soon to be new grad-NEED ADVICE plse!

[taapple]

Hello- I will be graduating with my ADN in March in Arizona. I will be moving back to San Diego upon graduating and I am running into some road blocks that I was hoping some of you could respond to. I really want to work in Peds, there is one Peds hopsital that basically corners the market for all peds in SD. I have called all other hospitals and none of them have beds for peds b/c they are all sent to Children's. The problem is that Children's only has 2 start dates per year for new grads since they train them all together, I will miss the spring date by over a month and the next one isnt till fall. SD is way too expensive to sit around unemployed. Sorry to ramble. My question is that it seems wasteful to take another position in an area of the hospital that is not of interest to me and go through what could take months of a preceptorship only to quit soon after to get on with Children's and start yet another preceptorship?? The other option I thought about is maybe working in an outpatient peds facility if they even hire new grads in that capacity (?) until I can get hired on in a hospital but once again, i've always thought as a new grad, you should start in a hopsital setting to gain alot of skills early on. If I did that for a short time, would I be less likely to get hired on even 6 months down the road at a hospital since technically I'm not a new grad any more?? How do hospitals label you when you've only been out of school for 6 months but were working in another type of facility?? I really didnt think I'd have this much trouble finding a position but it's already feeling way too overwhelming. Any and all comments are greatly appreciated!!! Thank you

[augigi, CNS]

You don't need to post the same thing in a bunch of places :)

Getting experience is what's important here. Get it wherever you can. The Children's hospital should have an orientation program for new staff regardless of whether you're a brand new grad. Why not call the HR department and ask them, as they'll be in the best position to give you advice that works for them.