Monthly Archive for August, 2009

Applying for Your First Nursing Job

Published
by
admin
on August 23, 2009
in Nursing Career
. 0 Comments

nursing studentSo, you now have two pieces of paper that officially make you a real nurse instead of a student one – your nursing diploma and your nursing license.  You should be able to don your nursing whites, walk into any hospital and announce – “Here I am, ready to work!”  Right? Wrong.

Even in the face of a sizable impending nursing shortage, being a nurse is still an actual job and all nurses, from new nursing school grads at the top of their class to experienced pros, need to respect the job application process. It’s easy to forget how coveted a nursing career is, especially when you’re dealing with bedpans instead of board rooms.  However, since nursing is on the higher salary end of the career spectrum, job applicants need to treat the search process as any executive applicant would.

This means following all the basic rules of “Career Services 101” and preparing a well thought out cover letter, resume and reference letters.  Here are some tips for putting together a winning job application package.

Resume: As a new grad, you obviously won’t have any RN experience to speak of however you should still emphasize any medical or health care related jobs and/or volunteer work first. If none of that applies, apply your critical analysis skills to your other work experience.

Extract and emphasize the skills and achievements in those positions that parallel your nursing skills. For example, point out the leadership and delegation traits required in your part time college restaurant job. Be creative and above all connect everything to nursing!

Cover Letter: Keep it direct, succinct and well organized according to the standard three paragraph business letter writing structure: introductory paragraph highlighting your major strengths and objectives, middle paragraph expanding on those points, and closing paragraph with the most important point you want the reader to walk away with along with a call to action. Want to try something creative? Include an impressive quote from one of your references in the opening or middle paragraph.

Reference Letters: Following the same prioritizing as on your resume, the best letters will be from medical or health care related employers, next from college professors and last from other employers. Make sure that all the folks you have listed as references are aware of it and can be easily reached by your potential employers.

Hospitals and other clinical facilities move through the process of recruiting quickly and if you unintentionally delay them by listing a reference that is difficult to reach or unreceptive, you could easily lose a job to another applicant.

Do you think I’m exaggerating?  When I was applying for one of my early hospital jobs, someone from human resources called and irritably informed me that they had been unable to reach one of my key references. She told me that if they could not reach her – immediately – I would lose the job opportunity.

I immediately called, paged and finally tracked down that reference and ordered her to sit by her phone and not move. Then, I called the hospital back and said, “Call her now!” In any job market, the most prepared, professional and proactive candidates are most likely to land the job.

Nurse Anesthetists Make Top Nursing Salaries

Published
by
admin
on August 20, 2009
in Nursing Education
. 1 Comment

nurse anesthetist

If you’re going to set a career goal, you might as well aim high, right? In the field of nursing, a career as a nurse anesthetist is just about as high as one can aim. A nurse anesthetist, otherwise known as a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) is the certified counterpart to the MD anesthesiologist profession.

The major differences between the two practices are in education (anesthesiologists have six years more as MD’s), corresponding financial cost of the education and level of complete independence in regards to patient care. Other than that, both professions are responsible for complete anesthesia care.

The 150 year old CRNA profession is regulated by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.  I’ve included the AANA link at the end of this blog as an excellent resource for nursing students and nurses interesting in pursuing a CRNA career. While specific educational requirements vary between accredited institutions, here is the general checklist for applying to a CRNA training program.

  • Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing or Science-related major
  • RN License
  • Minimum one year of RN experience in critical/acute care area such as ER or ICU
  • Prerequisite science courses similar to “Pre-Med” courses

Once you’re accepted into a CRNA program, the ensuing tuition costs for your 2-3 year education can be pricey. However, the financial and career opportunity rewards more than cover those costs. The average salary for CRNA’s as of 2007 was $140,013 (AMGA medical group survey) – the highest of all nursing salaries.

In addition to job opportunities in hospitals and clinical settings, nurse anesthetists can work as researchers, teachers and in health care administration. However, it is the clinical settings that offer the most job opportunities for CRNA’s, with nearly all rural hospitals in America opting for nurse anesthetists over MD anesthesiologists. If you have already set your sights on critical care nursing and are also a talented problem solver, critical thinker, and multi-tasker, a career as a nurse anesthetist is worth looking into.

AANA Website: http://www.aana.com

Trials and Tribulations of the New Graduate Nurse

Published
by
admin
on August 13, 2009
in Nursing Education
. 0 Comments

nursing school graduateNursing School Graduate Advice

In part one of this blog I discussed why the transition from student nurse to new grad can be a challenging time for a new nurse.  As I said in that blog, hospitals are doing their part to make the transition easier.  There are also some smart strategies a new graduate nurse can employ to make sure that once you finally get employed as a nurse, you don’t get frustrated and throw all your hard work away.

  1. Set Goals: Think about it – for the past four years you have been working hard toward this seemingly elusive goal of “RN.”  Now that you’ve earned your letters, don’t settle back and simply try to “survive” as a new grad.  If you haven’t done so already, this is the time to set new career goals.What area would you like to eventually specialize in and how can you be working toward that now (extra training, etc.)? Would you like to eventually earn your Master’s Degree or become a nurse practitioner? Having a new ball to keep your eye on is an excellent way to work through the stress of being a new grad without getting sidetracked by thoughts of bailing.
  2. Use Your Mentor: Utilize the experienced nurse mentor the hospital assigns you, just as you would use a nursing instructor. It is in their best interest and the hospital’s best interest (mutually the same) to make sure that you have knowledge and skills needed to move forward safely and confidently into your new role as RN (versus student nurse).If, for any reason, you do not feel comfortable utilizing your assigned mentor in this way speak to your nurse manager about finding another nurse who you feel more comfortable with. If this does not work, do some research on your own or through your school and find an experienced nurse who is willing to answer your “new grad” questions outside of work. The point is – find a mentor you trust and use them to your advantage.
  3. Use the Time Wisely: Consider your new grad time as a paid extension of nursing school and squeeze every learning experience from it possible. There is no need to rush through your period as a new grad. I know it seems natural to think like this, since you have been sprinting through nursing school for the last four years.This is the time to slow down and make you know what you need to know to cut the cord and go stand on your own two feet as a nurse. Believe me - you’ll have all the time in the world to not be a student nurse or a new grad. Enjoy the learning curve while it lasts!