore the "jealous" comment and instead try to focus on how to educate him. Now I tried to explain to him the amount of technical and science background needed to do this job, beyond just the time management and ADL assistance. I do not just give pills and do paperwork! And errors/negligence will get me sued too! But he still doesn't seem to get it. Short of making him read my textbooks or beating him up, do you guys have any constructive words? Or some /links/websites/articles/etc. I can refer to? Also please do not take this as a debate between AA and BS degrees, I just want to prove him that our career is worthy of respect from an academic point of view! :grad: Thanks all!

moved post to proper thread.

I was in the same boat. Graduated Dec 09 and was stuck looking for work. What worked for me was 3 things: 1)I started using family/friends connections. Suck up your pride that you want to find a job on your own. It really is who you know. My family got me a foot in the door with a nurse manager so I got an interview. 2) Start to look for open, non nursing positions at the place you want to work that are still health care related. Do this as soon as possible, heck even while you are in school. That could reduce the time you are sitting looking for a job once you pass your boards. Think nursing assistant/ front desk/ transport, etc. That way when there is an opening, they already know you. I started working as a nursing assistant at the hospital I wanted. I had applied to countless new grad programs but honestly it is ridiculous the sheer number of applicants versus spots. In 4 months, I went from nursing assistant to getting trained as an RN. You want to be on their radar and in the system. They should pull from internal applicants before they look elsewhere. I didn't have an official new grad program but I got 8 weeks of orienting and lots of TLC from the staff. 3) This is too late for people already graduated but in case some people still in school read this: USE YOUR PRECEPTORSHIP. Pick a specialty/hospital you want to work at. Think of it as a potential job interview everyday and try to shine. Who knows, you might get hired. And if not, you want your preceptorship to be a key part of your resume- think about how you can make yourself stand out. I precepted in the ED, thinking some critical care experience might give me a leg up. And in the interview with my nurse manager they asked a lot of questions about it. I now work in med/surg and I like to think my preceptor made a difference in how qualified and competent I appeared.