RedDirtNurse

After you have finished a certain amount of nursing courses (depends on your program and where you live) your instructor can fill out a form and you can take a short test that will allow you to work as a CNA. I would highly recommend doing this for part-time work during school - not only will you get hands on experience with patient care, but you will also have a small leg up in your job search after you graduate. Many jobs won't even consider your application if you don't have at least one year of nursing experience (such as home health and agency), and while working as a CNA isn't exactly nursing work, it worked for a couple of my classmates in finding jobs after graduation, and it will show future employers that you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty! Nursing homes are great places to get on as an aide or CNA, in my area at least they are always looking for part-time help, and lots of them work 8-hour shifts, which might work in with your school schedule better than 12's at a hospital. Also, don't be afraid to do the dirty jobs - I did a part-time evening cleaning job at a local clinic during LVN school. It wasn't nursing but it did show that I was trusted with confidentiality HIPPA-type stuff and knew my way around medical equipment and waste. Also, it sounds crazy, but I got my first nursing job with no prior experience because they saw on my resume that I'd been a veterinary assistant, and felt like I'd at least have experience with medications, record keeping, and the "blood and guts" aspect of nursing. So think outside the box - nursing covers lots of different ground in a day, and if you can creatively show your prospective employers in an interview how working the drive through window at Burger King gave you excellent people skills...that just might help you out too! Good LUCK!!!

Starting my first nursing job this week on 7p-7a. I've never worked nights before and I'm a little worried about getting into the swing of it and not walking around like the Night of the Living Dead. Anybody got any great advice?? And how do you go from nights on to a normal routine on your days off? PS: I tried a 5 Hour Energy once and vomited for three days...so that's out. Muchas Gracias!!

As a recent grad about to start my first job (in a teaching hospital), I just gotta say I'm glad I didn't read this while I was still in clinicals...would have made me even more nervous to mess up or get in the nurses' way! As a student I always tried to be helpful and attentive to the nurse I was with and ask lots of questions without being obnoxious or annoying. Some nurses were awesome - patient, kind, informative, and encouraging...even when we were busy busy busy and under stress. A few others were rude, impatient, and grouchy when census was low and we barely had anything to do. Guess which nurses inspired me and made me want to be the best nurse I could be?? I have been told numerous times that nurses eat their young...which is very sad to me, in a profession that is supposed to be based on caring for people in their lowest moments. I hope that I can remember what it felt like to be unsure, eager, nervous, and high on new knowledge when I have students following me someday.

Be sure to know what the hospital's or facility's mission statement is, and what their "slogan" is (like "Service, Compassion, Dedication" or "Courtesy, Compassion, and Care") I was asked yesterday in my peer interview if I had seen the hospital's TV commercials and what their slogan meant to me and how I would apply it to my practice. I don't watch TV, so no, I hadn't seen it (yikes!) but luckily I HAD done my homework online and knew what the slogan was. :rckn:

Can't help you with specific places (I'm in the Lubbock area), but just wanted to encourage you. I graduated in August, and my entire class has been in the same boat...no experience, no jobs, etc. But in the last couple of weeks several of us have found jobs - don't lose hope! Three out of my class have been hired at rehab hospitals in Lubbock, so you might look at those. And I learned to go ahead and apply and send resumes to places you are interested in even if they don't show an opening - I ended up getting hired that way. Good luck!!

Hmm. Probably right on the negotiating thing...Both places are strictly rehab hospitals, no LTC. Thanks. Hoping the Med/Surg job works out for me. Should be a better deal all around.

I am a new LVN (graduated in August, licensed in September)...finally getting some response to the thousand and one resume's I sent out. I have been on one interview and have another tomorrow. I was actually offered the job after the first interview and accepted, then the hospital I really want to work for (UMC) called for an interview. So I'm going in with high hopes but something to fall back on, too. What I'm wondering is what the average starting pay for a new LVN is in Lubbock or similar cities. The job offer I accepted is at a rehab hospital, and I was pretty disappointed with what they offered me (13.85/hr) , but I figured I better not turn it down, as sluggish as the market is. Then today I talked to a classmate who took basically the same job in a different facility and she is making $20....which totally bums me out about the job I just accepted. (it's not a difference of experience or education, either...I have a great resume just no nursing experience, and was valedictorian of my LVN class...my friend is about the same age {30} with a lot less job experience than me and was salutatorian) I was making $15/hour at my part time housekeeping job during LVN school!! I really want the UMC job...better experience, better opportunities, etc., and I am starting on RN classes in January and I feel like UMC is somewhere I could work for my entire career. What sort of salary offer should I expect from them? Is the offer I got from the rehab hospital totally lowballing me or is my friend's job just phenomenal? Any input on the subject is greatly appreciated.

I am also a new LVN...had my first interview last week (and was offered the job!) and have another tomorrow. I was in the exact same position as this was my first time interviewing for a nursing job. I was taken to a peer interview with four interviewers. I was prepared for a lot of nursing knowledge questions but for the most part I felt like they were trying to get a feel for me as a person, not necessarily what I knew. A few questions I know they asked were: ~Tell us about a situation where you did something for a patient without being asked. ~Tell us about a time when you had a personality conflict, what is was about, how you handled it, and how it was resolved. ~You are getting ready for work when you hear on the radio that roads are closing due to snow and there is at least a two hour delay for commuters. What do you do? ~It is ten minutes until your shift ends and you have finished everything you needed to do. How do you spend those ten minutes. ~Describe a situation when you had to protect a client's right to privacy/confidentiality in regards to HIPPA requirements. ~Describe the most difficult patient you have cared for. What was the situation, why was it difficult, what did you do to make it work and what was the outcome? There were several more, but they were along these lines. They understood (and your interviewers will, too) that I was a new nurse and that my only patient care experience came from clinicals, so don't worry about that. I was also able to incorporate some experiences from my previous jobs in banking, as a veterinary assistant, and a hunting lodge manager to round out my answers and not sound or feel like a total "job virgin". Life experience counts, too - it makes us better nurses! Hope this helps you a little - I'm a lot less nervous for this second interview...maybe because I've already been through one, or maybe because I've already got a job lined up if this one doesn't work out. Good luck to you!!!