When do give up?

[LJR89]

Hi,

This is my first time getting to post on the general nursing board!ive spent a lot of time on the pre-nursing and student boards, but now I need advice on fully entering the the profession!

I am a new graduate and just passed the NCLEX a couple weeks ago! ive been riding the high of "officially" being a nurse but had a pretty big reality check today.

Ive worked in the restaurant industry for the last 10 years. With 1 year as a Nurse assistant in an ER. But tonight I found out that my place of employment for the last 5 is shutting down.

Of course I was already pursuing nursing jobs since January, but I wasn't too stressed out about not getting one yet, since I had a job that paid the bills. But now I only have 1 month to find a new one.

My question is, since I only have about a 1 month cushion once the restaurant closes, at what point should I start applying for non-RN jobs to make sure I still have money flowing in.

I have an ADN and am currently in an RN-BSN program which I will graduate from May 2018.

I have my heart set on working in an acute setting, but only a few of my classmates have gotten jobs in a hospital with a ADN.

so I feel like my options are:

1)start also pursuing TCUs or LTC

2)get another resturaunt job while I'm waiting for a hospital position

3)try to get hired as a Nurse Assistant somewhere and hope it leads to an RN gig in the future.

Im worried about starting some place new and then needing to leave right away, I know I need to prioritize meeting my own needs, but don't want to be inconsiderate either. So when do I start looking for non-RN jobs and what kind of job is the smartest idea? Or perhaps there's other options I haven't thought of yet too.

Thanks for your help! I know that was a long (grammatically challenged) story

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Thanks for all the great advice. Got offered a position at a TCU where I think I will learn a ton and get some great experience! I appreciate the help!

Congratulations on the TCU position! I think you will learn some valuable procedural skills and time management in that type of setting.