School Reputation

oldsockventriloquist · Oct 12, 2015

Having lived in three different states, based on my limited experience I can tell you that employers prefer candidates who attended schools with good local reputations.
For instance, you've probably never heard of Sonoma State University (California), Southern Nazarene University (Oklahoma) or Tarleton State University (Texas). They'll never end up on U.S. News' top 50 list, or even the top 100 list. However, nursing graduates of these schools are desirable in the local healthcare communities where they usually end up working.
You must realize something...nursing is nothing like law or business, where a top 25 name on the degree is almost imperative for doors to open. As long as the nursing program you attend has a good local reputation, you'll be fine.
Finally, some recruiters frown down upon nursing programs at investor-owned schools (read: Kaplan, University of Phoenix, Chamberlain, Walden, Carrington, Everest, South Univ, ITT Technical Institute).

So let's say that the Sonoma State University graduate wanted to move to another state to work as a critical care or ER nurse, how could they overcome any disadvantages compared to local grads?

elkpark · Oct 12, 2015

So let's say that the Sonoma State University graduate wanted to move to another state to work as a critical care or ER nurse, how could they overcome any disadvantages compared to local grads?

S/he could have some strong work experience, or s/he could do a good job of selling her/himself in an interview.

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 12, 2015

I agree with Elkpark's previous posts in this thread -- and the emphasis on local reputation.

When you are moving to another geographic area where your school is not known, then it would help to provide good information about your school (and things you did while in school) as part of your application. Keep your actual application and cover letter appropriately short, clear, and straightforward ... but offer some extra information about the school and/or your experiences. With the application, I would emphasize your great clinical experiences that are relevant to the job you are applying for.

If you get an interview, you might want to take some information about the school with you -- an overview of the curriculum, NCLEX pass rates, accreditation information,how old is the school, how many students, graduate programs, maybe even a brochure, etc. Have it in your briefcase and/or in a folder so that you can pull it out if and when appropriate.

oldsockventriloquist · Oct 13, 2015

So if I'm applying to a competitive specialty like critical care and do not hear back from anywhere out of state, would it be worth it to apply out of state to get work experience that is relatable to that field? Or would that not help since hiring managers want to typically see experiences in the specialty you are applying for (i.e. job descriptions that state recent experience in critical care)?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2015

I attended nursing school in a different state from the one in which I currently reside and had no issues finding work.

However, it may have helped that my former school is unknown outside of the region where it is located. If a school of questionable repute such as ITT Tech had been listed on my resume, I think I might have encountered problems in the job search.

elkpark · Oct 13, 2015

So if I'm applying to a competitive specialty like critical care and do not hear back from anywhere out of state, would it be worth it to apply out of state to get work experience that is relatable to that field? Or would that not help since hiring managers want to typically see experiences in the specialty you are applying for (i.e. job descriptions that state recent experience in critical care)?

What is your current status? Are you a new grad, or an experienced RN? Lots of employers will not hire new grads into specialty settings like ICU, period, or would be much more likely to hire a new grad who was someone who had done clinicals in that hospital and was more of a "known quantity." You may want to widen your search to other areas besides critical care and "work your way up" into a critical care position over time (which is what lots of new grads have always done).

If you are an experienced RN, do you have current/recent ICU experience?

Are you trying to move to another particular part of the country for some personal reason, or are you just trying to move anywhere you can get an ICU job?

I would guess that, without recent solid ICU experience, you may have a hard time getting offered an ICU position in another part of the country. Even with other kinds of nursing experience, you are likely to be at a disadvantage in relation to nurses who want to move into ICU who are already employed by and known to employers. Esp. in the current employment environment, it's clearly an employer's "market" -- most of them are getting lots of qualified applicants for open positions, and the challenge is to make a choice from a large pool of applicants, not to find qualified applicants. It may help to expand your search beyond just ICU opportunities.

However, best wishes!

