WHO GETS HIRED ?? Please Reply!

gerry79 · Jan 16, 2008

Hi Again:
This question is for YOU if you're an RN in one of the Boston or suburban Boston hospitals ...
What are the demographics (age, and also type of degree if you know that) of the new grads that have gotten hired in your workplace? What have you seen?
What I'm trying to determine is whether it's at all likely that I'd land a hospital job upon graduation (with either an AD or BSN) in a Boston/surrounding hospital. I'm certainly willing to work as a patient care tech/nursing assistant during school...
If staff nursing is likely not going to be available to me..(I think this may be the case)..I'd want to be aware of this up front, and, if I do move forward into nursing school, approach employment after graduation proactively, with a Plan B.
Thank you.

I am 43 years old. I have an Associates Degree, and I work at Beth Israel. I worked on the floor that I currently work on as a telemetry tech and was hired on the floor as a nurse 3 months before I graduated (of course the job was contingent on me finishing school and passing the boards). I have worked at BI for 10 months.

lveroflife · Jan 17, 2008

hello,

i did a lot of job searching and research before i moved to boston and i came to the conclusion that working as a Clinical Assistant is the best way to get a job as a new grad nurse in boston. they give them priority over outside candidates and you make great contacts. if i were to give any advice it would be to work in the hospital you hope to be employed as an RN at!

best of luck to you!!

butch228 · Jan 17, 2008

Hi

I worked as a PCA at BMC for a semester before graduating my ADN program..and was promply hired by another floor. However, the manager who hired me left right after I hired and another nurse manager took over and I heard some bad things about her..and she gave me a strange vibe that she would not be pleasant to work under (door always closed, not following up with questions).

Anyways..even though I accepted a job at BMC..I went to a career fair..and dropped off resume at the MGH table. A snotty young HR person tried to explain to me that MGH doesn't hire non-BSN nurses (even tho i had a BA in Bio), but she was gonna take my resume anyways. MGH called me the following week. I bolted from BMC..and my nurse manager at MGH was super awesome..best mentor I could ever find. He encouraged me to get my MSN..and now i'm an NP ..but still work at MGH per diem.

samdombek · Jan 26, 2008

I am 48 y.o. w/ADRN and was hired at a community hospital north of Boston. It does help if you've been an aide; I don't know of any aides who wanted a job here as a staff RN when they graduated/passed NCLEX but were refused. Those who were aides before becoming nurses just seem to have an advantage (even in terms of experience). However, if you want to take the aide route, I would do it early on, as I have heard of hospitals who are reluctant to hire aides with only a year of nursing school left. They don't want to go through the expense/time of training an aide only to have them leave the position in a year's time.

ERICA57 · Jan 26, 2008

Thank you. Your advice is consistent with what everything else I've heard. I'm thinking I'll go the CNA route even before I start school (ie this spring, I'm starting in the fall).

Can you give me your honest opinion? I'm almost 10 years older than you, 57. Have you ever seen newbies my age ? Do you think my age will be a deterrent to my being hired? (I am energetic, smart, and determined..not over the hill).

I know people don't want to be discouraging ... but forewarned is forearmed!

Ironclad · Jan 27, 2008

I would do it early on, as I have heard of hospitals who are reluctant to hire aides with only a year of nursing school left. They don't want to go through the expense/time of training an aide only to have them leave the position in a year's time.

Do you really need a long orientation to learn how to wipe somebody's butt?

samdombek · Jan 27, 2008

Erica57,

To be perfectly honest with you, I am the oldest newbie on my floor at the present time. However, I know of at least one nurse who began on another floor at 51. I have seen a few student nurses in the hospital who are in their late 50's. I don't think (at my hospital, at least) hiring older nurses is a problem. However, I personally have some of my own baggage being an older nurse:

I, too, have always been considered smart. I did well in school and probably could have done even better if I didn't have any other obligations (kids, family, etc). But it is important to keep in mind that nursing school, the didactic part and clinical, is NOTHING like real-world floor nursing. Years ago, I was the type of student/person who only had to be told once or shown once and then I'd have it down pat. This is no longer the case! I find that things have to be done or repeated several times now before it all comes together or it all sinks in! It's just taking me so much longer to "get it". This is very difficult for me as it affects my confidence.

Because I am older, most people assume that I have been a nurse for many years and I think they assume that I know more than I do. I have high expectations of myself, have more life experience than many of the younger nurses, and tend to be harder on myself when things go wrong than I probably would if I were younger. I have had a hard time "letting things go". Many times, I wonder, "What was I thinking??!!"

Finally, there's no getting around it--nursing is a very stressful job. Because of the long and continuous learning curve, I sometimes think to myself, "Do I really need/want this kind of stress at this stage of my life? " Working e/o weekend seems to be a given unless you go into management or administrative types of nursing. I'm not sure I'd want that anyway. I just have an ADRN and I really don't feel like going back to school AGAIN for the third time to pursue a BSN. At this stage of the game I'd like to have weekends off to spend with my family like everybody else, and not have to worry about whether I am or am not going to get the major holidays off that I asked for. Lastly, nursing pays well, but when you think about it there's a disproportionate amount of responsibility for the pay you get. A plumber makes $50 an hour, much more than my friend who's been a nurse for 18 years and an OR nurse for 10. I think sometimes, maybe I ought to just get a job in a bank, where nobody's life is at stake.

Life's just too short.

ERICA57 · Jan 28, 2008

Thank you so much, "sam", for a thought-provoking response and thoughtful response. Much of what you said, about the difference betw school and floor nursing, the fact that everyone thinks you're experienced cause you're older (and I'd be older still!), the never-ending learning curve, are things I had heard (or intuited) as well. I think I'll be just like you...slow to let go of my mistakes, very slow.

I'm thinking hard about this...and if I do go forward, I want to do it will my eyes open...no illusions.

Because I'm divorced with kids moved out, and in * such * financial need, I am more open to working weekends and holidays (I work in a synagogue now..and it's every Sunday anyway..)...I just need to work, pay off debt, and God willing, save some $$. Candidly, I'm open to something new and big to fill my life, but, per your message, it could be that the "stakes" in nursing are just too high...

You said your hosp appears not to have a problem hiring older nurses, can you tell me which one it is?

samdombek · Jan 30, 2008

Erica57,

PM me and I'll go into details.