willowita

Hey Crystal. My biggest piece of advice is be patient. You will show up to your unit during orientation to basically introduce yourself and familiarize yourself with the layout and where everything is. Don't be surprised if they don't want to deal with you yet or if you don't get a preceptor until the last minute. It's nothing personal. It's just County time and culture. It eventually all gets sorted out. The orientation with your hire group will be more structured and easier to go through. They review everything you will need to know and there are some tests on some basic meds and hospital policies. Which area did you get hired for?

LA County hires new grads with a license and BLS. The hiring process is a little confusing but it starts with applying for the exam. Here's the website: Job Opportunities | WELCOME TO THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES Search for nurse and apply for Registered Nurse I/Relief Nurse. White Memorial just opened the application for their New Grad program. Info is found here: RN Residency Program - East Los Angeles - Boyle Heights, California(CA) - White Memorial Medical Center, Los Angeles Get on this one ASAP because the application window is usually open for a short period of time

There are many hospitals with UCLA in the name not associated with the County so not sure which one you called. The exam at the County is still open. I can't copy and paste a direct link but here is the search for the job board: Job Opportunities | WELCOME TO THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES Search for "nurse" and look for Registered Nurse I/Relief Nurse

LA County DHS operates LAC+USC Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA, Olive View UCLA, and Rancho Los Amigos Rehab Center. Passing their entrance exam allows you to interview for any of those hospitals.

I keep reading about the doom and gloom of California and it has not been my experience, though it definitely was in Oregon and Hawaii where I used to live. One of the level 1 trauma centers in L.A. is a county facility and they only require you have a license and a BLS card to get to take their entrance exam. That is it. Got two job offers from them. That's how I and others with no prior acute care experience and new grads got in. I guess the caveat for some people is that the pay is lower than a private hospital and the patient population is predominately not English speaking and/or homeless. Those are the people I want to serve so for me it was no problem. I know other hospitals and areas of the state are maxed out on available jobs but there are opportunities.

Thank you OP! I am in the same boat. Starting my new job tomorrow! My dad, who used to work ER in the same hospital asked me if I was excited. I said I was terrified. I'm working a med/surg floor and I worry about the same things you mentioned. The feedback I get is that it's normal to feel this way. To feel unsure, to worry about your competence (mostly lack thereof). I especially worry about IV skills! I was horrible at doing them in nursing school, which has hurt my confidence in getting good at it. But my parents, both RNs, tell me that I will be fine. And I have to trust that. Good luck to you!

Honestly, it doesn't matter that you don't know enough math or science at this point. That's you and everyone thinking of going into nursing. You will learn math and science as you go through the pre-req courses. Doesn't matter what happened 10 years ago. If you're motivated to learn it, you can. Even if you have to start in remedial algebra. It's okay! Take it one step at a time and do not be discouraged that you somehow have to have it all together right now. You don't. Really! And please do not throw 30k out to be an LVN. You can find much more affordable programs all over LA to be an LVN. You can find ADN and BSN programs for less than that! Instead of going to talk to this counselor at a school that just wants your money, see if you can talk to someone at one of the community colleges instead. I forget what's up in North Hollywood but maybe LA Valley College and Pierce College.

Definitely nursing school friends and an awesome study group! Would also add time to exercise because it'll decrease your stress and make you feel good about taking care of yourself. One thing I see a lot on these boards is people who feel like there is no time to exercise when you're in school. There is, you just gotta organize and manage your time. In my final year of nursing school, I trained for a marathon. I ran it and graduated valedictorian. So it can be done.

It's never too late to go to school and do it. I got my ADN at 32. I'm in a BSN program now at 34. Hopefully in 5 I'll be in an NP program. Can't sweat the time that is behind us. Only plan ahead starting today. Good luck to you!

Hi everyone, I'm also in the same position of having to choose between RN1 F item vs Relief at different county hospitals. They are both in Med-Surge but the Relief position has a better schedule that allows me to fit my full time BSN program into the mix. I'm just nervous about not having an opportunity to get hired as an RN1 in the future if I go with Relief. Any opinions?

Here's the new RN residency program info from Children's Hospital LA. You don't need prior experience. RN Residency in Pediatrics | CHLA

Yes! LA County College of Nursing has a 30 unit option. I think Rio Hondo does too. Maybe check the CA Board of Nursing site for a complete list. Those are just the ones I know off the top of my head.

What grades did you get in the prereqs? Those grades are weighted more than overall gpa

From what a manager told me, the patient population at the county can be shocking to those unfamiliar. It's the underserved of the underserved so by the time they get to the hospital, they are complex cases. There are language barriers, homelessness, mental health issues, substance abuse, lack of support, jail patients, etc. I went to County school so did all my clinical rotations within the system. For me, it was fulfilling to serve people who really needed it. I'm trying to get a job there now. But I can definitely see why some wouldn't want to work there. Also, private hospitals pay more, though benefits at the county are better. That's the only perspective I can offer.

