Summer Nurse Externship vs summer road trip

[alyssaml1]

I am about to go into my senior year of nursing school and am trying decide on my summer plans. Every summer I have worked the whole time and I was thinking about taking the summer off and doing a cross country road trip. I have money saved so I don't really need the money. I am worried that if I don't work this summer I won't be able to get a job after I graduate. I have a 3.6 cumulative GPA and a 3.0 nursing GPA. I'll graduate from a BSN program with a history of 100% NCLEX pass rate. I am a research intern and have presented at national conferences. I have worked as a lifeguard, swim lesson instructor, and nurse assistant at a nursing home. I am conversational in spanish and have studied abroad. I have the opportunity to do a summer nursing externship but I really want to spend this summer exploring the US before I have to work the rest of my life. Will it hurt me if I don't do an externship???

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

I can't say. What is the job market like where you work? Are entrance RN positions plentiful or are new grads fighting for positions? If it is the latter then you will have difficulty landing a position as you could be viewed as an "old" new grad.

[GrumpyOldBastard, MSN, RN]

The timing of this matters. If the road trip is before your senior year, that may be fine (depending on the job market in your target community). If you intend to do the road trip after graduation, and thus delay your starting as a GN... that could be quite disruptive.