Relocating for the elusive first RN job

sbostonRN · Mar 9, 2011

I should also mention that I do have a full-time job (non-nursing) right now that is a good job. So I'm not exactly desperate yet. But I dont' want to become an "old grad" while I hold out for my dream job in the perfect city.

jpeters84 · Mar 10, 2011

No, by all means don't accept the job and just hang out in Boston with the thousands of other jobless new grads spending your days looking for jobs while you become an old new grad who is getting farther and farther away from using your skills and cementing what you learned in nursing school. In other words being a jobless new grad sucks. Avoid it all costs. If I had a penny for all my friends that said they weren't going to move for a job and then a year later still without a job started desperately looking anywhere realizing that holding out for a job in a certain area is a mistake.. Save yourself months of "holding out" in Boston and take the job when an offer comes along. You can always move back to Boston after a couple of years. I moved for my first job and it was the best decision ever.

AZMOMO2 · Mar 10, 2011

Is it too far to commute? Like out of state? I lived on the CT line and traveled to Sommerville for a year for a job that paid wayyy less than RN once upon a time. It sucked. But it was the job offer that gave me what I ultimately wanted... which was a relocation. Your case would be experiece to take with you to a place that you DO want to work.

I say if offered take it.

Lovely_RN, MSN · Mar 11, 2011

I think it would stink to become an "old grad" but you have to consider your husband's career as well. Good jobs of any kind aren't that easy to come by and it's a huge risk for the both of you to give up good jobs to re-locate. If you get the new position how do you know that you will like it, receive a good orientation, or that you will make it past your first year?

There really is no way to know until you experience working there. Potential employers always paint a rosy picture, for you all you know the working conditions could resemble the bowels of h**l, and that recruiter would make it seem like it's sunshine an lollipops.

My :twocents: (and only because you asked) is that if you get the position then you should re-locate on your own for 6 months to 1 year before you have him quit his job and move out there with you. If you get there and hate it then tell him to stay where he is and make sure that you tough it out until you can get something in Boston.

sbostonRN · Mar 11, 2011

Thank you for the advice so far! Even though the final decision comes down to the two of us, it's nice to have some input from other nurses or students.

The job is definitely too far to commute to. The interview was at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and I currently live in the Boston area.

Alma 3323 · Mar 11, 2011

I think it would be fantastic to work at Johns Hopkins. Take it and get a house big enough for vacationers from Boston. This would be a dream come true.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

is the job good paying? maybe you can fly home to visit more often then not. ultimately, this is up to you two, as you stated. keep in mind; it is common for couples to be apart due a particular job or career in and out of nursing. for example, truck drivers, government workers, business people, military personal, etc. work and live away from home due to employment obligations. in addition, nurses live away from home months at a time to work (travelers), nurses live away from home a few nights a week to work (long distant commuters), and nurses move for a few years (new grads in a tight job market), in order to gain work experience. thus, your competition is not making excuses.

as the other poster noted, you can remain in a tight job market and allow your nursing newness to dry up and find yourself never working as a nurse. this is a choice that is neither right nor wrong; however you need to know that the possibility of you working as a nurse may be slim to none if you remain. similar to another poster, i too have friends who have never ever worked as a nurse because they are not willing to relocate for a job. gl!

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2011

I would accept the job and move. The thing is, relocation is never easy. But many people remain unemployed 12 to 14 months later, when, in that time you could have relocated and moved back. I also relocated, and this was the best decision I made so far.

avert · Mar 12, 2011

I had a similar problem. So we left to finances... If I accepted the job I would make more so it is best if he moved. We both have student loans and so money is a factor in job relocation.

Liketravln · May 18, 2011

It's a tough decision for sure to be away from your spouse for any extended period of time. I started traveling in Oct and have been apart from my husband for 6 mos, due to both our jobs. Tough as it is to be apart, my job is rewarding to me and he understands that. Good experience is hard to come by so get it when and where you can. There are many great hospitals between Boston and Baltimore, maybe you will find another great place. Good luck.

DABDA · May 18, 2011

I live in the DMV area and a friend that just got hired as a new grad at the hospital I work is from Cambridge. She said it is nearly impossible to get a job in Massachusetts. She graduated from a good school at the top of her class with honors. She was picked for international internships - the whole nine - still six months of searching yielded little more than a meager paying HH position. She is registered in 20 different states and applied for a few hundred jobs before we were sitting in orientation together. The nursing gap is about closed and from the sound of it, cemented in the Boston area. The DMV area has lots to offer in so far as quality of life. John-Hopkins is nothing to scoff at either. They pay better than our hospital. Just remember, people across the US are competing for that nursing position.