Where Will I be 5 Years Post-Graduation from Nursing School?

The future is unpredictable and inevitable, but I cannot help but imagine how things will pan out for me. I am currently a senior nursing student in the Greater Boston area and I will have my BSN this May. It is exciting for me to think about where I want to work, but then I realize that I do not even know all of my options.

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Where Will I be 5 Years Post-Graduation from Nursing School?

My plan is to first graduate and then pass my NCLEX exam sometime this Summer. Once I have my RN license, the real job search will begin! In addition to finding and starting a new job, I will also be jumping right in to begin my Masters in Nursing Education degree, which I will start in early fall. I feel that it will be very beneficial for me to work on a medical/surgical floor for at least a couple of years in order for me to learn and practice my nursing skills. I, however, know that I do not want to be a floor nurse very much. The least amount of time as a floor nurse as possible is better for me.

After working on a Medical/Surgical floor for two or three years where will I go?

I know this may sound bad, but ideally in years to come, just before I start my own family, I would want to work as a nurse Monday-Friday and have weekends and holidays off. I do not mind working 12 hour shifts or odd hours, but I really do not want to work holidays or weekends. Also, obviously, I want to work in a position where I can make the most money as possible.

I am very interested in wound care, but I do not really know all of the possibilities within that area of nursing. To my surprise I have found that I enjoy pressure ulcers, dressing changes, abscesses, and wounds in general. I know that there are wound care nurses out there that work in the hospital setting, but I may be looking for something in the community, such as a wound care clinic.

Are there any nurses out there who work in a wound care clinic? If so, how do you like it/what is it like? Also, are there any jobs that focus on wound care from a surgical perspective?

Does anyone have any suggestions of nursing jobs that I can work Monday-Friday and have weekends and holidays off?

I have looked into the Cath Lab, Endoscopy, and day surgery, but none of those areas interest me. Another question I have is do nurses who work in outpatient facilities make decent money comparable to floor nurses?

I always thought that I had to work in a hospital, but just recently, I have come to the realization that there are so many aspects to community health nursing. Working in the community would also be more convenient for me and it may even have the type of schedule that I am looking for.

If I were to eventually go back to school to become a Nurse Practitioner, are there any restrictions to working as a Nurse Practitioner?

I have heard that you need to work a certain amount of hours per week/month/year in order to keep your license...is this true?

I feel like being a Nurse Practitioner down the road will allow me to have a flexible schedule and make even more money. Do people recommend taking the Nurse Practitioner route, or are there other options out there? I am new to the nursing world and I know that I have a great deal of questions.

Any and all advice is appreciated! Thanks for reading.

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Nicole93

About Nicole93

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I am also following this post! I am a current nursing student and have thought about MANY of the same things you address here.

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Yeah, wouldn't we ALL love to have hours like that.

OK, here's the scoop. Those endoscopy, cath lab, and day surg jobs are all taken by nurses with quite a bit of critical care experience who don't want to work shifts in the ICU. No new grad will get that job.

WOCN is fine, but wounds need care on weekends too.

New grads don't make that much unless they work nights and do a lot of OT. You don't sound like you would do that. Though you may end up working nights anyway.

Keep your mind open and don't expect to plan out too much in advance. At this point it's always good to have a path to follow, but keep your peripheral vision open because you will see other opportunities as you go along. "Man makes his plan and the gods laugh" goes back to ancient Greece, so this is not a new concept.

As an example, when I was in exactly your shoes (senior in an excellent Boston baccalaureate nursing program, in March) I had just learned that my plan to attend the pediatric nurse practitioner program here in a year was dashed because my then husband got a job transfer to another state.

I worked there for a year. Not in pediatrics, but in PACU, only job available at the time. 1pm-9pm and 3pm-11pm, only q3rd weekend though.

Then he got transferred again. Four years later, I was a four-year veteran in an incredible ICU (one month days, one month eves, 8hour shifts, rotating, every other weekend) and had exactly zero desire to do pedi NP at all. But I did want to go to grad school near where we were, a top-5 nursing grad school, so I could be a clin spec and teach. I started saving money to do that.

One year later, good money in the bank...which went into fixing up our house for sale, another transfer. Took a job as an ICU-CCU-stepdown head nurse in a community hospital and started looking at grad school in new city (fortunately, another top-5 program). Did it in critical care. With loans, because I never got that money that I saved back.

