Quota BSN, RN

I graduated back in August and also had a long journey towards a job offer but I just got the one and jumped on it myself. I start hospital orientation on Monday for a new grad Oncology fellow position. My perspective is not from the experienced side so take it with a grain of salt. Personally I’d go with the cardiac telemetry unit simply because that’s what I really wanted in my own job search before it became pretty much anything but OB or psych. My “medsurg” rotation in school was on a cardiac telemetry unit, my preceptorship was on a coronary care unit (ICU) and I really enjoyed both. So my focus was on cardiac units. Really I think any of the telemetry units would be a good place to start and build a good foundation as a new nurse. With your options I’d skip the medsurg ortho unit. I did interview for two units like that and they impression I got is you’ll be doing a whole lot of patient admits and discharges most days due to the high patient turnover. That’s a lot of paperwork and charting vs. patient care and learning. Plus at least on the units I interviewed on most of those patients are knee and hip replacements on generally stable patients. You should get a more rounded experience on any of the telemetry units I’d think. I’d also take location, pay, and benefits into consideration if they are different between the four positions. If you had the chance to shadow on any of the units that helps too. Congrats on the multiple offers, I hope you enjoy whichever unit you decide on.

Agreed on not overdoing it on questions each day. I had a long time between activating my UWorld subscription and actually taking my NCLEX. We got subscriptions through school so activated to study for our HESI exit exam in July, classes ended first week of August and we had a whole month before we got our ATT. Scheduled my NCLEX for mid September. I averaged 40-50 questions a day and took a day off a day here and there. No burn out.

Watched a lot of TV/Netflix, worked a lot of hours at my retail job, went on some interviews, and finally got my first new grad nursing job offer. I start my new grad position on an Oncology unit at the hospital less than 3 miles from my house the first week of February. It was a long time coming, graduated in August, but I’m happy with the final outcome. Some of the units I interviewed for were not what I’d consider ideal units or would have significant commutes made worse by being night shift positions. Very happy and excited to start my new career at the hospital I really wanted to work at in the first place.

DC metro resident here who just recently finished an accelerated BSN program. My program everyone was successful in classes and I don't know official NCLEX pass rates but everyone I'm in contact with from my cohort passed. My school's accelerated program has had higher NCLEX pass rates than the traditional program as well. Their accelerated program isn't going anywhere.

The average local hospital pay isn't $20 more than what Target is paying seasonal help here. I doubt a rural hospital which would be in a lower cost of living area would be paying more than my local hospitals for new grad positions. The Target job is just to offset the amount of money going out of my bank account until I land a local job. Still waiting to hear back from my last interview, hoping HR just got slowed down from the holiday because the director I interviewed with said I should hear something before the holiday so I didn't have to anxiously wait over the holiday. Too late for that but hoping I get the job, sounded like a great unit to get started on. I also got an email from another hospital yesterday asking to complete a reference form to continue the process but I was told I was no longer under consideration earlier this month for the position I interviewed for. So don't know what's going on there. Emailed the HR contact listed in the email to ask what's going on. Are they considering me for a job or just accidentally activated their reference program for me? Hopefully I get a response about that today.

I took my prerequisites one at a time because I was still working full time. My first degree was in Biology so your current schedule is very normal to me as well. I just finished an accelerated BSN program in August and the hardest part was learning how to answer NCLEX style questions. While I wouldn't call most of the content easy it wasn't that hard either. With my accelerated program it was a lot in a short period of time though.

I haven't been able to find anything for flu shot clinics or I'd be all over that. It looks like the pending offer for the medsurg position fell through because I just got a call about coming in for an interview for that position so hopefully that goes well.

Didn't get the ortho position either, I felt good about the interview so I guess they just liked someone else better. The medsurg position I was hoping to setup an interview for was filled before the recruiter got back to me. Lots of applications sent out for other new grad positions so hoping to hear something back for any of those. Interview to start seasonal work at Target on Monday because I need some money coming in while I continue applying for RN jobs.

