Recent ABSN graduate

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Like the title says, I am a recent graduate of an accelerated BSN program. My finals were 2 weeks ago. I passed everything thrown at me and I did well. In Aug 17, I quit my job as a unit clerk/psych tech to attend this nursing program full time. My official graduation is 9/1/18.

I am currently waiting for my ATT to schedule the NCLEX. In the meantime, I am preparing for the NCLEX with Saunders and Kaplan. My concern is that this could take months to take the NCLEX and get RN position. Would it be worth it to apply for my old position if still available or apply for a CNA/unit clerk at another hospital?

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Specializes in hospice, LTC, public health, occupational health.

Why not just find something PRN while you're waiting. PS why would it take months for you to be ableto take NCLEX? I graduated from my program December 2015 and was licensed before the end of January 2016.

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Specializes in Pedi.

I would start applying for jobs now. When I graduated, every single person I graduated with had a job secured months before graduation. My guess is a lot of the new grad positions are already gone/were filled by May grads too.

Taking NCLEX should not, in any way, take months. It was about 3 weeks post-graduation that I took mine and I could have taken it sooner but I was going away.

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My school's May graduating class got their ATT first week of August =(

So like 5 weeks was the earliest...

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Specializes in Critical care.
My school's May graduating class got their ATT first week of August =(

So like 5 weeks was the earliest...

That was May when there are tons of graduates and it takes the BON time to process everything. An August/September graduation date is not that common and they should be able to process everything quicker. I don't know what state you are in, but I did an ABSN program and finished at an odd time and had my ATT within a couple of days. I had my license less than 2 weeks after finishing my program.

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Thanks all for the replies. I am located in New York and looking to get licensed in NY.

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Specializes in hospice, LTC, public health, occupational health.
Thanks all for the replies. I am located in New York and looking to get licensed in NY.

What part? Gonna tell you right now you have a vastly better chance of landing a job if you go somewhere rural.

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Specializes in LTC.
Gonna tell you right now you have a vastly better chance of landing a job if you go somewhere rural.

OP, Slappy is right. I'm in rural NY (south of Buffalo) and I can tell you that you would have no problem finding a job out this way.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

You'll likely be able to test quite soon. I graduated 9/8 and took the NCLEX + had a couple job offers by the first week of October, and probably would have had all of the above sooner if my school hadn't taken as long to process transcripts and send them to the BON. I'd focus on studying for NCLEX and putting out applications for RN positions at this point in time over trying to go back to CNA/Unit secretary role that you won't keep for long. If you end up in a residency that does't start until Jan/Feb then look into seasonal temp jobs to pad your income in the meantime. They're easy to come by and it won't break bridges if you need to leave in January for an RN job.

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Specializes in SRNA.

I too graduated recently...8/30/18 to be exact. I hope this process takes less than 14 days (to get my ATT and schedule/take/and pass the NCLEX-RN). I haven't been doing much studying because I was studying for 12 months straight lol.

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

I'm in Virginia but my cohort got our ATT the same day our school sent out our official transcripts. We'd really been done with school for 3-4 weeks but the university's official summer session ended Aug 24th, transcripts were sent on the 27th and we got our ATT that day. The students in the traditional program that graduated in May did have to wait a few weeks for their ATT due to the volume of students graduating in May. I'm scheduled to take my NCLEX on the 18th and I'm working through the rest of my Uworld questions until then.

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I had my ATT a week after the school sent it. Depending on what you read, take it 6 to 8 weeks after. I did Kaplan and scheduled my exam a month later and had secured a job a month later. You need the time to prepare, pass then apply. I only applied over one week and had interviews scheduled over the next three weeks. It went a lot faster than I expected. Best of luck to you.

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