1st year of experience

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Jan 7, 2015

You didn't say if you are in the Denver area or more rural? You also didn't say if you are ADN or BSN?

If you are in the Metro area, most hospitals want BSN trained nurses, but farther away ADNs can get hired pretty easily. Also in the Denver area, Swedish seems to be one of the most new grad friendly hospitals. However everyone of my classmates that got a job at a hospital bypassed HR and took resumes into nurse managers. HR will not give you the time of day in person in most places and the online application process is set to weed you out if you don't have experience before the app is ever seen by human eyes.

So...if you have your BSN and are in the Denver are, try Swedish, but don't limit yourself to just there. Hand carry your resume into any NM on the floor if you see a job ad that doesn't require experience. If you are farther away, still hand carry in the resume whether you have your BSN or not!

To answer the question you actually asked, I have heard both that the experience in home care is good because it is still experience so it will help you land your "dream job" and that it will limit your possibilities; depends on who you ask. I will recommend that if you take a home health job, make sure you get adequate training and that there is ALWAYS someone you can call to guide you if needed. The problem with home health for a new grad is that you are all alone without the benefit of more experienced nurses to learn from and ask questions to. Be careful with that! I actually took a PDN job with a peds agency. They promised me way more orientation than the one night I got, and I was left alone with a trach'd infant. First night went well, second night I had problems, called the nurse who was supposed to be my preceptor and got yelled at for waking her up. I feared for my license at that point and quit after my shift ended.

The two most important things for you are to protect your license and your patients. If you feel that you are endangering either because you are not well trained for a position, don't take the position.

Gosh, I didn't mean that to sound scary, I'm sorry! but being in that situation is more scary than you can imagine. So be careful screening these at home agencies.

cmh918 · Jan 7, 2015

I'm Denver metro and ADN. Set to complete my BSN in May, and have another bach degree. Also, tons of experience in customer service and as a CNA. Also, I think my resume has more behind me than just a BSN as I've accomplished things few people have.

Thank you for your reply, I saw some of your other posts and was hoping you would actually. Was going to PM you, but it wouldn't let me.

As for going to NM... I don't want to come across as pushy or out of place, and I guess my hesitancy is there. I have talked to any nurses I know in the area (very few) and people have pased on my resume (I think). I also volunteer at DH and have tried beginning the application process there, but for volunteers there isn't a formal way to track that.

I definitely had the concerns you share with home health... safety of the patients not only affect the patient, but my livelihood as well. I also wouldn't mind obtaining experience there, but really do not want it to limit me in the future either. I've read so many people say to go home health for the first year but have heard they can't get out of it once they do...

And that makes me a little sad because I will thrive almost everywhere in the hospital, and bring things to the nursing profession and that hospital/unit that not everyone will. I just would hate to see that limited so early on!!

I have contacted a few HR reps/nursing recruiters but not sure what my next step should be. I suppose I should contact them all.

cmh918 · Jan 7, 2015

Another question, since I'm new to the area, how would I go about approaching nursing managers? I feel as if having worked on the clinical floor previously is the main way to do that, and I have no clinical experience here.

My CNA is still active back home and eligible for renewal, amd Ive debated applying for those positions as well, but I don't believe they'd hire me as a new graduate of nursing with my RN already to a cna job just to lose me in a few weeks/months.

Many of the new grad positions have "preferred BSN" so I'm hoping my pending graduation date of May will at least warrant a second look/interview.

I just don't really know anyone out here to help get my resume where it needs, and I don't have those connections. :/

blueyes27 · Jan 7, 2015

I am also a New Grad here in the Denver area I graduated with my ADN in june and have had a terrible time finding a job, that being said my frustration took over and I started being a little more aggressive with my job search. I figured the computer isnt going to hire me the Nurse Manager is do why not start there. I started checking hospital websites and googling nurse managers on specific floors I was interested in, finding their email, and sending them an email with my resume, cover letter and personal interest of working on their floor, I also stated i would work FT, PT, PRN, Nights, weekends, holidays, etc... Most of them responded and i had very positive results, one recommended me to a peds clinic her friend runs that was looking for a part time nurse and I was hired for that position, i have an interview at National Jewish Health on friday on the peds floor and 2 other hospital interviews next week. I think if you really want something hiring managers like to see that your motivated, and a little internet stalking to find email addresses never hurt anyone ;-) Its not about who you know its about making an effort to prove you can be a valuable part of the team and making a great first impression with the nurse manager.

cmh918 · Jan 7, 2015

I can do Internet stalking! Haha

I suppose my hesitancy lies in that I don't want to cross boundaries, and I don't want to interrupt people since I don't know what their schedule is.

