Starting out as a case manager, was that a wrong move?

[HIVRN]

Hello all,

I am a first-time poster here, I need the opinions and advice of more experienced nurses:heartbeat

I graduated nursing school last May, 4 year degree (not to brag,but I was top of my class) received my licence in June. The hospital that I was working for, for 5 years did not hire me as an RN even though I had a contract with them that in exchange for them to pay for part of my schooling I had to work for them as an RN for a year. As far as I knew my supervisor gave me glowing reviews and truly nobody that I've talked to could figure out how come I wasnt hired.

So, naturally, I starting looking other places and the first place that offered me a job (this is by August) was the local health department. The job was working as a case manager serving HIV+ patients, by this time I was desperate and I took it. We do have clinic 3 times per month where I get to draw blood, take vitals, give shots, do some assesments from time to time, we do lots of education on HIV prevention, med management, etc.

Still I know that spending a year as an inpatient nurse is invaluable. I've applied for part time positions at just about all the hospitals in the area, but no luck.

What I want to know is, did I make the wrong move by taking this job as my first job in nursing?

What can I do to further my experience, make myself more marketable?

thanks:nurse:

[surferbettycrocker]

personally, i think any expereince can be used to your advantage you are still and rn and using assessment, time mgmt teaching patient contact and even phlebotomyskills which some rns dont need to harness. and you would never know you may like community nursng more than hospital. or you may not but you wouldnt know tillyou tried. sounds like a very unique experience that you could easily translate to hospital :hotchocolate::candle::gift:

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

if you like your current job, do not worry. in all honesty, no one is really marketable without exact experience within a particular area for most jobs. thus, yes, you may not be marketable to hospitals 1 or 2 years from now because of the economy. however, within 10 years or so the economy will recover and having any rn experience will allow you to move around and get a job in a hospital setting. for now, i would focus on being an outstanding case manager.

besides, you will have opportunities in public health that hospital nurses will not! for instance, i know of nurses who were promoted within a year of working in public health. so be open and take advantage of the setting. there is a lot to learn regarding patient outcomes, grants, politics, etc. that is related to nursing on a community level. gl!