I am slated to begin nursing school in the fall or early winter. I am changing careers from being a dental hygienist (I have my BS).
As we all know, MI is in a huge economic slump. (I moved out of state to find a job as a hygienist, but my field has been flooded for quite some time in MI anyway).
The nursing program I am doing is an ADN. I plan to go straight onto my BSN after this, but my questions are:
1) Is there really a nursing "shortage" in MI? Is the economy affecting nursing jobs?
2) Will I find a job easily with just an ADN and a BS in another field, or are hospitals around here phasing out associate degrees and only hiring BSNs? I live in southeast MI, so I could work at pretty much any hospital (St. Johns, Beaumont, Henry Ford, DMC, Mt. Clemens General)
3) I know this depends on where you work, but what is starting salary and what are the common benefits? As a hygienist, I get zero benefits (no health insurance, vacation pay, sick pay, etc)
The reason I am doing my ADN instead of an Accelerated BSN is that I already have HUGE student loans that are not paid off from my Bachelor Degree that I received in 2007. I have found a local community college that will be way cheaper in tuition, plus less driving/gas costs since it is closeby.
Thanks in advance to all who reply! I am sure I want to be a nurse, but I'd hate to go back to school and put more $ into my education if I'm going to be in the same situation as I am as a hygienist.
I graduated in May with a BSN. I was offered a med-surg position at Beaumont and a critical care position at Oakwood Hospital. I looked for a position at DMC for ICU and did interview. I thought it went well (and the manager told me she thought my answers were very good) but they chose someone else. I feel it's probably because I had no experience. I did the excelerated program so did not have a lot of time to work. Many nursing students work as externs during the summer and then contingent during the year. This gets your foot in the door so to speak. Now, keep in mind I was looking for an ICU position right out of school. There were tons of med-surg positions out there. I never applied for them, except for Beaumont. I did shadow on the floor I am at at Oakwood. It is critical care (not ICU) but the ratio is 2 pts to 1 nurse, work every other weekend and I will be on midnights. I could also have worked the afternoon shift. I think that is 4p-4a. And one person who started with me is working days. So, as someone said it is a tradeoff. You should have no trouble finding a job. Most of the students in our program had jobs before they finished school. It might not be the one you ultimately want, or the time you want it, or even the place you want it, but you will have a job, benefits, and get some experience. Then you can move to something else or somewhere else if you want after a while. I like the floor I'm on. The nurses are great. I have 12 weeks orientation. I get to work with vents, drips, traches, and the type of patients we get mean I'm getting a lot of variety in my training. I've been there for about 2 months (on days) and the nurses work as a team. We had a pt who had a drain in his leg and blew his femor. While one nurse was holding his leg to stop the bleeding, 5 other nurses and the manager were all in there and helping. And when you have a problem with a pt and can't get to your other pt, the other nurses step in too. I've seen some posts from people who did not like Oakwood so I was a little leary. But so far it has turned out great. I was also told by someone who was on nights and switched to days that nights is even more cohesive than days. I'm a night person too. You will always have at least one person you wish you never have to work with but by and large, everyone is very nice, helpful, and knowledgeable. Also, the think I just can't get over about Oakwood is that everyone is always saying hi to me and smiling. Just other people who work at the hospital. I've never seen anything like it. When I walk in to work, I'll have 4-5 people smile and say hi. Really friendly.
You shouldn't have any problem with finding a job with benefits. And I think the turnover is such that you wouldn't have to work for very long to advance. I would like to say to try to find out what the floor you want to work on is like. In my clinicals I had some very good floors but others in my class had terrible ones. Mean nurses, unhelpful, etc. If you ask me I would say that hospital was great but if you ask them they would say it was horrible. So it really depends who you will be working with. HFH and DMC are maybe not in the most desirable areas but you would get great experience there. And the job market is such that if you don't like it you should be able to move somewhere else, either somewhere in the same hospital or another hospital, or travel nurse, or..... Even in MI.
It also doesn't matter if you have a ADN or BSN as far as getting a job. Then you can do an ADN to BSN pgm if you like. At Oakwood you start at 23.65, 1$ extra for weekends, $2-2.50 extra for afternoon and midnight shift. But I heard they just increased the base pay of nurses. so it might be a more. Good luck.
You won't have any problem finding a job here in MI. I too work at Henry Ford Hospital and am very happy there. I work in ICU as well. If our census is low we get floated to other ICU's to work. We have some agency staff on our unit so we always need help. We don't do the shift rotation like they do in SICU. We either work days or midnights.
The Michigan Nursing Scholarship, from what I have been told, is given to qualified students thru the colleges they attend. My school told me that they divy it up to the students who "need" it, and then see what's leftover for the rest.
My question is: I know that I will not qualify for a need based scholarship b/c I made money last year. Why does the government/FAFSA not understand that if we are taking off work for 1 or 2 years, we will HAVE NO MONEY TO LIVE ON?! Regardless of how much money we made in the previous year?! It's not like we can sock away every penny. I have student loan debt from previous degrees, have only worked 1 year as a hygienist, don't have near enough $ in the savings to get me through a year and a half's living expenses while I am in nursing school.
Will a student like me be able to find any scholarships? I'm not as worried about the schooling costs as I am about gas money, food, rent, daily living expenses etc. I can always take out another loan for the tuition expenses.
"The Michigan Nursing Scholarship, from what I have been told, is given to qualified students thru the colleges they attend. My school told me that they divy it up to the students who "need" it, and then see what's leftover for the rest."
You are correct in that the MI Nursing Scholarship is given through the colleges. However, the colleges decide who to give it to and may or may not decide to use "need" as a basis to determine this. I received it for last year (2007-2008 yr) and my university did not use "need" as one of the criteria.
