I'm new to the forum and have been reading up a storm on various threads and now I'm starting to freak out a bit. I have been considering a career change to the medical field for 5 years now. I WISH I would have done it 5 years ago, but I guess at this point it is neither here nor there. I am finishing up my pre reqs now. The earliest I'll be able to apply would be for spring, 2011 admission, but probably not until spring/summer 2012 admission as I will need to take a few extra classes which I've already taken, but they are too old. I'm doing that this spring and summer.
I keep reading in multiple threads how new grads are having a HARD time finding work. I'll be leaving the legal field to pursue this career. I hate my job right now, but my job is currently (I think) stable and I make decent money. I'm changing b/c I can't stand to sit behind a desk all day pushing paper with absolutely no room for advancement. I'm also a single Mom and it is going to be really rough for me to quit my job to go to nursing school when (hopefully) I'm accepted. The thought of being out of work for a year or more as a new grad looking for a job is starting to REALLY freak me out. I could possibly go back to what I do now, but I know this field is even pretty rough and if you don't already have a job, I know lots of paralegals looking for work, so I'm not sure I could easily jump back into it, especially if they knew that I had just graduated from nursing school and was wanting to go in a different career path.
I don't have previous clinical experience, though I have volunteered in hopsitals and worked in an assisted living center over the summer while in college (but that was 10 years ago!) I am trying to get back into the ED volunteering, but there is currently a wait list for volunteers, even!
Leaving Denver isn't an option for me right now. I'm not going to be super picky about where I work. I have goals of working somewhere specific in a specific department, but I am not going to be picky when it comes to getting my foot in the door and getting some experience. I would very much prefer to work in a hospital and really don't want a LTC Facility, but I wouldn't turn it away, just from previous experience, I don't think I'd like a LTC position on a permanent basis.
I woudl really like to know what it is really like for new grads right now in the Denver area and what I can expect my starting hourly rate to be. I'm expecting to have to take a paycut, but I'm not sure how much I should anticipate. I was looking at Denver Health's website. There are lots of RN listings that say no experience required and starting around $24 per hour, but on their main page it says they aren't hiring new grads right now (it looks like it was updated in September)
Jamie, you don't know who the person is behind any of these messages. Do your own homework. Of course you want to hear good news...
Call human resources and tell them you are a nursing student and are interested in learning about all their great job opportunities. I doubt they tell you how much $. You may run away too quickly. Also ask how many applicants they have on average for one position. One thing you have in your favor is that they do try to replace experienced nurses making more money for cheap new grads.
That poster could be a nursing instructor for all you know wanting to keep her job. All her fellow classmates found jobs too. Right. It could be a hospital administrator wanting to keep the over-abundance of nurses on the up and up. Creates lower salaries. New grads don't make $25.00/hr.
If it is your passion - go for it. However, alot of people got into nursing thinking they would have job security - and it's not the case. What would be great is if you could get ahold of new grads in your area. There might be lists somewhere in your college.
I'm telling you to keep your chin up too. But make the wisest and most educated decision about what you are going to spend your money on and time doing. Going to nursing school because the media has said for the past ten years there is a "nursing shortage" or reading blogs on a web site is not enough homework.
I'm not convinced it is your passion either. That would be a huge mistake to follow this "dream."
You are not yet ready to apply....so why not re-evaluate in a year? There are other fields that you could go into except nursing that won't put you behind a desk (AKA...occupational therapy). This profession requires pretty much the same pre-reqs. Don't worry about it now...re-evaluate when you really need to make the decision.
Nursing can really suck! some nurses are really mean, and more than other fields. I've cried on the shoulder of a PA all the while he was saying, "WE don't treat each other like you guys do..." Nurses eat their young. You will learn this statement personally and it starts with the hell called nursing school and reaches a peak with your boards... UGH
it's not all bad, but I got into it because it was my passion to only to realize it's a job. Yes you can walk around, but how do you feel about NEVER sitting and being on your feet all day? Are you ok with keeping your hand up someone's oozing behind all the while their family is yelling at you for not going fast enough? lol. Some days it's so horrible it's funny! Seriously.
So nursing isn't a dream. Getting your masters, or becoming an APRN, now that's prolly closer to some kind of dream. But even that has its downsides I'm sure.
Also finding a job... I've been jobless for 3 months. It's just a regular field. Some places are doing well other places are dry. But it's just as competitive as your field, not any easier, so if you're switching fields just be prepared to be looking for a job hard just like you are now, and to be worried just like you are now.
