Volunteer, does this time count on my resume?

[rachelshusband]

If I voluteer a few hours a week for the next 2 years, how does the hiring manager look at that on my resume as a new grad? Can I say that its 2 years experience?

[rockabye]

Some places will allow you to actually give nursing care to patient's like regular paid staff. I would think that would count as experience. I am not sure if the OP will doing as such.

I doubt the op will be giving actual nursing care since this will eventually be for a new grad resume. There are actual nursing volunteer positions available, but I am not very familiar with them and I assume they want you to have a nursing license for liability reasons. It is great to volunteer, esp if it is in a hospital or floor you eventually want to work at, but they usually require you to do things like talk to patients or find/bring things that will make them more comfortable during their hospital stay. Another good way to get nursing related experience to put on your resume is to be a CNA. That will require more time commitment than volunteering, but the experience is invaluable. Usually when jobs ask for 1 or more years of experience, they are referring to actual RN experience and not looking for a new grad to train.

[coolpeach]

There should be an area for volunteer work on your resume. It looks good that you volunteer, but its not counted as "Work".

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

There are actual nursing volunteer positions available, but I am not very familiar with them and I assume they want you to have a nursing license for liability reasons.

You're correct: you do need a license in hand before you can volunteer in an RN capacity. I couldn't even start my non-nursing training (just the administrative stuff) until I had my license number.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

Volunteer work looks good on a resume but will usually not count toward work experience time which is what is counted in order to place you into a salary grade.