bellatrixrn

If you have at least 1 year experience you have a lot more opportunities available through temp agencies. Otherwise you might have to take LPN pay for an RN job.

Hilo Medical Center just downsized I believe so it's going to be tough.

I checked Wikipedia after I asked the question and I definitely don't think I could live there (I'm from Hawaii). I spent 6 months in California and I froze my butt off there! That's with lows in the 40s. I don't think my body could handle subzero temperatures. Thanks for your reply!

Why is North Dakota not a good place to live? What are the hospital ratios like? How's the pay? It's definitely not someplace I have on my list of places I'd want to live but I'm keeping my options open.

I can't believe she gave up such a great opportunity! What I wouldn't give for that opportunity myself...

Was that the one that gave up the new grad job to have elective surgery? I'm hoping the critical care tech experience helps a little (I'm great at interpreting EKGs), but I'm not sure.

I actually prefer rural areas, so this works in my favor, thanks!

Yeah, I heard it's pretty terrible in California (and I actually prefer not to live there anyway, but it is the closest to Hawaii). However, I really don't think it can be worse than Hawaii, which basically has no "new" grad programs. I mean, we call it new grad, but if you have to work 6 months plus (seriously, some people have been waiting for over 3 years) as an aide/tech first, you're really not a new grad anymore. I do take CE course periodically to keep myself up to date and educate myself as much as possible.

I've been out of school for two years now, and for a number of reasons didn't take my NCLEX until about a month ago. Amazingly enough, I passed! I was so excited to finally get that out of the way. The thing is, I've been reading posts on this site about how it is near impossible to get a job as an "old" new grad. I am so disheartened. A little more background: I live in Hawaii and work as a critical care tech in a hospital that does have a new grad program, but only hires in-house. Most all of the hires are "old" new grads that have been working as aides or techs. So, basically, if you are not able to get in to the new program right away (most don't), and you give up and decide to move away to pursue job opportunities, you've already been out of school for quite a while. Some people have had to wait for YEARS to get into our new grad program, or similar programs at other hospitals. That being said, I have decided to look into opportunities elsewhere, mostly on the west coast so I won't be too far from home. I'm planning on applying for endorsement in Washington, California, and Nevada, where the population of people from Hawaii is the highest. I guess what I'm looking for is a little validation that it's not entirely impossible to get hired as an "old" new grad in these states. Will my experience as a critical care tech help at all? Am I wasting my money (it'll probably be around $500 or more for all three states)? Should I just stay where I am, in a state where I feel it is the most difficult to get into a new grad program? If anybody has any experience with getting hired as an "old" new grad, I would love to hear from you. I would love to hear any advice at all! Thanks for taking the time to read my post. :)

I believe Straub, Pali Momi, and Kapiolani (HPH) all have new grad programs. They also only hire in-house. Castle and Kaiser don't have new grad programs, but will sometimes train in-house new grads.

Did you try Queens? They just had a job fair. They also have online job postings.

No, sorry. Although the nurse I spoke to that made that much was an ICU nurse, that might make a difference.

I've been a nurse aide for one year and a critical care tech for one year as well. I'm still deciding if I even want to apply at Queen's (to double my chances at a new grad program). I probably will go anyway just to check it out. I was thinking maybe I would be better off picking up a side job working as an RN at a SNF or just working the flu shot season when it starts. I've been out of school for two years already and I'm seriously considering moving to find a job but I think it would be hard considering I'm an old "new grad" (not age-wise, just by the amount of time that has lapsed since graduation). But I love where I work now! Thanks for your reply.

I already have a tech/aide position at another hospital, so I wanted to avoid working 2 jobs, although I probably will apply anyway. I thought maybe there would be more than what was online, since the newspaper article said the job fair was for "hundreds" of job openings. Doesn't seem like that much online. Thanks for your reply.

Does anybody know if the upcoming job fair for Queen's Medical Center will include any new grad programs? I checked online but didn't see any applications for new grads.