TstormRN

Congrats and Welcome!!!! :yelclap: Best of luck with your first job as an official RN!!!!

I'm right there with you! I just started in a CVICU as a new grad and I am very nervous too!!!! These upcoming months are going to be very exciting but I would definitely welcome any advice as well!!!!

Congratulations on passing boards and your new job! That's awesome!!!! I graduated this past December and I just started my first job as well in an ICU!!! I am nervous but also very excited! So far it has been a great experience and I look forward to the months ahead!!!!!

First, I want to say that I am truly sorry for the situation you are in. You went to school to get a career that you love and not even a year in you are miserable and on the verge of already being burnt out. That is so frustrating! I am going to go against the grain of a lot of people and say that I think it is awesome that you know what your passion is in nursing and that you know what type of nursing is going to make you happy and you want to be there as soon as possible! I don't think you should ever give up on that dream or let anyone make you feel that you need to stay in a position that makes you feel the way you do just because you "need to pay your dues" or your a new grad so you won't get your dream job right after school. I think that if you know what your passion is then you need to do everything you can to get there. I graduated last December and I knew I wanted to work ICU-long before I began nursing school. I had so many people telling me similar things that people here are about paying your dues, not getting your dream job right out of school, settling for med/surg because at least its a job. You better believe that I didn't listen to one person that said those things because I knew that I sacraficed a lot for nursing school and I wasn't about to settle for a job that I knew I had no passion for or would make me miserable. I didn't go to nursing school just to get a job, I went to get a career that I would love. And you better believe, six months after graduation and many rejection letters and phone calls later I got my dream job in a CVICU!!!!! That was the first offer of employment that I got but I only applied for positions that were going to be related to my passion. I believe that you should continue working in your unit until you can transfer to the unit you want to be in because although it isn't your passion, it will give you great experience for your dream job. Get any certifications you can that will help, shadow the nurses in the unit you want to work, and DON'T GIVE UP!!!! A lot of people keep telling you to grow up but I don't think knowing what your passion is and trying to pursue it makes you young and naive....I think it makes you motivated!!!! I understand that many people can't get their dream job right after school for one reason or another but I do think that even if you don't does not mean to give up on that dream. It may take a little longer to get where you want to be you will get there if that is really where you want to be! Please don't listen to any negative nellies out there putting a damper on your dream-you know what your passion is and I applaude you for wanting to pursue it!!!!

I know how you feel. I graduated in December 2011 from an accelerated program with honors and at the top of my class. You would think employers would be lining up to hire someone with my acedemic record. Well unfortunately that wasn't what was happening and I began to feel very discouraged. I started to wonder why I had worked so hard and sacrificed so much to be rejected by so many employers. I saw other people from my nursing program get their dream jobs (some with no previous health care experience) and as happy as I was for them, I couldn't stop wondering what was wrong with me. I even got an interview for my dream job (CVICU) at a top hospital in the US and thought things were turning around for me. I did not get the job and I became even more discouraged. I kept remembering though that nursing was my passion and I didn't work this hard to just give up. I kept sending out applications, calling HR recruiters, and praying! I ended up getting an interview a month after my first one in another CVICU (in another state) and this time I was offered the postition! I start next week! The funny thing is after being offered this position, I have had calls from two other hospitals wanting to interview me! I really think when it rains, it pours-even with good things! I am glad that I didn't give up! I am also glad that I realized that I was going to be a great nurse and any hospital that hired me would be lucky! You have to continue to believe in yourself or no one else will! I even had a lot of close family members and friends tell me that I might have to look at other areas of nursing just to get my foot in the door and then pursue my dream job sometime down the line. I completely understood that they were still rooting for me but that the job market is tough out there-especially for new grads and new grads wanting an ICU position. The thing is I knew what my passion was and how badly I wanted it and I was determined to get a position that I loved! Was the process to getting to this point frustrating-absolutely! But I am glad I stuck it out and never gave up! I wish you the best of luck in your search for a job! You didn't work that hard in nursing school to give up now! Keep trying and believing in yourself and someone will see the great nurse that lies within you and they will be lucky to have you on their team!

I agree....it is very frustrating. I believe that if you gave them the time to come in and interview then they should at least give you the courtesy of a call to let you know their decision. If it were me and it had been a week since I called and left the manager I message, I would call again. Or if you have their email address, then email them. Maybe they check their email more often than their phone messages. Either way, the next message I would leave would include telling them that you were really thankful for the interview and very excited about the job and you would like to know when you would be contacted about a decision. If this is your dream job then I would continue to pursue it because it shows your continued interest in the position and you may end up getting the offer.