Same stuff different day, ya know. It's not perfect. Somedays you're going to do treatments on a person that you don't think need it. Sometimes you're going to discharge a person that you think shouldn't go home. It's not really your call as a nurse. Your job is to do what your told and to check on the MD to make sure he's doing his job. Suck to be checking after him and correcting his mistakes when he makes waaaaay more than you. Believe me it's not glamarous.
And even the 3 day a week thing. BOGUS. Here where I'm from their phasing those out. straight 5 days a week or 2 12hr shift and 2 8hr shifts.
Most days when I was working and now when I'm looking for a job, it's only prayer that helps me make it to the next day.
You are not yet ready to apply....so why not re-evaluate in a year? There are other fields that you could go into except nursing that won't put you behind a desk (AKA...occupational therapy). This profession requires pretty much the same pre-reqs. Don't worry about it now...re-evaluate when you really need to make the decision.
GL
Nursing student
Where I work, Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists are in very short supply and highly coveted. They are also paid more than nurses!
I assure you I'm a new grad. in Yakima WA, graduated from Yakima Valley Community College and was just hired for 25.41 per hr at Memorial hospital, 2.40 more after 300PM and 4.00 more for nights and 3.50 more for evenings and I don't appreciate you stating that I'm misrepresenting myself.
Why don't you call the hospital HR dept. yourself 509-575-8000 ask for HR and ask what a new grad. makes. I unlike others wouldn't waste my time trying to deceive someone and your implication that I did is insulting. I graduated c 12 other new grads and yes they are all employed as RN's.
I just read an article in CNN Money that showcased a few M.D.'s hanging up their private practices and doing completely different jobs...at some point this may trickle down to nursing, too, but in what form? pay cuts? more hrs? reusing supplies? any care facility outside of a big hospital being a deathtrap? Congress sure isn't going to fix it....
You should check out Concorde as there is no wait list. You take a NET test and depending on how well you do on the math section determines how high up the list you go. I started school 2 months after deciding to go into nursing. For me, a 2 year wait is out of the question.
Also, the job market may be a little slow out there, but finding a job in nursing is the same as in any field. It's all about who you know and how you go about finding a job. I used to be a CNA years back in another state. So before starting RN school I took the CNA test for CO. I have been applying for hospital CNA jobs for the past 2 months, and getting rejected on all of them because I was only applying through the websites. But at the same time I was networking like crazy to find someone who knew someone that worked in a hospital. Sure enough, I found a connection to one of the hospitals, was able to get an interview and now have a CNA job in a neuro/trauma unit. The chances of me having an RN job the second I graduate is now about 99%.
There is ALWAYS a job out there that you can find. You just have to do everything you can to better your chances to be in the right place, at the right time, and know the right people.
I just wanted to put my story out there, if its helpful to anyone. I am a new graduate and I live in Denver. I just graduated this past December. I was hired earlier this month at a major hospital in the area. I will be starting at 24.50. I am not going to say that its not tough out there, it is. I would say about 15% of my class has found positions, those are just the ones I know about. But, if nursing is what you want to do, do it. Its not impossible. I think it helps if you are a good student, the hospitals are asking for new graduate applicant's transcripts.
cosmicsun
113 Posts
Jamie, you don't know who the person is behind any of these messages. Do your own homework. Of course you want to hear good news...
Call human resources and tell them you are a nursing student and are interested in learning about all their great job opportunities. I doubt they tell you how much $. You may run away too quickly. Also ask how many applicants they have on average for one position. One thing you have in your favor is that they do try to replace experienced nurses making more money for cheap new grads.
That poster could be a nursing instructor for all you know wanting to keep her job. All her fellow classmates found jobs too. Right. It could be a hospital administrator wanting to keep the over-abundance of nurses on the up and up. Creates lower salaries. New grads don't make $25.00/hr.
If it is your passion - go for it. However, alot of people got into nursing thinking they would have job security - and it's not the case. What would be great is if you could get ahold of new grads in your area. There might be lists somewhere in your college.
I'm telling you to keep your chin up too. But make the wisest and most educated decision about what you are going to spend your money on and time doing. Going to nursing school because the media has said for the past ten years there is a "nursing shortage" or reading blogs on a web site is not enough homework.
I'm not convinced it is your passion either. That would be a huge mistake to follow this "dream."