Had 2 kids. Divorced. Taught in ADN and BSN programs and worked per diem all over town, including weekends when my kids were with their father.

Moved again, across the country. Took critical care CNS job in community hospital. Mostly days, no weekends, no holidays (I am now 15 years out of school). 6 years, hospital merged, my dept closed. Out of work.

Took job as field case manager in worker's comp, about which I knew pretty much nothing. Did it for more than 10 years, learned it, loved it.

Now, years later, I have my own business as a nursing consultant to attorneys and insurance companies. I work at home, do some travel, and nobody tells me when to work, so I work almost every day.

See how far I am from pedi NP?

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Specializes in ICU, Adventures in school nursing.

Keep an open mind and embrace each new experience. As a new graduate in Boston your opportunities may be limited at first. I live and work about 45 miles southeast of Boston, and we have several new grads from the Boston area working and making the commute to the community hospital I work for. After 11 years working in a hospital (med-surg, critical care) I made a major change last September. I took a position as a school nurse in my town. Never worked with kids before, but I love it! It's a toss up though because the pay is no where near what I was making at the hospital, but I don't have to work holidays or the summer if I choose not to! I still work per-diem to keep my skills up, but I get to tell them when I am available. You may not land your "dream job" right away, but don't turn down an opportunity hoping for something better. You will learn something new from each experience.... some things you may like, others you may not. But hey, that's one of the fabulous things about a career in nursing..... the opportunities are endless! Wishing you the best of luck!

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Specializes in Gerontology.

Well, everyone has a BSN so I'm going back to school to get a little bit of edge compared to thousands of work-hungry nurses out there. I've worked in the field and I didn't like the number of hours required anyway. I can't choose a different path since I'm way too far from choosing a different career ( I like Art and History! :( ) so I'm pursuing higher education and if I'm lucky enough I'd get a consulting, planning, or any related job that only requires my thinking skills, and not my leg muscles to walk the long ward halls all night. I'd have more time painting too! ;)

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I love your plan as well. Mine is a bit similar. I plan on the doing the Nurse Practitioner. I am still looking into ther requirements. I was reading about getting a doctorate as well. I also love wound care. I've taken care of my self and my husband's wounds. I've even been on a wound vac before. So I feel I will truly be able identify with my patients. Have you thought of Home health? My wound nurses were awesome. My children are a bit older now, so that's why I am starting out at 41. But I plan on doing 12hour shifts and some home health work when I'm off and then move on to Nurse Practitioner. Good luck.

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Specializes in Women’s Health.

Have you considered working as a school nurse? I currently work as a CNA for a school district in my area and am considering becoming a school nurse after I graduate next year. Working as a school nurse will give you weekends off and paid holidays. In California, school nurses make pretty good wages. I think you have to go back to school for a nursing credential (about a year), but you don't have to go back and get it until you already have the job. I hope you find a job that you love and congrats on being so close to graduation!

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Specializes in Critical Care/Vascular Access.

It's good to have plans, but don't try to put the cart before the horse. Like most professions, you're going to have to "pay some dues", for a lack of better words. Everything that you listed that you're looking for are things EVERYONE is looking for. We all want good hours, good pay, no weekends or holidays, etc. Who wouldn't want that? Not too many people actually enjoy being overworked, underpaid, and missing out on holidays.

The ones who usually get the those more ideal jobs are the ones who have done the time in the trenches, who have worked the night shifts and crappy hours and got the experience and seniority and earned those positions. So keep your goals in mind, but be realistic about what it's going to take to get there. Unless you're just lucky, which does happen occasionally, you're going to have to probably work some jobs you don't like and hours you don't like to eventually get where you want to be.

Just do us all a favor and don't be one of those bitter, miserable nurses while you're trying to get where you want to be. ha. It's just part of life.

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Nicole, good for you for thinking toward the future. With healthcare reform, the landscape is changing significantly as there is a push toward disease prevention and patient education. If you have an interest in becoming a certified patient health educator, you can qualify for a personal NPI number (which enables you to bill insurance companies for your services) and have a lot more flexibility in your schedule than you would have in a traditional hospital setting. A recent report by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics rates Health Educators among the fastest growing professions for the next 10 years.

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