JAG58RN

Thank you for the info, evolvingrn :)

Hi everyone! I have been asked to interview with the Madison VA for an RN position and the most recent posts I've seen in the Wisconsin forum are several years old. So, I was just wondering if anyone could share what they have experienced or heard about the VA in general. We all love to hear about salary and that would be nice, but I'm really wanting to hear about the nursing culture and how a new BSN grad might fit in. Thank you :)

6 months of orientation including Periop 101 :)

Okay, I made my decision! I interviewed for PACU, Endoscopy, Medical-surgical, and OR - I had not yet heard back from PACU or Endo, but Medical and OR were my top 2 and both extended full-time day shift positions. I decided on the OR position because both sounded equally valuable to my professional goals, but I love excitement and fast-paced work and the OR seems to be notoriously difficult to get into. I am honestly flattered to receive good offers right out of school in the current economy and I would just like to thank this community again for all of the information you have provided!

I am somewhat fearful of sharing which departments I have interviewed with because I would like to retain some degree of anonymity until I have made a decision on which offer to accept. I also somewhat regret sharing the wage because I'm concerned that my future employer would find my action unprofessional, but apparently I can't edit posts without paying $30 for membership...

Thank you! It is a 1 hour commute and I can only share what I was told regarding the wage. I am new to Wisconsin, but I believe Aurora is in Milwaukee which is 1hr45min commute from where I live in Madison.

Hi everyone! First, let me apologize if there is a thread this should be attached to, and moderators feel free to move it as needed of course. I'm a new grad RN from Ohio and I just moved to Madison with my fiance who accepted a position with Epic. I had been searching for a job for a month after my license came through and was fearful of the dismal state of things in Madison for new grads. It seems to be a brick wall for new grads unless you get into the UWH Nurse Residency. I expanded my search for jobs and I have found quite a few openings that do not specify a need for prior experience with Mercy Health Systems in Janesville. They are expanding their Walworth and Janesville locations and seem to have enough of a need for nurses to include new RN's. As of tomorrow, I will have interviewed with four different departments and I received an offer from my first unit today for a full time position. I do not discuss wages normally, but HR at Mercy was very upfront with their salary calculator, so I thought I would share that they start at 24.75/hr and it scales with experience. When I started my job search, I wanted to know my competition's qualifications and what wage I should ask for - I've been candid with the wage and I will also share my qualifications. 1.5 years experience as a cardiovascular stepdown nurse tech with the Cleveland Clinic, 3.15 GPA, I was a class officer, and my clinical experience was widely varied. I won't call these "tips" as I feel very fortunate to have found a position and don't have a leg to stand on for telling other people what they should do to prepare, but I will share what I did. I took several hours to make a resume that stressed my tech experience and clinical experience. At the bottom was the fluff (honors/references upon request). My resume does not give career objectives, it is 1 page, and very concise. I gave cover letters to every single position I have applied for. I spent at least 12 hours preparing for the first couple interviews and I sent thank you letters to every single person I interviewed with (usually I interviewed with at least 2 people). In my interviews, I was asked very normal questions in any interview, not even an oddball question - I was hit with probably 1/20 of what I was prepared to answer and nobody asked *anything* about nursing skills, pathophysiology, medications, etc. I took the time to write this because I felt a sincere need to give back to this community - I used many of the forums on this website to prepare for my interviews. I also didn't see anybody posting about the opportunities with Mercy. Also, I really want to mention that for one of the positions I interviewed for, the RN Lead shared that 70 people had applied and she chose only 4-5 to interview. So if you don't get a bite, don't sweat it too much! I sincerely hope this helps someone and that nothing I said came across in a condescending way - I am someone who feels starved for raw information when I need an answer, so I am simply trying to put as much information as I can.