I am hoping to move to California after I graduate in December 2013 with an Accelerated BSN. I will have one year experience as a CNA, and I'll have almost a year as a Nurse Intern when I graduate. I worked as a CNA on the Oncology unit at our hospital and now that I'm working part-time as a nurse intern, I float wherever I'm needed.
I visited San Diego last summer and fell in love with the area, I also have a bachelor of science degree in Biology from Purdue (which was the reason for my visit, to explore biology jobs there). I am open to living anywhere in California just to get over that way (I'm currently in Tennessee at ETSU getting my BSN).
Questions:
1. Are there some areas of California where there are more nurse openings? maybe smaller towns?? cities that aren't on the coast?? I'm open to anywhere
2. Is the only way to get hired in a nurse residency program? (I'm already in one as a student-nurse here)
3. Are there any odd-ball nursing jobs that I might be able to get just to get over to the west coast? I'm thinking RN jobs in insurance, equipment sales, education, or something.....
4. I heard I will need to take an additional test besides the NCLEX? Is that correct?
5. When should I start applying? three months before graduation? (So, maybe in September??)
I'm VERY open to any possibilities and do not necessarily need a bedside position, even though that would be best for me as a beginner to get some experience. I really JUST WANT TO MOVE TO CALIFORNIA I LOVE THAT PLACE! Any job offered there I would take! Except maybe prison nursing! I am especially interested in research (maybe combine my biology??), preventative health, public health education, nutrition and exercise, medication knowledge for consumers, fitness centers, and aesthetics. I am thinking about getting my masters degree at some point. My interests are public health (all aspects of this from statistics to epidemiology to community health), social work (I would love to be a case manager type person), or possibly PhD in nutritional research or Naturalpathic Medicine and/or Accupuncture/Chinese medicine. I also thought physical therapy or exercise science might suit me.... yes, I'm getting off track of mainstream nursing but I have a lot of interests and nursing kind of happened by accident so.... Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions appreciated!!
2. Is the only way to get hired in a nurse residency program? (I'm already in one as a student-nurse here)
Nurse residency programs are only for RNs that have passed their NCLEX and do not have paid experience, so your student-nurse experience isn't really the same. And, for the most part, yes to get a job in a hospital you must go through a residency program.=======> completely untrue
3. Are there any odd-ball nursing jobs that I might be able to get just to get over to the west coast? I'm thinking RN jobs in insurance, equipment sales, education, or something.....
I expanded my search to include non-traditional jobs about 7 or 8 months ago. Still no luck for me. Not to say there are not any, I just haven't had any luck even finding them to apply for.=======> try Craigslist, have seen them there. They all want 2-10 years experience.
5. When should I start applying? three months before graduation? (So, maybe in September??)
As soon as possible. Most hospitals post new grad jobs about 2 times per year. In the winter/spring and in the summer/fall. Keep your eye out in August/September. =======> that is the ONLY case when one should apply without a license, however, you still may not stand out if the majority are licensed.
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Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)
I don't think you should get completely discouraged, nor should you move without a job. There are many biotech and medical device companies in San Diego who may be interested in hiring you. I know that Medtronic hires nurses (and they pay well).
Although the job market is grim in CA, many of those 47% do not have a BSN.
Very true. We have very few BSN programs and a million saturated ADN programs
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)
You quoted me, I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say "completely untrue". In most of California you can not get a new grad hospital job without entering their new grad programs. And student internships do not count as paid nursing experience. My statement was absolutely true and it's misleading to say otherwise. Sure, there may some exceptions to the rule (small obscure hospitals where some one has landed a job) but overwhelmingly, hospitals require experience or entrance through their new grad residency program.
As for the second part, yeah, I've searched Craigslist. Almost every day for months on end. There are non-hospital jobs but, like you said yourself, they all want 2-7 years of experience. That is NO help for a new grad. I have applied to hundreds of jobs (Craigslist, Indeed, cold calls, cold emails) and everyone wants experience.
You quoted me, I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say "completely untrue". In most of California you can not get a new grad hospital job without entering their new grad programs. And student internships do not count as paid nursing experience. My statement was absolutely true and it's misleading to say otherwise. Sure, there may some exceptions to the rule (small obscure hospitals where some one has landed a job) but overwhelmingly, hospitals require experience or entrance through their new grad residency program.
As for the second part, yeah, I've searched Craigslist. Almost every day for months on end. There are non-hospital jobs but, like you said yourself, they all want 2-7 years of experience. That is NO help for a new grad. I have applied to hundreds of jobs (Craigslist, Indeed, cold calls, cold emails) and everyone wants experience.
Most...but you put it across as all.
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)
itsnowornever, BSN, RN
1,029 Posts
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)