Hi everyone,
I am preparing for my second NCLEX attempt. I feel positive, but I want to have a backup plan just in case. What jobs can I apply for right now using my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree while I wait to get my RN license?

Please share any job ideas in healthcare that don't need an active RN license. Also, how should I reach out to places to ask about these jobs?
Thank you!

Hey all,

I accepted a job offer for the med-surg position (night shift). I thought of starting somewhere else to become more comfortable becoming a nurse. From what I can recall, I was told that I can change department and units after my 12 months of residency. I’m looking into transitioning to working in behavioral health and psych afterwards, but I don’t want to make it seem like I’m job hopping or leave right away because it’ll look bad on my resume.

Anyway… any tips and advice working at the med-surg unit, or as a new grad overall? I am afraid of failing orientation as many shared their experiences and stories here. I’d like to be prepared prior to my orientation, or during it.

Thank you guys!

Has anyone done the residency at AdventHealth Kissimmee? I got an offer for a PCU but I would have to move as it’s 4/5 hours from home. Trying to decide if it’s worth it or not. I have been searching for a job in my area for 10 months now and this is my first offer. I also would love to hear how your experience working there has been.

I previously posted about being dismissed from my NICU orientation after 7 weeks due to “failure to progress.” After that, I spent about two months unemployed, trying to find another position internally while also applying to other hospital systems near me.

Initially, I was being pretty selective and mainly looking at adjacent units such as L&D, postpartum, pediatrics, etc., but I wasn’t having much luck. I got ghosted by recruiters, barely got interviews, received countless automated rejection emails, and found a lot of job postings preferring or requiring at least 1 year of RN experience.

Eventually, I decided to stop being so selective and apply to other units such as Med-Surg and Stepdown. I interviewed at a smaller community hospital near my home for a stepdown/IMCU position, but the IMCU management felt I would benefit from starting on Med-Surg first. I then interviewed with the Med-Surg management team at the same hospital, and they offered me a Med-Surg position instead, which I then accepted.

So now I’m officially starting my Med-Surg RN job!!! I am going to be working nights full time. I’m definitely nervous and honestly pretty scared of being a nurse. I’m hoping I don’t screw up too badly and can make it through orientation, and that I get good preceptors and mentors who are willing to help me learn and grow. I don’t know where I’ll end up long-term, so for now I’m just taking it one step at a time.

I also decided to remove my brief NICU experience from my resume because it was only about 7 weeks of orientation, and I felt that having only two months of RN experience as a new grad looking for another RN position looked like a red flag and was creating more questions than value.

It’s definitely not the path I originally imagined, but after everything that happened, I’m just really grateful to have another opportunity to start working as an RN and move forward. ❤️

Hi all! I graduated with my NCLEX in December of 2024, passed my first NCLEX Jun of 2025 and have since been working pediatric home health (I also have my ACLS, BLS, PALS, and am starting to volunteer as a street medic) I have an interest in going bedside, ideally in peds er, peds icu step down, or peds oncology but will be applying to any and all positions.

I am writing because I have been with my current family for almost a year now (quadriplegia/severe TBI, respiratory issues, routine suctioning/respiratory treatments and behavioral regulation) while it’s going well now, a couple months ago it was very rough (for a multitude of reasons including a possible med error made on my end, some heavy projection of emotions being put onto me by one of the parents because I remind them a lot of the other (they are getting divorced); manifesting as passive aggressive comments at times, and gossip by parents). It got to the point where I was terminated with 2 weeks notice and then offered my job back a week later under the guise of losing me being a significant loss to the family and pt. I took the job back (needed the money) and things have been going well since.
I just got an offer for a new kiddo that is stable but on a trach and vent and my manager (a previous medical parent who I cared for their kid) really wants me to take the case and is prepared to fully train me thoroughly (will come with me for as many shifts as it takes for me to fully feel comfortable providing care).