Maybe it was just luck but pretty much everyone from my ADN program got hired at a hospital in LA. Some went into the county system, which you have to be patient with the hiring process but they only require a license and BLS. Others went into RN Residencies at private hospitals. Still others combed through openings at hospitals that did not require a year of experience (they do exist) and got in that way. I see a lot of posts in the CA thread about how bad it is here but I find there are opportunities. But the hiring process does take a bit of time.

I'm a native speaker in California so it's definitely a plus for me. Picking up conversational and medical Spanish is a good idea if you live in area with a population of Latinos. It definitely can't hurt.

Hi all, just wondering if anyone else applied for the RN 1/Relief RN position at the LA County Dept of Health Services? The item is still open for anyone interested in applying. Anyone hired as an RN1 at the county, how long did it take from applying until your first day of work? Just curious so I know what to expect. Thanks! :)

It's definitely tough in Hawaii. The reason I brought up outpatient is because as a new grad RN who wants to use their RN license, that may be the only route available for a while. I realize it doesn't count for an in-patient position but even getting an aide/tech/clerk job at an acute facility is difficult. Mainlanders I've known applying for those jobs weren't qualified to be CNAs even with some CNA experience and their RN license. Don't understand the reasoning behind that. Locals who had clinicals at the area hospitals explained to me you try to get those jobs while you're still in school. It's tough to do it afterward, though not impossible. While on Oahu, I had to pay bills and live so I took what I could, which was outpatient. I don't want to discount the work because working in the community does require the kinds of skills in care coordination that eventually will be expected as a result of health reform. So I don't regret the experience. But as a reality check, you can't be too picky for a job in Hawaii if you don't have experience. Apply for your dream jobs but don't limit yourself if you need to pay bills. You can always look for a job even when you have a job and hope for something better to pan out.

Graduate over here from the regular ADN program at County. If you're already an LVN, just go the LVN-RN route. No need to start at the beginning. You guys start in the summer before 3rd semester starts and you'll be acclimated to the schedule and structure of the program by the end of that summer. What some of the LVN students told me was that not everyone made it through summer because some students had been out of school for so long and they lacked study skills or had other thing going on that hurt them academically. Others with lots of experience didn't want to learn to do things the school's way and thought their way was better so they didn't make it through clinicals. As long as you can do the work and you're humble and go with the program, you should be fine.

Nursing is impacted at pretty much all California campuses. So don't worry about CSU Long Beach! Like the other poster stated, most programs require you take all the prereqs after you start college and then apply to the nursing program afterward. So it's okay if you haven't taken AP classes. You'll start at the beginning just like everyone else trying to get into nursing. My advice is just to make sure you apply to universities that have RN programs and get straight As in the prereqs.

Instead of applying for the accelerated BSN, why not apply for a traditional BSN? And if that still doesn't get you in, you could always try an ADN, get good grades in that, and then bridge from RN to BSN. If you want to be a nurse, explore all the options. You can always get more advanced degrees after you get the license.

Hey OP, Most of the schools I've seen will not accept a student into their program that failed out of another program. But I have to ask, does the school you failed from only allow you to fail once and then kick you out for good? I'm asking because some schools will let you fail once, allow you back in, and kick you out after a second failure. If your original school will take you back, it might be better to try to work with them and see what you can do to get back into the program.

Completely agree with the unfair nature of it. It's partly why the state university cut enrollment for their nursing program this year since people cannot get jobs on island. Again, I'm not saying you will not get a job. I would just focus on outpatient, SNF, and home health so you can at least use your RN license and have something to show on your resume for being in Hawaii for 2 years. Apply to hospitals since you never know what could happen, but definitely don't overlook non-hospital RN jobs.

Since the OP already has a BA, a lot of GE credits should carry over, which should minimize the price tag of a BSN. The way things are going, I think the BSN route would be better if the OP has the time, the grades to get into an accelerated BSN program, etc. Might be fine getting an ADN and getting a job at the bedside but if OP wants to move up into management and have other career opportunities in their career, they'll have to do a BSN at some point. But like many of us have seen, even jobs open to ADN RNs usually ask if they are willing to get a BSN in 5 years. Do it now, or do it later.

vglass, I know you weren't asking me but just wanted to reply to you as well. All the things in this thread still hold true. I just left Oahu 1 month ago and went back to the mainland. I was a new grad when I got to Honolulu and so I ended up working through a temp agency for a year in an outpatient setting. All the girls I worked with were also new grads and the only opportunities with no experience were some outpatient, SNF, and home health. Even outpatient is hard because they feel MAs are cheaper and APRNs can do more and cost less than an MD. An RN falling in the middle adds nothing. It is no joke when they say you cannot get a job in the acute care setting as a new grad. The doctor I worked with, who has connections at Queens, wrote a letter to the recruiters telling them how great his team was and that he wanted to know how he could recommend us for jobs as new grads since he felt so strongly about us, they basically wrote back saying they hire maybe 30 new grads a year and we'd just have to wait until something opened. Also, I took a PALs class at Queens and some of the new RN hires told me they graduated 3 years ago and had been working as techs before they finally got RN jobs. Yep, the stories, the legends, are true.