I also received the MI Nursing Scholarship through my school. My school did not use need as criteria for the scholarship, I believe it was all based on academic performance.
"The Michigan Nursing Scholarship, from what I have been told, is given to qualified students thru the colleges they attend. My school told me that they divy it up to the students who "need" it, and then see what's leftover for the rest."
You are correct in that the MI Nursing Scholarship is given through the colleges. However, the colleges decide who to give it to and may or may not decide to use "need" as a basis to determine this. I received it for last year (2007-2008 yr) and my university did not use "need" as one of the criteria.
How do you know that? If you didn't have a need for the scholarship, why did you apply or qualify for it?
How do you know that? If you didn't have a need for the scholarship, why did you apply or qualify for it?
Well, there are need based scholarships, and merit based scholarships. We all "need" scholarships, lol, but some are based on need only, meaning that you can only qualify based on income alone.
I just wanted to wish you the best of luck. I have a BA in education and, like you, have student loans on a degree that I am not using. When I started my BA in education, I wanted a career where I could help people, make decent money, and interact with others. My mother is a nurse so I have talked with her quite a bit before deciding to switch careers. I am in SW Michigan so just across the state from you.. I just read an article in the GR Press that stated, "31,300 new nurses will be needed by 2012, a recent state task force found." So, with that said, we should both be in a pretty decent position when we graduate.
The Michigan Nursing Scholarship, from what I have been told, is given to qualified students thru the colleges they attend. My school told me that they divy it up to the students who "need" it, and then see what's leftover for the rest. Thanks again everybody for the helpful replies!
Hi there,
I know how you feel. That's how it was at GVSU. And although my GPA was excellent, my husband was bringing home a 6 figure income so I did not qualify for the Michigan Nursing Scholarship. Makes me so angry! Like I don't deserve to get help like students that are single and never worked a day in there life?? This Scholarship should not be financial need scholarship. That's what grants are for. It should be a reward for doing as well as you are as far as I am concerned. I'm getting off my soap box now. Sorry.
I graduated with my ADN in May 2009 and became licensed in September. I have been filling out applications for 3 months and have not heard anything back from anyone, only the automated responses that say "we are currently looking for more qualified candidates..." I've applied for any and every position, day, night, contingent, every department, etc. I'm not picky, I just want a job SOMEWHERE to get my foot in....
I do not have any work experience, meaning I was not an extern anywhere. The only experience I have is the clinical work I did for school. I've sent hard copies of my resume to every hospital I can think of. I'm not sure what else to do. It seems like the people getting the jobs either know someone or are externs or have previous work experience. I don't know how I'm supposed to get experience if no one will hire me?
Anywho, that's my sob story :) I will keep trying.
!
thyme39
85 Posts
I graduated in May with a BSN. I was offered a med-surg position at Beaumont and a critical care position at Oakwood Hospital. I looked for a position at DMC for ICU and did interview. I thought it went well (and the manager told me she thought my answers were very good) but they chose someone else. I feel it's probably because I had no experience. I did the excelerated program so did not have a lot of time to work. Many nursing students work as externs during the summer and then contingent during the year. This gets your foot in the door so to speak. Now, keep in mind I was looking for an ICU position right out of school. There were tons of med-surg positions out there. I never applied for them, except for Beaumont. I did shadow on the floor I am at at Oakwood. It is critical care (not ICU) but the ratio is 2 pts to 1 nurse, work every other weekend and I will be on midnights. I could also have worked the afternoon shift. I think that is 4p-4a. And one person who started with me is working days. So, as someone said it is a tradeoff. You should have no trouble finding a job. Most of the students in our program had jobs before they finished school. It might not be the one you ultimately want, or the time you want it, or even the place you want it, but you will have a job, benefits, and get some experience. Then you can move to something else or somewhere else if you want after a while. I like the floor I'm on. The nurses are great. I have 12 weeks orientation. I get to work with vents, drips, traches, and the type of patients we get mean I'm getting a lot of variety in my training. I've been there for about 2 months (on days) and the nurses work as a team. We had a pt who had a drain in his leg and blew his femor. While one nurse was holding his leg to stop the bleeding, 5 other nurses and the manager were all in there and helping. And when you have a problem with a pt and can't get to your other pt, the other nurses step in too. I've seen some posts from people who did not like Oakwood so I was a little leary. But so far it has turned out great. I was also told by someone who was on nights and switched to days that nights is even more cohesive than days. I'm a night person too. You will always have at least one person you wish you never have to work with but by and large, everyone is very nice, helpful, and knowledgeable. Also, the think I just can't get over about Oakwood is that everyone is always saying hi to me and smiling. Just other people who work at the hospital. I've never seen anything like it. When I walk in to work, I'll have 4-5 people smile and say hi. Really friendly.
You shouldn't have any problem with finding a job with benefits. And I think the turnover is such that you wouldn't have to work for very long to advance. I would like to say to try to find out what the floor you want to work on is like. In my clinicals I had some very good floors but others in my class had terrible ones. Mean nurses, unhelpful, etc. If you ask me I would say that hospital was great but if you ask them they would say it was horrible. So it really depends who you will be working with. HFH and DMC are maybe not in the most desirable areas but you would get great experience there. And the job market is such that if you don't like it you should be able to move somewhere else, either somewhere in the same hospital or another hospital, or travel nurse, or..... Even in MI.
It also doesn't matter if you have a ADN or BSN as far as getting a job. Then you can do an ADN to BSN pgm if you like. At Oakwood you start at 23.65, 1$ extra for weekends, $2-2.50 extra for afternoon and midnight shift. But I heard they just increased the base pay of nurses. so it might be a more. Good luck.