RunBabyRN

Apply, apply, apply. I have prior medical experience, and that seemed to work AGAINST me applying for new grad positions. I was too experienced for those, but not experienced enough for regular positions. Plenty of my classmates were able to get into new grad programs and are working. Apply to as many programs as you'd consider, and keep your options open. Good luck!

Where in CA are you looking? There aren't a ton of inpatient units left these days. I know one in NorCal pays about $30/hour, which isn't much for the area. I don't believe agencies would be your connection to these jobs. You'd need to apply directly. They tend to have very high turnover, FYI.

I work in San Francisco, and few of my coworkers live in the city because it's so expensive. Even the surrounding areas are expensive, and for what I make, I still have to be careful about my spending (I'm a single mom, so it's my income only). We just renegotiated our contract with CNA, so we have increases coming, but still. Bakersfield, Modesto and Fresno are not very desirable places to live, which is why they are actively recruiting all the time. Many hospitals throughout the state are looking for experienced nurses, and I know Kaiser, which is one of the better paying system here, has been actively recruiting (at least for labor and delivery). What kinds of things are you looking for, weather-wise, city sized-wise, resource-wise, etc? Maybe we can help steer you in the right direction.

I haven't made this transition, but I work with a few nurses who have. You might consider OB-CCRN certification (look into what's required). If you haven't already, get your NRP certification, and take AWHONN EFM courses.

I agree about NRP, EFM, and lactation certification. It all helps. I also have ACLS, though my unit doesn't require it. If you can get some experience helping moms learn to breastfeed, that would be very useful when you apply. You can try finding out if there are any volunteer positions there so they know your name and your face. Good luck!

Look into OB-CCRN. There are a zillion truly high risk units. You need to look at high level NICUs, and those will tell you the units that have high risk OB. There are too many to list here. Look at the major cities near you, and research their OB units. For example, I work for a major hospital system, and we have 4 campuses in the city where I work. Only two of them have L&D units, and ours is the high risk one. We have two rooms that can be OB-ICU rooms if needed, including our recovery room. There is one other hospital in the city with a higher acuity NICU than us (level IV), but it's very rare for us to send anyone there. Most stuff gets sent to us from other hospitals. We don't have full-time ICU unless absolutely necessary. Most ICU-type stuff gets stabilized with us with our OB-CCRNs, then transported to an ICU (as we're a children's and OB hospital only). Moms and babies are, sadly, separated when that happens, but they transport Mom back to us when she's stable enough. I imagine the hospital with the higher acuity care probably doesn't have to do that, but they have everything in one place that just opened last year.

Can men be OB/GYNs? Can women be urologists that specialize in prostate cancer? This smells of a homework question.

I'm a mother, but I was in a similar role. We had to take out student loans to pay living expenses. Thankfully I received a small stipend from the VA and they paid tuition and books, but we still needed money. I'd started out nursing school keeping the job I'd held prior, but my boss wasn't very understanding about my schedule, and I was forced to quit. I wasn't home much, so I tried to make the time count when I was home. I didn't study at home, because it was too hard to focus, and my ex-husband (who didn't work- don't get me started) and son had a hard time with me being home but unavailable.

I agree you should go for it! I had a male L&D nurse when I was in labor with my son, and he was great. We have a male midwife where I am now. Any nurse may get "fired" or refused by any patient. It happens. Try not to take it personally, and don't go in expecting to be refused. Pursue what makes you happy!

I found out where she heard it from- it's a charge nurse, who spoke to me a couple of days later about the same thing (I didn't tell the charge that someone else had already told me this was coming). She said she's heard some feedback from other nurses. I didn't ask when this feedback came or from whom (obviously), but I tried to be receptive to it and I thanked her for the feedback. Since this conversation, I've asked both preceptors at the beginnings of my shifts if they feel there is anything I need to work on specifically before we take an assignment (the RNs on our unit choose their own assignments, or we draw if we can't decide), and I have asked for feedback at the end of the shifts if there is anything they felt I could have done differently or that went well or poorly. It's been good feedback, and they haven't said anything about needing to work on anything specific. The one I have felt is undermining me is getting better, but it still happens, and I just keep my mouth shut at this point. I know it's time-limited, and it's not going to help at this point to bring it up. The day after my coworker and I had this conversation, my other preceptor (the one I've been doing well with) told my manager she thinks I'm ready to go on my own, about 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule, actually. The manager and my shift supervisor came to me about the schedule. They didn't say anything about any negative feedback, and I didn't bring it up. So it looks like I may be on my own starting next week. I definitely didn't plan to bring up the negative feedback, but if my preceptor hadn't gone to my manager, I was considering asking the manager how she felt I was doing. This week wouldn't have been a good week for that, however, as Joint Commission arrived Tuesday! That kept me from bugging her, because I understand she has PLENTY on her plate with that alone. I was already planning to give thank you cards and small gifts to each of my two main preceptors, and they will be comparable to each other. I need to do that this weekend before I go back in Monday. Thanks for the recommendations! I think we are thinking on the same plane. I was also trying to consider other work options (though losing this job would absolutely break my heart, because it's exactly what I've always wanted).

I agree with the PP- stay out of the drama, keep to yourself, and focus on getting through school. Nursing school is stressful enough without catty drama.

Find out the retake policy with your program. Not all programs accept students with repeated attempts, and those that do have varying policies.

1. You choose which assignments to take. However, you may not be familiar with the area, so it can be a crap shoot. Most hospitals have at least a few travelers. You can choose to be close to home or go somewhere different. 2. Travelers make about the same as other nurses, but are contract workers, so no benefits, 401K/403B, and no protection with the unions. They are also often the first to be canceled on a unit, and there is no guarantee of hours. 3. I would suggest getting familiar with the housing market in the area before making such a big purchase. This sounds like a pretty risky plan, but to each their own. Others can probably better speak to housing money and how that works. 4. Kind of true, and different everywhere you go. You get the poop end of the stick, in that you get canceled first, and they may treat you like you're expendable. Some places will treat you better than others. It's hard to form relationships with the staff, because they know you're temporary, so people keep their distance. But like anywhere, you'll meet awesome people, too. 5. You need to know your unit. You need to be floor ready. They won't take new grads without experience. If you want to work in a specialty, you'll need some experience in that specialty first. I do know of one exception, a friend of mine who is a traveler in an outpatient surgery center. She was brought in as a new grad, they trained her, and they want to hire her on (she wants that, too), but it's been complicated because of her role as a traveler. This is all in the same town where we live and went to school. 6. Not sure. I imagine some managers like it, some don't. 7. Specialties are often most in demand, from what I have seen. 8. I wouldn't count on it. Again, I think it depends on the unit. Our unit has very little overtime. Others may have different perspectives. Good luck!

I was in a 2 year BSN program. 1st semester: med/surg and OB 2nd semester: med/surg and psych 3rd semester: med/surg or cardiac telemetry, critical care/ED/OR, peds 4th semester: community health/senior preceptorship

Ask your instructors or coordinator if your parents can both go. I know several classmates that had both parents there. I had my son pin me, but my ex-husband went with him on stage (we were still married at the time).