MarkusKrause

I honestly don't know. I got into nursing, hoping that I'd find a job a few months after getting my license. Because I was sure that I'd at least find part-time work somewhere around my hometown, I didn't do much in terms of extra-curriculars. I see now that that was a mistake, especially considering that I don't have anything resembling a good work history; my first "job" in the last 15 years has been working with my father, a dermatologist, as his staff nurse, and even then, neither of us consider what I'm currently doing to be a real job. I just feel betrayed, both by my parents (an MD and an RN) who told me nursing would always give me a job, and by my nursing school for not making me aware of how horrible and unforgiving the market is. Then again, I don't have any other marketable skills, so I'm basically stuck. Plus, I worked too hard to pass my boards, and fretted too many nights away agonizing over whether I had passed or not. But would I do it again? No. I probably wouldn't. More and more every day, it just seems like a bunch of wasted effort. But I'm going to keep clinging on, because I have no other choice. Oh, and I'm going to be 28 in June, by the way.

It's been a year since I got my license from the State of Michigan, and I haven't had any luck finding a job. I've pretty much given up on the hospitals--seeing "experience preferred" has become synonymous with "new nurse need not apply," and yet none of the nursing homes I've applied to have shown even a lick of interest in hiring me. Frankly, I've started to really give up hope. I want to be a nurse. I think I'd be really good at it. Perhaps I just have no idea how to sell myself. My details are as follow: I am an ADN who graduated in December 2012, and earned my Michigan RN license the following March. I do have a BA in Psychology, which helped me get into my nursing program. I didn't work all through high school and my undergrad at the University of Michigan, so I don't have a work history or any good references. I have been volunteering every Thursday, as often as I can, at a nearby free clinic, starting last September. I am getting a little bit of experience in history-taking by working with my father--a dermatologist--in his office, but neither of us consider it a "real" job. It's just a glorified holding pattern, something to do while I wait for my actual career to start. I'll take pretty much any shift I can get, and as long as it is within driving of my parents' house (where I still live), I'm happy to take either part-time or per diem. Otherwise, I need full-time employment in order to move anywhere else. That is my only exception. I'd also really prefer if I didn't have to into the Emergency department or ICU, but if that is really to only option, than I suppose I have no other choice. As for networking, I find that it's hard for me. I don't know very many people, so I have no idea what I can do in terms of networking. How does networking even work?

Is this true for ADNs, or just for BSNs? So far, I've had my license for over a year, and I haven't had any luck in finding a job, even with nursing homes. The only issue I can see is that I don't have a work history. What I mean is that I haven't had a "real" job since I quit being a paperboy at age 13. I'm going to be 28 in June. I do work with my dad in his office--he's a dermatologist--but neither of us consider it a true job; it's just something to do to pass the time, and I barely do anything that actually requires nursing knowledge. I don't have any illusions that I'm going to get my dream job. I'd actually prefer to work midnights. I just want something that I can do for a few years, get some half-ways decent references, and solidify my nursing skills. Heck, as long as it's within driving distance of my parents' home in Jackson, I'd work for half-pay. I'd work for a dollar. For beans. Compliments, even! I need usable experience and ways to test my skills. So far, I don't have much hope.