I chose my username because I love thunderstorms and think they are a beautiful part of nature!

I was just hired at Mercy and will begin a fellowship in Critical Care next month. That I am aware of they only offer fellowships for new nurses. I know they have fellowships for critical care, L&D and I think med/surg. You will not find a fellowship opening on their career website. You have to apply for the position you are interested in and then if you are offered a position in which a fellowship is offered then you will complete that. I was told that new nurses have to go through fellowships at the hospital so I would assume that if there isn't one specific to your unit then you would complete the med/surg one (not 100% sure though). I would recommend speaking with a nursing recruiter at the hospital to get more information about the area that you are interested in working.

I was just hired to Mercy and they only offer fellowships for certain areas (critical care, L&D, maybe Med/surg). You just have to apply for the position you are interested in and if you are offered it than you will complete the fellowship if there is one available in that area. You will not see fellowship appear as a job title. If there isn't a fellowship than you will recieve some other type of traning for that unit. If you are still interested in applying here you can PM me and I will give you the information of the nursing recruiter that I have been working with.

I have never heard of the ATI either. My school had Hesi exams for all of our finals and we also had a Hesi exit exam. I really liked these tests as I felt that they were similar in format to the questions on the NCLEX and really helped me be prepared for what to expect on the NCLEX.

1) I feel that all three schools will give you a great education. I am not sure of a difference between UMSL and SLU but the Goldfarb accelerated program is only 12 months long and the other two are 15 months long (I am a graduate of Goldfarb Dec. '11). I would recommend going to each school and speaking with an advisor and taking a tour. This will help you decide what school is best for you. I do not believe that any employer will look at you differently because of the school you attended-as stated before all three are very good schools. 2) I will say that it is harder to get a job now as a new nurse as opposed to even five years ago but it isn't impossible and you are very likely to get a job after schooling. Many hospitals have programs set up for new graduates. I would look at the hospitals you are interested in working at about four months prior to graduation as this is usually the time they post these type of openings. I will say it took me six months to get a job after graduation but this is because I wanted something specific and it is difficult for new graduates to get this position (ICU). I don't regret waiting this long because this is my passion. I don't want that to scare you though. I would say 2/3 of my class had jobs within three months of graduation. The job market is tougher for any field these days but don't let that be a reason not to go to nursing school. If this really is your passion, you will not regret the decision even if you have to wait a couple of months to find a job-it will be worth it!!!! 3) I don't believe being male will affect you one way or another. I do know that they are many more male nurses entering the field in just the last couple of years. As of last December, my graduating class had the most males accepted for the accelerated program. I'm sure this year there are even more. 4) First I would say find out which program(s) you want to apply for and apply now. The waiting lists are long for any nursing program right now and if you want to start next year then you need to apply now. I applied a year and a half before my start date and was accepted without being put on the waiting list. I applied that early because the advisor at Goldfarb told me they were filling up quick and and they accept on a rolling basis. You don't have to have all your pre-reqs done before you apply-I had six pre-reqs that I needed and finished them in the year and a half that I had before I started. Also, with pre-reqs-each of these schools have different ones so you want to make sure that your are getting the ones done for the program(s) that you will be applying for. One last thing, to help employment after school I would recommend getting a patient tech job (patient tech, certified nursing assistant, etc...) in the unit or at least the hospital you think you would like to work at. This is the one thing I wish I would have done before nursing school. Assuming you do well in the unit and school, you will have a much better chance at getting a job in that unit or at least that hospital. If you can, get the job as soon as possible and stay PRN during the accelerated program. I hope this information helps! Good luck in your future!

I'm not sure how quickly the waitlist go by but I can give you an idea of how many are accepted into each program. I graduated from the accelerated program in December 2011 and we had 50 people start in our class. The upper division class had 70-75 people start at the same time. I applied a year and a half before my start date and was accepted without being put on the waitlist. When I applied the advisor told me they fill up fast and accept people on a rolling basis. I don't think that many people that get accepted into the program will give up their spots unfortunately. Most likely you will be looking at Fall of 2013 or Spring 2014 unless they have increased the number of students that they accept into each program. I would still keep in touch with the advisor every few months to see if your spot on the waiting list has moved up.