(no subject)

[ocelot]

I passed the final, and the class. Done with school! Now I just have to survive graduation and family visit.

Oh, and pass the NCLEX. And find a job.

Comments

[dempcat.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

Mazel tov! Good luck on the NCLEX (remember to breathe). If what I keep hearing is true, you'll likely find yourself with multiple job offers.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

What you keep hearing is almost certainly not true around here, unfortunately.

[meb21.livejournal.com]

Congrats :) I felt very relieved to be done with school. Just do a lot of practice tests for NCLEX and you'll do fine!

[banshee.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! Congratulations!

[dymphna79.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! That must be a great feeling. How is the job market in the area these days? Do many of your classmates have jobs? Have you been applying? What are your hopes and dreams, job-wise? Etc.

Thank god we find out the results of the NCLEX so quickly these days!

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Two of my classmates have job offers (one in the hospital where she's been working the whole time as a tech). A few others have interviews within the next few days. Overall, the job market seems a bit better than for the last graduating class (Spring 2009), but still pretty bad.

I'm applying more in the Reno area, because we're moving there since it's a better place for koyote to be working. I think the job market is possibly slightly better, balanced with the fact that I didn't do clinicals in the area, and they apparently don't look highly on NoCal grads, who tend to do their obligatory 18 months before going back to California.

I'm looking for a job whereever I can get it (except OR. I have absolutely no interest in that, and refuse to get myself pigeonholed there). I have a lot of areas that seem interesting, with peds, high risk maternity (where all the intervention is more appropriate!), and oncology being high on the list.

What's up with you these days? Last I heard, you were moving to Chicago, but I don't think you've posted anything since!

[dymphna79.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the LJ pretty much feels like part of my Old Life at this point. It's so full of domestic bliss.

I didn't move to Chicago (which doesn't have many new grad opportunities either), but to Springfield, IL, where the economy is healthy and they needed nurses last year. They still have somewhat of a need, but even here they're hiring less this year.

I work on a med-surg unit, which is never ever a place I intended to be, but when I applied for the job they offered me several potential interviews--neuro? renal? ortho? and I chose two to interview that sounded the best. One was an all medical floor, but included a few beds of intermediate care--once I had training and experience there, I could leverage my way into the ICU--and the other was this one, which is general med-surg but with specialties in gynecology, plastics, and ENT. I didn't know much about the last two, but of course gynecology is right up my alley, and in the end I liked the floor atmosphere and the potential variety of patients better on this floor. I actually LOVE it! I feel like I'm so much better off here than I would have been in ER, which would have been my first choice. I have learned so much and med-surg really kicks my ass on the assessment and time management skills. In some ways I have more independence than I did in ER (where I did my year-long senior preceptorship), because in the ER the doctors are ALWAYS there. Here we have to rely on our nursing judgment to an even greater extent, I think.

After ER, I was interested in peds and NICU and oncology, and I'm sure I would have been happy in those places too, but I really feel lucky to have landed where I did, in such a good fit. In fact--since I'm not planning to stay here forever, probably just another year--I was browsing about a little for jobs (in Seattle) and found myself disappointed to realize that I'm probably never again going to find a combination of gyne, plastics, and ENT. I don't want to give any of them up! But I'm sure I'll find another situation where I can learn and be happy.

I wonder if it helps any that you knew through me that the job market would be difficult? And I'd think your school would have prepared you for it, too. We were all just blindsided.

My advice, not that you've asked for it, is to emphasize whenever possible that you are ALREADY planning to move to the Reno area, and won't just be moving for a job that you'll then leave. They didn't take me seriously as an applicant here until I explained that my brother and his family live in Chicago. (Of course, I knew they were leaving IL soon, but it served its purpose.)

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I think we all knew the job market was crap pretty early on - at least after the last class graduated a year ago. I think knowing this has helped to some extent. We're prepared to apply for anything and everything, and not expecting a job offer on graduation.

However, we've also spent at least the last two semesters with a sense of "Why in the world are we putting ourselves through this hell when we're not going to get a job anyways?" despair.

I also really liked the diversity on med-surg (and on general peds), and certainly wouldn't object to working there.

[dymphna79.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I turned down the first job that I was offered because I was sure something better would come along (PACU at UC Davis! Can you imagine???). I definitely wouldn't have done that if I'd known jobs were going to be so hard to find. On the other hand, I hate to admit it, but in my heart I know everything really did work out for the best for my weird circumstances. If I had had a job when I needed to get divorced so suddenly, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to leave town--and I really, really needed to leave town. If I was religious I'd say something about "God's plan"!

[sans-visage.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm looking for more Mama LJ friends, wanna give it a shot?