I want to end up in a hospital new grad program (ideally within my preferred specialty) ASAP but I am aware that it will likely take time especially because I am in Chicago and have an ADN degree. I am hoping it takes between 2 - 6 months.

My dilemma is this:
- while I dedicate all of my free time to apply to hospitals, should I stick with my current patient (who on paper gives me a lot of specific skills but not necessarily hard nursing skills)? and has been tumultuous in the past but is ok now.

- should I take this new case under the assumption that it will benefit my resume at least somewhat(because of the trach and vent) and potentially boost up my chances of being accepted into a hospital? (My manger is aware and supports I that will be leaving once I get a hospital offer).

(Other things to think about; 1) this new case is a couple hours away so I would be traveling a couple hours a week to my old college town and essentially spend half my week in the city and half my time with this kid in a small town 2) taking on a new case will eat up some of my free time that could be spent applying to hospitals learning about trachs/vents, charting, traveling, etc).

Thank you for reading and for the input!!

I’m about 4.5 months into my residency program and have been off orientation for about 4 weeks now. I felt so bad and nervous for calling off, but I had a heavy assignment last night and I didn’t feel like coming in. I feel so guilty for calling off though and it’s probably because I’m still new. I’m not planning to call out often, but I hope I don’t leave a bad impression by calling out so early in my program. I know I’ll get over it eventually but the feeling still sucks.

Hi guys so I am a new grad nurse and this is my resume, I heard that a resume that’s straight to the point is better so I tried to aim for that. If you look at the resume, I didnt add extra info about clinicals or what I did because I was advised not to. If you have any extra advice/ recommendations I would GREATLY appreciate it. Thank you so much!!

hi guys,

i posted here a couple of weeks ago sharing my experience with competitive in socal and finding a residency with my experience (shocker)

after hearing a lot of supportive and great advice, ive decided to apply to colorado and have started the endorsement process there. each hiring site has said that they have like 40% of their new grads out of state which got me super hopeful but i really dont understand why im still getting rejected. and yes, i did include that i am getting my licensure and its going through the endorsement process right now in every application. im going to post my resume here and ask you guys to please critique it :/ i just dont know what else to do and ive revised my resume so many times. thank you all in advanced

i’m from the philadelphia area. i have my BSN and license and can’t seem to even get a med-surg job anywhere. please help…

Hi! Quick question, for anyone applying to Nurse I/new grad residency positions: what are you putting under work experience on the application? Are you including your nursing clinical rotations and final placement/preceptorship as work experience, or are you only listing actual paid employment?

I’m just trying to figure out how other new grads are filling out that section when most of their nursing experience comes from clinical placements, as I don't have extern experience.

Hello! I’ve recently been studying for the nclex using the Mark K lectures and study material that was shown to me on Spotify but they’re recently all been removed I literally can’t find any. I was about halfway through and was going to start the diabetes lecture. Does anyone have any of these saved so I can still listen to them? Any help to accessing these would be so greatly appreciated, thank you!

I love both but I feel like labor and delivery has a HUGE liability aspect to it, making it more stressful

I had my interview on Friday, I know it is early in the week but I want to know whether I got the job so I can move on with my life. The interview in my opinion did not go well. My application process still says in process. The waiting game sucks!

This is my first time using reddit so bare with me. I am on my 6th week of orientation in a very busy ER. During nursing school i saw how miserable everyone in the hospital setting is and it was very discouraging. Now im a nurse myself and i dont know if i can do this for the rest of my life.

I’m looking for advice on non bedside nursing jobs that are enjoyable or advice on the RN to sonographer pathway. I thought since I’m young getting certified in sonography in an accelerated program might not hurt then possibly could do a PRN RN position to fulfill my nursing degree? I dont know. Any advice would help.

I’m applying for a NJ nursing license from NY, but it’s still pending and my job starts in one week. Has anyone had success getting an urgent status update or escalation from the NJ Board of Nursing? Any contact tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

Would you guys add a job that you stayed at for 6 months; especially when it’s crucial for my resume?

