Soon to be new grad :)

[sbostonRN]

Hello Massachusetts nurses! I lurk on here a bit, but have recently started to be more active as I'm almost done with nursing school!

A little background.. I am in my final semester at Lawrence Memorial/Regis College, getting my Associates. I also have a Bachelors in Biology. I've kept my grades up throughout school (magna cum laude) and have great recommendations from my clinical instructors. My school has a pretty good reputation from what I hear too. I've been working full time in a non-nursing role at Mass General for 5 years now. One of the reasons I've stayed there is because I want to work there as a nurse and I figure I'll have more of a chance as an internal hire.

I feel like the job climate in Boston has been changing a bit, even since last summer. I used to find very very few jobs that didn't specify 2+ years experience or "BSN required" but now I see them all the time. Just yesterday I applied to 9 jobs within the Partners network that I actually qualified for!

My question to you experienced nurses is this: Am I completely wasting my time? Do you think I actually have a shot at getting a job at MGH or BWH (or another acute-care Boston hospital, but really I'd like to keep my seniority within Partners)? If I actually do have a shot, what should I be doing as far as follow up? Contact HR directly, contact the director of nursing for each floor? I don't want to be a pest, but I love MGH and I want to stay here! I think that starting early will give me an advantage over the influx of new grads come the summer.

I know there are a million posts on this board about new grads and job searching, but any advice you have would be helpful! Thank you in advance.

[kcksk]

Have you talked to your current nurse manager? She/he would be able to give you a good idea if you have a chance at getting a job once you graduate. I worked as a PCA and it was my nurse manager who recommended me for a job once I graduated--I went into the interview and the nurse manger told me that my old nurse manager told her I was a keeper so I didn't have to do much to get the job. Talk to them now and see what they suggest. Usually internal applicants have a much better shot than outside applicants. They know your work ethic, dependabilty, etc. Good luck!

[ErinDel, ASN, BSN, RN]

Hi, i volunteer at mgh in the pacu. I will be getting my adn rn as well. What i was told was mgh usually wont accept new grad adn nurses, just bsn. But if you work there, you have a better chance of weeding your way in there because you are internal and you have references from staff members. Partners is a big corporation so you are ahead of the game than those who are not affiliated with partners. I say go for it and try to get in. the worst that can happen is that they say no and you need to get your first year exp elsewhere. I do know mgh will accept an adn rn with atleast a year exp under their belt. Goodluck!!

[sbostonRN]

Have you talked to your current nurse manager? She/he would be able to give you a good idea if you have a chance at getting a job once you graduate. I worked as a PCA and it was my nurse manager who recommended me for a job once I graduated--I went into the interview and the nurse manger told me that my old nurse manager told her I was a keeper so I didn't have to do much to get the job. Talk to them now and see what they suggest. Usually internal applicants have a much better shot than outside applicants. They know your work ethic, dependabilty, etc. Good luck!

Unfortunately I don't have a nurse manager right now, but that is a great idea! Do you think it would be stalker-ish if I contacted one on the floor I applied to? It's listed in the job posting, but I don't want to see too forward. We have a list of all the nurse managers in the whole hospital, so it would be easy to find the person. I want to seem genuine and interested without being pushy. Hard balance to hit!

[sbostonRN]

Thanks for the advice so far. I went ahead and contacted the nurse recruiters at Brigham and MGH, and hopefully that will help as well. I'm also applying for jobs in JANUARY so either they'll think I'm crazy or very proactive. I do have several excellent references from doctors and lab supervisors, but no nurses. Unfortunately I don't know any nurses!

[JulVaccRN, BSN]

http://www.simplythebestnursingjobs.org/content/faqs

I'm a nurse at mgh, and I believe that you need at least a yr of experience to be hired with an adn, unless they have changed their requirements? I'm not sure if they have updated the site in awhile, but it has all the info on applying! Good luck!

[RxOnly]

Hopefully you'll hear back from the nurse recruiters. If you like MGH, take whatever they'll give you- even if it's per diem. You can fill in the gaps at other places. I know the Caritas system has a TON of postings for nurses. A lot say "BSN preferred" but not required and I don't remember many that specified a # of years experience that they wanted. Good luck!

[sbostonRN]

Just wanted to update in case anyone else was following this thread. I did talk to the nurse recruiter at MGH. She told me that while the official policy was that ADN was OK for internal hires, none of the DON's wanted an ADN new grad. So unfortunately I'm out of luck. Wish they had told me that 3 years ago when I went back to school, but what can ya do now? Will just have to get my year's experience and then re-apply.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Hopefully I can get internal status at another Partners hospital.

[watersamy]

I have a friend who worked as an LPN in an MD's office at MGH. She recently got her ADN and was told that MGH will not hire any nurse without a BSN. She lucked out though because they she did finally get hired into another MD's office at MGH after she was accepted into an RN-BSN program for this semester. Its mandatory that they have a BSN to woork on the floor. Even if you have years of experience they will interview/hire the applicant with a BSN first.

Good luck!