Thanks for the tips!

And, any suggestions for connections or if anyone knows of other places to look at, I'd appreciate it! I've applied at Centura, DH, HealthONE, and started applying at exempla but heard you need a connection for the new grad postings there? Any other places I'm missing? I'm okay with commutting an hour or so as thats what I had to do back home to get anywhere.

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Jan 7, 2015

I know that many of my classmates who were hired at Swedish did not have connections there. Not sure about any of the other hospitals. I have heard that Colo Sprgs hires new grad ADNs-not sure which facility though. I have heard of success in Ft. Collins as well. Depending on which side of town you are in, that could be an hour away. Last I heard, Swedish has great need of nurses, so they may consider someone with your experience.

I'm not going to tell you that connections don't help, but they are not mandatory. As BlueEyes said, emailing the NM may help. You said you are worried about crossing boundaries, and it's probably true that some NMs aren't going to be happy about a walk in applicant, but for the most part they don't seem to mind all that much. Be sure not to show up at shift change or the nurses at the station will be unhappy about having to drop everything and go find the NM.

Again, the online process is awful. I would fill out the application and it would be rejected literally within seconds. So what do you have to lose? You aren't going to get hired if you don't walk in and see the NM, at least you have a 50-50 chance if you do walk in!

I know of at least two RNs who worked for awhile at a wound care center at Swedish as a tech and went on to be hired at Swedish as an RN based on the experience they got there. They seem to always be hiring techs at that place, and from what I hear you get to learn about hyperbaric med as a bonus. That may be somewhere to start if you are interested in doing that. If you are volunteering at DH, you should be able to get familiar enough with the floors that advertise positions and see a NM there if you know there is an opening. Last I heard they are one of the few who will consider an ADN if you are in school for your BSN (and they pay better too!) When I was job hunting, it seemed I would see an ad on DH website that said it was for a new grad job, and it would disappear quickly-sometimes within the same day it appeared! I think that if they have a new grad in mind, they tweak the ad to say new grads can apply long enough for their chosen one to apply, then they close the ad. It's a little bit wonky, but it works for the ones that they hire. I would definitely not be shy about talking to the NMs and making connections! Even if you didn't get hired right now, they would have your information for future jobs.

Rose Med is new grad friendly in certain departments and the guy in HR there is one of the few HR people who actually respond to new grad emails, but they are strict about BSN only. Hopefully you will be working by the time you have your BSN, but if not, hit me up and I'll PM you his name. UCH has a new grad residency program that is for BSN only (they pay better as well), and I think that the application deadline would likely be in May. You might want to search their website for the application information, but they are very competitive. Also, if DH doesn't work out, you might want to switch where you volunteer to the VA (they pay best) or Children's both of those do hire new grads, but I don't know if they want only BSNs.

I would put on my best interview outfit, and get out there TODAY. Someone who shows up in this nasty weather may be considered just because they were dedicated enough to getting hired that they went in during terrible weather! I know that sounds screwy, but those kinds of things are not overlooked!

cmh918 · Jan 7, 2015

If I wasn't sick with a GI bug, I think I definitely would based off your enthusiasm alone! :) I can do the email thing from here and not risk getting sick or making others sick. I appreciate the words of encouragement, because you are right, out of approximately 350 job apps, 300 were immediate no's, and another 40 in a few days. Only a few were pending longer than 2 days.

I am hoping that already having my CO RN with the new grad cycle is going to give me a titch of a boost.

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Jan 7, 2015

Yikes, hope you feel better soon! No fear, unfortunately, there are going to be many more days of horrible weather, I think :-(

DenverRN91 · Jan 10, 2015

Hi Cmh918,

I moved to Denver right after graduating in May as well. I struggled for months, but eventually took a full time position with a pediatric home care agency. They did provide good training and made sure I felt comfortable before I had an independent shift. But, like you I didn't want this to be the final place for me so I have continually applied to more jobs. I recently had an interview for Swedish OR program. Although I do have my BSN, so I'm not sure if that made it easier for me. I believe the fact that you are enrolled in a BSN program will make you more marketable. I applied to hundreds of jobs at hospitals all over the denver metro area before getting this interview - don't give up. But I do believe walking your resume in to a NM or emailing is a great move to make - it was my next step before I landed this one. Also go on indeed.com and look up new grad positions I believe centura is having 2 new grad programs taking applicants right now. (not sure if it's BSN or not) - Good Luck!