What should my first job be?

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Hello,

I am in my last semester of nursing school. I will be graduating in May and I am getting worried about finding my first job. I do not want to work at a hospital for many reasons. I would like to go go into public/community health,where I can educate clients on preventive health. However I do want to go into missionary nursing which requires that you have at least a year of experience working on the floor. There are many pros and cons to working at a hospital and as a public health nurse,but I just want to make the best choice so I can be a missionary nurse.Any input would be great and FYI there is a great need for public health nurses in the area I live in so new grads are welcomed.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

If the real goal in your heart is to do missionary nursing ... then do what that requires with joy and appreciation for the experience that will bring you.

You may not enjoy hospital work as much as a public health job, but if the public health job won't give you the experience you need to achieve your long term goals, then what good is it? Switching from a public health job to a hospital job later is rarely possible, so don't count on that being a feasible option.

Do what you need to do to achieve your goals and be happy.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Honestly? As a new grad with the job market the way it is? I'd take ANY job you can get. Get that experience to prepare you for your dream job.

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Apply to public health positions after graduation. Get your PHN if your school covers the PHN requirements. I felt the same way as you and I took a job I hated since I listened too much to the internet. Pray to God and He will open the way.

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Is it possible for you to do an international fieldwork placement while you are a nursing student? If you are able to do a placement, you may find that experience in public health is actually more beneficial than experience working on a floor in a North American hospital.

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Thank you all for your responses,I still have lots of thinking to do!

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Hi a2012,

I have a couple questions regarding WSU Yakima Campus and I'm not able to send private messages on here. Would you mind sending me your email if that's okay with you?

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