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.

Thank you!!!

I took my test on May 31, got the good popup, and found out today that I passed!

I paid for my quick results and I passed!!!

New grads start out at 36 where I work. Traveling nurses get 50+ and usually have living expenses paid for. Seasoned nurses can make 50+ as well.

What everyone else said already is completely true. Most of the nurse aides I know are RNs waiting to get into new grad programs. If you're not willing to start at the bottom then I suggest not coming to Hawaii to look for work as a new grad. Nobody here is being hostile- just realistic. EVERY hospital here ONLY hires in house- with the exception provided by LVHI_RN. If you really want a nursing position here as a new grad, your best bet would be working at an SNF or looking into psychiatric nursing if that's what you're into. But if you're looking for a new grad program, you have to start at the bottom. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the truth.

Honestly, it's going to be hard for you to get a job without a bachelor's degree here. Not impossible, but hard. There are people that have graduated years ago here still waiting to get RN positions, while working as nurse aides or techs. As for schools, I don't think West Oahu has a nursing program (last I heard), but that could have changed. University of Hawaii would be your cheapest option, whether you choose Hilo or Manoa. HPU is very expensive but supposedly easier to get into. I went to Manoa and they upgraded their nursing facilities not too long after I graduated so it's really high tech now. Good luck!

https://allnurses.com/nclex-discussion-forum/anyone-up-random-308584.html I found it somewhere in this fact-throwing thread. It's a good read and a nice break from doing q-banks!

Oh and I also did Saunder questions too (a classmate gave me her disc to download). The Saunders questions were harder in my opinion, but still great stuff. Both NCLEX 3500 and Saunders lets you choose if you want to do a study session (getting rationales for correct answers right away) or set up a test with however many questions you like.

I paid for NCSBN and didn't really like it, but I've talked to others who have liked it. It is a cheaper option compared to Kaplan, but the content review is really just a basic outline. The questions are great but I gave up on studying the content because I thought it was crap. That is just my opinion though. NCLEX 3500 is free online (just google it). I studied a lot with these questions too, but it tends to be pretty buggy and I constantly had to refresh because I would get an error message after I submitted my answer. Still worth it though, and there are alternative format questions there too.

I've never taken Kaplan but I've heard the questions are actually harder than the NCLEX questions. I've heard of people passing with scores similar to yours.