I think yesterday's ortho medsurg interview went really well. Definitely wouldn't turn down an offer if I get one at this point but it sounds like a pretty narrowed area of experience if I get in the position. Vast majority of the patients are post knee and hip replacements, so scheduled surgeries on stable patients, 24-48 hour stays. Lots of admission/discharge experience. Not likely to see many disease processes in general beyond stable geriatric stuff. Hopefully when I talk to the recruiter about the more general medsurg position at the other hospital we can set up an interview quickly. Definitely more variety and acutely ill patients on that unit therefore more varied learning experience.

Got the "thanks but no thanks" for the residency program yesterday. I felt the interview had gone well overall so I don't know... all I can think is they stressed "customer satisfaction" a lot and my lack of a bubbly personality could have been beat out by another candidate who is bubbly. Just a guess, who knows when all you get is something along the lines of "while you are an impressive and qualified candidate we have decided not to proceed with this application". Medsurg ortho interview later today and another Medsurg interview likely to be scheduled at another hospital as soon as I talk to the recruiter today or tomorrow. My friend was wishing me good luck last night and sadly I think that is a large part of what landing my first job is going to be, luck. Kinda frustrating but it is what it is.

Oh yes I know. I responded with my interview availability not being until next week. Turns out the manager of the unit is out the day the recruiter set the interview so waiting to hear back on new date. This will hopefully allow time for me to know about the residency position before I hear about the medsurg (ortho) position. Whole new issue to stress about. I'm going to need to talk to the recruiter for the residency about how they are handling job offers since the position doesn't start until 2/11. Will they offer positions as they go or wait and allow the candidate pool to grow? I don't know so I'll have to ask. While I'd prefer the residency I would not turn down the other offer just for a chance at the residency. Been practicing my answers to interview questions off and on all day so I hope things go well tomorrow!

And recruiter for the DC hospital just emailed tonight asking to schedule interview for an ortho medsurg position. I'm luke warm about ortho medsurg but certainly would consider the position if I was offered it. The residents is probably a better option overall, though I'm not guaranteed to be offered either position either.

I saw some listing for a flu shot clinic a few weeks ago but haven't been able to find it or anything similar since. Definitely something I'll continue to look out for though.

Getting to the rural areas with the shortages would be 2-3 hours, maybe even 4 hours during rush hour. The hospital I'm interviewing at for the new grad residency is in a more rural area than where I live but it's not the rural VA areas with nursing shortages. As far as I know that's some areas outside Richmond which I'm guessing would be 2-3 hours one way because I-95 between DC and Richmond is a disaster of traffic. Or down in southwestern VA and way more than a commute, that would be a move. No new grad job will pay enough (even more so a job in a more rural area) for the suggestion of renting a local place plus continuing to pay my half of the mortgage on my house. While I am going to continue applying to the surrounding hospitals as they post new grad positions I'm actually getting excited about the residency program I'm interviewing for this week. I never take the toll road so I had no idea what it cost, now that I've looked it's pretty damned cheap so the commute isn't a big factor anymore. The toll road results in a faster and much more consistent commute time so day or night shifts aren't a big deal. The biggest hang up now is it won't start until 2/11 so I'd need to pick up a seasonal job to keep the bills paid. It'll be crap money but should be enough to prevent me from using up the last of my savings. Oh and I'll need to figure something out for health insurance, I don't feel good about having no insurance at all until May/June. So fingers crossed my interview goes well and even better the ICU, or PCU mangers specifically really like me.

The Virginia shortage is only in the rural areas not the DC metro area. I am a BSN so it's not that. Just applied for a few new grad positions at a DC hospital so I'll see if I hear anything back from them. The website lists a DC license as a requirement and I have a VA license so not sure what their policy is about that. It's $230 to apply for endorsement so I don't want to spend that money without a job offer in sight. The commute to the DC hospital is pretty similar to the hospital I'm interviewing for the residency program so that's equal but I'm sure I'd start earlier than February if hired there.