MrsCuoco

I flunked HS bio twice before they just passed me with a D to prevent me from not graduating. Science literally made me cry every night over homework. When I decided to apply for nursing school and had to take anatomy & phys 1 and 2 as prereqs, I was scared but I plunged in anyway. I studied HARD. I stashed flash cards everywhere...I even whipped them out in between tables at the cafe I worked at. And I got A's...in both classes AND the labs. In fact, twice I got the highest exam grade in the class...to my utter astonishment! Out of 230 students! I had no natural "head" for science and still don't. I just WANTED it. Bad. So I discovered there's a world of difference between the 16 year old me who hated school and had no clue what I wanted out of life, and the 35 year old me who definitely had a purpose and direction. And wasn't going to let a science class stand in my way.

Yup. My "thing" is phlegm. I can. Not. Handle it.

I just got hired. The DON said my cover letter was very honest and refreshing and impressed her. I'm also a fresh grad with no experience. Message me and I'd be happy to send you a copy

Yeah...I wanna know so I can work there! Hal my class works in LTC and they repot being run off their heinous!

I've heard that fewer and fewer places are doing credit checks, because your credit score just isn't that relevant in determining if you'll be a good nurse. This is mainly because there are just too many reasons why a person may have a poor credit score. Sure, you might be a shady dishonest person...but the majority of people, ESPECIALLY in the recent heinous economic climate, have found themselves on he low end of the credit score totem pole and are helpless to do a whole lot about it. For Pete's sake, why would you go to nursing school and try to get a job???? ~OH DUH! To make money to pay bills and get out of your debts! What a novel idea! See...it just doesn't make sense to exclude someone from a job factoring in a credit score. Me...I just got hired, and wasn't asked about mine, but I was advised by a nurse recruiter friend that if I was asked to provide info, to be upfront about it and say exactly why- that my idiot ex husband put all our bills in my name, got my car repossessed and "forgot" to file taxes for 4 years. Well ok I'd say it in much nicer words, but you get the idea.

Oh my...from your lips to my ears. Nursing school has put me so far into debt it's not even funny.

It's no longer a hard and fast rule that a resume has to be limited to one page...in fact our class hired a résumé expert to come teach a seminar and she said its virtually impossible, especially for healthcare professionals, to put the vital stuff on there and have it be only one page, and that hiring managers are no longer nixing applicants because of a resume longer than a page. Also, could you get a letter of recommendation from an instructor or a preceptor that was really impressed with you?

My class had 30 students- well, 25 graduated anyway. Some has jobs lined up before pinning, and maybe 3 don't have jobs yet. A handful of us just lined up jobs in the past couple of weeks. I got hired on at a nursing home where 6 other fellow students are, but I'm also waiting to hear if I get a second interview at a docs office I'd RATHER work at, and waiting for USA.jobs to post a listing for a PN at the local VA which is my dream job!

Be patient. Nursing grads take the boards in clumps and so the state BON gets inundated with results and they get back logged.

Sometimes all you can do is just...keep...applying. Everywhere. Even the places you might not want to. Have you applied to every local nursing home? I just got hired at one that employs 7 other former classmates and not a one of us had 1 year's experience. Are you submitting a cover letter with your résumé? I would...and craft it to be personalized to each facility and make sure they know what they'd gain by hiring you. Also try ihirenursing.com ...it's a paid job matching service but for a buck you can get a week's trial. In the week I was a member I was matched to 36 job opportunities that were never listed in my local paper. You can also suit your résumé and get a professional critique in a video! Very cool. I had no trouble canceling my 1 week trial.