b_m_prosepct

An extremely bad decision, in my eyes :-) Unless you are thinking becoming a CRNA eventually, well, it takes a long way and might not worth the effort.

I concur after some research. Private schools are outrageously expensive in my area. Most of them won't give me extra edge when looking for jobs (besides BSN). Major academic centers, mostly public schools, are only 1/3 to 1/5 of the cost, and have a much better reputation. I just need to take more pre-reqs for SUNY. Maybe an extra one year. sign. But I'll manage.

Congratulations on your transfer! The biggest issue for me now is to get into a hospital. I've seen too many fresh BSNs in my area have difficulty finding a hospital job. Some have to work in a NH for a couple of years. And some just settled in NHs. Just wondering if more "big-named" school may help me get into a hospital. If I'm a HR, I probably will choose a more 'big-named' school graduate from candidates pool for interview, everything else being equal. This is true in other fields. My guess it is similar in nursing, but not quite sure.

Thanks, the state school only have online RN-BSN, and I tend to do badly with online classes. I'm currently looking at SUNY RN-BSN, they have traditional ones and seem more affordable.

I'm thinking about applying RN-BSN programs. When I graduated from ADN program. I had extreme difficulty finding my first job because almost all hospitals in northern NJ area require BSN. I ended up working in a nursing home for two years, then I started working in an acute rehab hospital where I sometimes take care of Ven pt, Pt on Telemetry monitoring. I learned a lot but still, my current experience is only from a rehab hospital. I plan to apply for an RN-BSN program, and after that, hopefully finding a position in a cardiac ICU. Would which school I get my BSN from really matter? Like a big-named school vs a small school? But big-named school are so expensive. Not sure if it is worth it. I'm asking because I had co-worker who hold BSN from a 3-rd tier private school and not able to get a job for 6 months. She ended up working in the same nursing home for 2 years before she got into a Transitional care unit in a hospital.

As far as I know, NYC has an extremely tough new grad RN job market. May I ask if you graduate from some top school like Columbia or NYU? I don't mean to be any of offense, I'm thinking going for my ADN-BSN, just trying to pick up a school and wondering if the school name will worth the big bucks tuition.

Just wondering if a nurse agency take you if you don't have acute-care experiences? I have similar experience as you. All nurse agencies I've seen require at least one year experience in acute-care setting, so sub-acute won't count.

I don't think hospitals accept walk-ins.

Hi, how is your job hunting in New Mexico? I have a feeling that Nevada has a very tough market as well. Because lots of CA nurses who cannot find a job move to Nevada. After all, it is only 4 hour trip.

Question, is it legal to volunteer as an RN on the floor and passing meds, giving nursing treatments, just like a regular hired RN does? I think that is prohibited by state labor law. Volunteering in the hopital like a high school student does will not give you any real experience at all. I volunteered at ER for a short-time after I graduate from school and before taking NCLEX, I basically only allowed to take vitals. I don't think that give me any ER nurse experience at all.

Thanks for the advices. However I'm thinking. The worst case, I should not have any problem finding a sub-acute or Skilled Nursing job in one of these states. So the worst case scenario would be working in a nursing home in Texas instead of in NJ, which makes no difference to me. Still worth a try.

Thanks for advice. Your mother is a very experienced nurse. In my case, I'm an ADN and don't have hospital experience yet. I'm afraid they are not going to hire me if I stay out of the state. That said, it is very risky to move to a place that I don't konw I have a job or not yet.

I'm currently an ADN working in a LTC-subactue nursing home in NJ. Have about three years experience now. I'm planning to move to one of the South states: Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas. Whichever place I can find a hospital position. I'm in the process of applying for the licenses of these states, knowing it would be advantage to have a license in hand first. I'm single, no family, have enough savings for at least one year without working. My questions is: Should I apply jobs online in NJ, only to move after securing a hospital offer? or should I quit my NJ nursing home job first, move to one of the southern states physically, and then look for a hospital job locally there? I'm afraid that staying in NJ and applying online will hurt my chances, but also worry about moving first to a place that I know nobody and then find no jobs will get me depressed. Any suggestions?

I work in a nursing home too. Yours sound like a 12-hour shift, which I have never heard of of a nursing home, maybe yours is a subactue care? Plus, your nurse pt ratio is very low. At night shift in the nursing home I work, the nurse patient ratio is about 40-55. The day and afternoon shift the ratio is about 1 to 25. Even in our subacute unit, the ratio is about 1 to 23. I work in the afternoon shfit, I usually care for 26 patients. The night shift mostly involves lots of paper work than the other two shifts. A lot of recap, starting the new reports for the day, change the subpubic catheter, etc. good luck!

Same here. When I started, I was supposed to work in 3-11 shifts, but they oriented me for 7-3 shifts for a month. And I couldn't work at night shfit due to being a new nurse. Thinking an experienced nurse orientation is only 2 days, vs one month training for new grads, the facility really invested some extra money for training a new grad. Good luck/