Recent ASN grad -- Perfect time to follow my dream and relocate across the country?

[christophermiles]

Hello, everyone! I've been a long time reader of allnurses.com but this is my first time posting. I'm looking for advice/suggestions. Here's my story:

About three weeks ago I graduated from an ASN program in Indiana, and I'm looking to take NCLEX within 1-2 weeks (still waiting for my authorization to test). I'm a single, 33-year-old guy with no kids whose lifelong dream has been to live in the Seattle area (anywhere from Tacoma to Bellingham), and I feel I'm now in a unique position to finally make the move. Some of my friends and family think I'm crazy to make such a move without first visiting the area and lining things up, but here's my side: My entire life I've been a better-safe-than-sorry individual, afraid to take any risk without first knowing all the potential consequences and benefits. And I'm afraid if I find a job here in Indiana, I'll be stuck here. My greatest fear is looking back at my life and regretting I played it safe and ditched my dream.

So what do you think? With the job market being what it is, am I setting myself up for failure? I feel as if I'm looking for someone to give me a reason to stay rather than go. ANY comments are appreciated!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I've said this a few times before on this site, but I had absolutely no problems getting a job here in Seattle ith my ADN. I even beat out BSNs (who were locals here with double my nursing experience) To boot, I even received a relocation bonus.

Then again, you have 6 years of nursing experience, which makes you more marketable and less risky than a new grad in the eyes of employers. In addition, if you graduated from nursing school 6 years ago, this would mean that you graduated into what had been a robust economy with abundant nursing jobs.

[bunnynuts]

For those of you currently in the program or recent grads - what have you experienced about getting that first RN job? I keep hearing that hospitals don't want to hire RN's with less than a year experience. Is this reality? Is it easier to get a position in the hospitals you've done your clinicals in? Are there cities/states that have greater need? I'm currently weighing if the cost of the Accelerated Programs are going to be worth it if there are no jobs out there. Any advice is appreciated!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

i put this question to a colleague in tx with hiring responsibility, and this was her response:

in my system we will choose a bsn new grad over adn. we typically have way more applicants than we can hire at the new grad level, this is in dfw. we provide a yearlong residency in most areas.

with an experienced nurse, all things being equal we will choose bsn but if the adn has better competencies we will go with them, though some of my system's hospitals will only hire in bsns no matter the experience. baylor is doing the same. i coach my non-bsn nurses to get their bsn so they have more options. they can stay in their current jobs but if they want to do something else in our system they may be blocked. there are several local schools with online classes supplemented with clinicals which make it easier. we also provide some tuition reimbursement.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I work for an organization that hires a lot of ADN and a lot of new grads.

I will echo what the others have to say about taking a trip out here and seeing what area you would want to live in and see if you can get a job. Our hospital will do over the phone interviews which is nice for those that live out of state.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

WrekDriver:

WSU is in Pullman. Pullman is 2 hrs south of Spokane. WWU (Western WA univ) is up north in Bellingham. Bellingham is sort of a quirky hippie town with a flavor all it's own. I can say that since it has been a second home for years.

OP

The Seattle area actually has less rain than many parts of the country. Yes..that is true. In fact, it might not rain for weeks. What we do have is almost perpetual overcast in the winter.

We also in a great location for anything outdoorsy. You can live in Seattle and be an hour or two away from water and snow skiing. :)

Clothing: It's Eddie Bauer and North Face for the most part. I haven't seen flannel in ages! Downtown Seattle is a variation of clothing. It's a college town and it's urban. Anything goes.

[GucciBeaR143, BSN]

Good luck to you!

[MrLVNtoRN]

Just finished reading our thread..... I am currious what did you end up doing. I am kinda in the same situation but i am married and we MOVED here to Seattle and been here 2 months and LOVE IT. It is defanatley more expensive than Texas, recently i graduated and passed NCLEX. I am currently looking for a job in Seattle, I am on week 2 so hopefully somting mighy come up. I was tring to look for a group for local nurses in Seattle on FB but was not able to find a group so i created one https://www.facebook.com/SeattleNurse if your intreated, cool if not thats cool too. So please let me know what happend.