Can anyone help me with these 2 rhythms? They are not 2* type II and that’s what I see. Please if anyone can help.

Greetings, I am a new grad nurse. I started my position in May this year and hit the floor in June. I work on the Obs unit at a heart hospital. I feel like I know nothing. Is this normal? I been with my preceptors and its not like I thought it would be. Sure they teach things but the last couple of shifts me and my preceptor was reported by another nurse for not doing something. Of course I didn't know my preceptor didn't even know (she forgot). I called off my last few shifts because I am wondering do I keep going? Do I find something else? At the end of it all I know healthcare isn't perfect. I just want to be a great nurse and provide amazing patient care.

Just got an interview.

Hi!
I'm starting a SNF job in LA. I'm very excited for this opportunity however I do see this job opportunity as a stepping stone to hopefully landing an RN residency program around 6 month into working this job.

I am seeking advices on how I can use my SNF experience to better market myself future hospital interviews and how else I can use this opportunity to stand out further from any other candidate.

Anyone else?

I’m a new grad RN in socal and I started working at a SNF a month ago and it has already taken a toll on my mental health. I’m not sure if resigning is the way to go, especially because no other jobs are accepting me right now. I never had an actual job or work experience so I fear that by resigning on this job, it’ll look even worse on my resume. I really want to branch out to other nursing fields, such as aesthetic nursing, while I still apply to hospitals and I’m wondering where and how to start. I’m currently applying to new grad residency programs, but sadly I never even get a chance for an interview. I’m so discouraged and I need advice on what to do regarding my current work situation. Working at a SNF feels like I don’t get to live a life.

New grad EN experience – was this normal?
I recently left my EN new grad position after 10 months and I’m interested to hear what other nurses think about my experience.
I started part-time on a busy acute hospital ward at one of Sydney’s largest trauma hospitals . I was working two 12-hour shifts per week.
I was only give two to 3 supernumary days. I was obviously still learning and there were areas I needed to develop, particularly prioritisation, escalation, communication and documentation.
One of the biggest difficulties was my relationship with the ward educator. I found her communication quite rude and confronting, and I later became aware that other staff had also found her difficult to work with.
When a new nursing manager took over, she decided to move me to the ward directly across the corridor. It was the same specialty, but under different management and educators. The reason for this was because management felt , for my wellbeing / learning I couldn’t continue to work with her .
The intention was essentially to give me a fresh start and more structured support.
My roster was changed from two 12-hour shifts to three 8-hour morning shifts per week and I was placed supernumerary for six weeks so I could receive additional education and assessment as management recognised I hasn’t received much and my confidence was lacking .
Unfortunately, the educator assigned to support me was injured after about two weeks, so there wasn’t consistent educator continuity throughout the six-week period. They never signed me off on IV’s or subcuts .The educator would allocate me to complex patients and I would have my own patient load but the rest of the ward team nurses . I was told they didn’t believe I would successfully complete the support period. I was given an additional week and then told I would need to commence a formal six-week performance improvement plan, with the possibility of termination if I didn’t meet the required standard.
I asked whether I could move into a less acute area where I could continue developing as a new EN, but was told redeployment wasn’t an option and I would need to find another job myself.
I have since left and haven’t secured another nursing role . I don’t know how I will without a good reference .
What has really upset me is that before I left , I asked my previ for a reference, I learned that the feedback provided was very negative and essentially described me as not competent.
I’m not saying I was a perfect new grad. I absolutely had things to learn and improve, and I accepted that. But I went into a graduate program expecting that the purpose was to help a brand-new nurse develop those skills. I worked so hard , put in 100 perfect effort and never made any major errors .
The whole experience has really knocked my confidence.
For nurses who have been through new grad programs or work in education/management, is this common ? I feel so sad , embarrassed and depressed .