Soon to be RN looking for LDRP Job with no luck, what should I start with instead?

[Mrsvirgomama, BSN]

I will be graduating in May with my RN (ADN) and plan to start by BSN soon after (this would be my second baccalaureate) and I have been looking for a job in LDRP and NICU.

So far, I have come across jobs needing experienced RNs. The places that do hire or not hiring now and no externships are available. I somewhat was offered a job at Nurse Family Partnership but not sure if that is best for a new grad (am I wrong?) I am planning to get my IBCLC in the meantime.

Seeing that I may not get a job in that specialty (I am in my late 30s so I am about 90% sure LDRP is the field I want to go to) what specialty would you recommend for a new grad that is not Med Surg. I was not passionate about it during any of my 3 clinical rotations and don't feel like I want to have an unhappy start in my RN nursing career.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I'm pretty sure you have to already have your BSN to work for NFP.

It's possible that you have not had any luck because you are so far away from graduation. I don't even look twice at an applicant until they've already graduated, unless I have personal knowledge of them (e.g. they did their senior practicum on our unit).

As far as what unit, I would honestly recommend you take ANY job in an acute care hospital that you might be offered, in order to get your foot in the door of the facility as well as gain valuable acute care experience.

I look at all non-OB acute care experience to be about equivalent, as far as being transferable to OB. They all teach you basic patient care, med administration, time management, multi-tasking, hospital processes, communication skills, etc. So if your experience is not in OB or maternal/child health, then I don't look at any experience as any lesser or greater than another (meaning, I would not put greater weight on ICU vs. med/surg vs. ED vs. ortho). With that in mind, you should take whatever opportunity you can get, because it can be challenging in many communities to get an acute care hospital position as a new grad.

[Mrsvirgomama, BSN]

Thanks for the insight klone. I will be enrolled in a BSN shortly after I graduate so that is the contingency of FNP.

There have been a few recruiting job fairs encouraging soon to be graduates and a few of my classmates do have jobs lined up already. I have been approached about working in neuro unit, oncology unit and PCU unit. This maybe because I have one year experience as a LPN.

Glad to hear that no one experience is better than the other because I have been hearing about med/surg being the best (in general) for new grads.

[James75]

My facility will not hire former med surg nurses on L&D because they usually quit during or immediately after orientation. They’ve found the transition from so many patients with tasks to one (sometimes two) patients with a lot of autonomy, and less tasks but also more stress was causing people too much anxiety. They will hire from ED, ICU, and float pool. And they hire a lot of new grads.

Certainly not the case everywhere, though. Where I was a student they hired almost exclusively from Med Surg.