RNgirlyAK

Hi! I have also signed up, for RN - BSN, with WGU and I believe these are pre-req's to the BSN portion. These must be completed before anything else; however, if I were you I would double check the transcripts to see if any classes taken had not been counted. I had a few classes they did not count, so I found the class description and emailed that to them and they were able to count them then.

2 hours one way?!? That seems crazy to me. Do you work 12's? So that would mean 12 hours of driving a week. It seems more cost effective with time and gas to find something closer, even if it doesn't pay as well. You could almost use that commute time to work an extra day to make up for any pay differences. The farthest I would commute is 1 hour...and I am hoping to decrease that within the next few months by 15 minutes, at least.

I currently work per diem and recently started applying out of state. Just prior, I thought I would try one last round of app's at my preferred local hospital. Fast forward one month and I am looking at a job offer any day from out of state. In the mean time, I was able to interview with the local hospital for a Vasc. Access Team position, and sent a follow up thank you email to the ICU director. She said she would know by the following week and would let me know. I was then told by HR the following week that they think she decided to go with someone internally. I began emailing the director of ICU for confirmation of this. She confirmed, but she also said she was so impressed by my interview that she would be willing to help me out with getting another RN job within the hospital, then proceeded to ask if I was interested in critical care. I am very interested, let her know I was, and now 1 week later, I have not heard anything back. I am expecting a job offer any day from out of state, but I don't want to accept and miss out on an opportunity locally at a ccu. What should I do?

Hi! I live and work in Alaska. I knew a couple that moved up from Ohio and they struggled with the transition. The major issues that motivated them to return to Ohio after 1 year is: not having family here, the much higher cost of living, and they were not very active in the winter. My advice to you would be to research housing. Look on craigslist at the housing in Anchorage, Eagle River. If you are adventurous and want to try the commute thing, housing is much cheaper in the Matsu Valley (Palmer and Wasilla). There is also a hospital in Palmer- Matsu Regional Medical Center. If you are looking for new grad programs, Providence Alaska Medical Center and Alaska Regional offer them. These hospitals still sometimes offer moving expenses or sign-on bonuses.

Thanks sharpeimom! I will try to stay positive. Waiting over a month would drive me completely crazy...definitely a pleasant surprise when they finally called, I bet. I guess I just thought they checked every reference every time. I hadn't thought that they may not even call them. Thanks for the comments :)

PurpleDelight: keep applying...you will get more chances. For some reason it seems as though you don't hear anything and then BAM, you have multiple interviews lined up. There was a time i didn't hear anything back for months and then received 3 calls to schedule interviews in 1 day. Apply everywhere...if you aren't hearing anything back, revisit your resume'. It is possible it just needs reworked. Just keep trying, be persistent! Also, make sure you are sending a thank you letter post interview.

Meriwhen: Thanks for the feedback. I am not very good at the waiting game...obviously haha

If you think thats bad...you should see our new name badges

I have had 5 interviews in the last couple of weeks and 4 of them have told me they would be checking my references. My references have told me no one has called them. I have heard back from 1 that was a no. I am due to hear back from 2 by Monday and still none of my references have been contacted. What gives? I felt like the interviews went great. Is this the new polite way of saying No?

I have noticed that when I first started interviewing for nursing jobs, I would draw blanks when asked the typical 'give an example' interview questions. Try to look at some of the other posts on common interview q's and be able to answer those common questions using past experiences that you had in nursing school. I was able to land my first RN job by doing this. Take each interview as a learning experience. You WILL get better at them! I recently had several phone interviews. I noticed by the final one I was so comfortable and had multiple examples for different questions. Keep at it, you will land a job!

So they already had someone in mind, but they still had to interview another nurse? Sorry, what an inconsiderate waste of your time.

Have you checked Alaska? There is a new grad program starting at Alaska Regional...maybe try there. Also, Providence Alaska Medical Center offers new grads positions and programs as well :)

Congrats!! So exciting!

Interview for Tele position in Meridian went great. The DON sounded so nice and personable. She is having HR check references and she said she would get back to me...If offered jobs for all, this would be an incredibly tough choice. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Hi! I agree the CNA experience would be helpful; however, I obtained my EMT-B prior to going into nursing school. I wanted to be an ED Tech and the ED Director said they would hire me as an EMT. It was great. There were a lot of skills we were able to do at my facility: phlebotomy, EKG's (doing, not reading), urinary catheterization, CPR, lots of splinting and lots of wound care. It provides excellent opportunity to network for getting a job after nursing school. My EMT cert. also gave me a 'point' toward my score to get into nursing school.