Iknowwha2du · Oct 13, 2015

Makes perfect sense, wouldn't you want to work with the best of the best and hire people that come from a school with a great reputation. I work with a lot of nurses that graduated from the same school as me and they all are great nurses. Of course this isn't always the case but most of the time it is. That isn't to say that you don't give people a chance despite the school they graduated from but it is less riskier to hire from a known school.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Oct 13, 2015

Since the OP's tagname is "BS to BSN", I'm guessing he/she is either still working on getting the degree and not yet a licensed nurse or not yet even in a nursing program (and is evaluating how the schools in his/her area measure up --is this correct?). If that's the case, there is no experience on which to draw, so MOST of the time the doors to competitive specialties will be closed until sufficient experience is gained.

It's true that sometimes a grad can land a desired specialty, but keep in mind it's also USUALLY a grad from a well-known, respected local program and the applicant probably had clinical rotations in that hospital as well.

OP, you've already heard some excellent advice, so I'll go with the 'nuthsell' approach:

~- If you are at a school that enjoys a good reputation locally, that is all that is important (not US News ratings or anything else, which most HR and managers will ignore outright).

~- You might have to move ANYWAY in order to find a job, let alone one in your desired specialty area. Competition in much of the country is stiff when it comes to finding employment, as there is NO nursing shortage (although the opposite gets reported in the media constantly---and it's wrong).

That's about it!

Good luck :)

oldsockventriloquist · Oct 15, 2015

Since the OP's tagname is "BS to BSN", I'm guessing he/she is either still working on getting the degree and not yet a licensed nurse or not yet even in a nursing program (and is evaluating how the schools in his/her area measure up --is this correct?). If that's the case, there is no experience on which to draw, so MOST of the time the doors to competitive specialties will be closed until sufficient experience is gained.
It's true that sometimes a grad can land a desired specialty, but keep in mind it's also USUALLY a grad from a well-known, respected local program and the applicant probably had clinical rotations in that hospital as well.
OP, you've already heard some excellent advice, so I'll go with the 'nuthsell' approach:
~- If you are at a school that enjoys a good reputation locally, that is all that is important (not US News ratings or anything else, which most HR and managers will ignore outright).
~- You might have to move ANYWAY in order to find a job, let alone one in your desired specialty area. Competition in much of the country is stiff when it comes to finding employment, as there is NO nursing shortage (although the opposite gets reported in the media constantly---and it's wrong).
That's about it!
Good luck :)

That is correct. But, I wanted to see if I should really pay for expensive programs that could give me a BSN, if I would earn the same opportunities elsewhere. Is there anyway you could be more descriptive? I imagine that any program will have some training in EM or critical care. What more could they offer while I'm a student to help me start in those positions? I have read in other threads that people can start off in telemetry or Ned surf. Would I be applying to those same units when I graduate?

SleeepyRN · Oct 15, 2015

Besides obvious state accreditation, NLNAC accreditation (I've seen some employers require this accreditation of the applicant's school.)

I graduated in May 2012, and we got accredited that semester, so I'm able to say I graduated from an NLNAC accredited program. Cut it close.

That and NCLEX percentage rate.

Here's the link to find out if a school is NLNAC accredited.

NLNAC Accredited Nursing Programs

SleeepyRN · Oct 15, 2015

A lot of that comes down to local reputation- what schools' students have made a good impression during clinicals? Which students have not?

Yes!!!! If you are applying to places where your program had clinicals, and your class leaves them with a good impression of the school, that's big.

I've personally gotten jobs partly because I happened to have graduated from the same school as the person interviewing me, or from other employees they have that graduated in the past from my school and were good employees.

elkpark · Oct 15, 2015

I graduated in May 2012, and we got accredited that semester, so I'm able to say I graduated from an NLNAC accredited program. Cut it close.

(FYI, when accreditation is formally awarded, it is retroactive back to the date of the ACEN (or CCNE) site visit, which usually occurs a year or two before the final determination of accreditation. Even if you had already graduated and were gone from the school before the accreditation process was completed, you would be "covered," and considered a graduate of an accredited program going forward, as long as you had been a student at the time of the site visit.)