Okay. In this video, I am going to talk about how to land a new grad position, and I'm also
going to talk about what to look for in different new grad positions when you are evaluating
different programs. So the first step is really to understand how competitive it is in your
particular area to get a new grad position. So if you're where I am, which is Southern California,
it is extremely competitive to get this type of position. There are other parts of the country
where hospital systems are more readily hiring new grad RNs and it may not be that competitive,
or if you live in a competitive area but have the ability to move to a different city to get
your new grad experience, then that also makes it a little easier for you. So let's say that
you live in a competitive area, that it is difficult and competitive to get these new
grad positions. I would really encourage you to either get your foot in the door as an employee
at a hospital system or do an internship at a particular hospital system as a way of getting
your foot in the door. So when I was in nursing school, I initially was working as a volunteer
at a hospital and I was hoping that being a volunteer would help me get a new grad position
after graduation. But I was told by multiple sources that being a volunteer, unfortunately,
would not help me get such a position. However, if I was an employee at the hospital, this would
make me an internal candidate and definitely give me an edge in terms of landing one of those new
grad positions. So instead of being a volunteer, I actually put in for a transport position at my
hospital and I worked part-time as a transporter while I was going to nursing school. So I'll be
totally honest that this was not ideal. So I was in an accelerated bachelor's of nursing program
and I was working part-time as a transporter and I had kids. So it was a lot. But when I got out
of school and my hospital system was interviewing for new grad positions, they actually only opened
it up for internal candidates for my round of hiring and did not even open up any positions for
external candidates. So it really paid off. It was really hard during nursing school to juggle all of
that, but it did effectively give me a foot in the door after graduation. I had other friends who did
not-- they did not work for a hospital system, but they did an internship. So I had several
classmates who did an internship at UCSD hospital, and this helped them to get their foot in the door
after graduation from nursing school and they all landed new grad positions at that hospital. So,
again, if you live in a competitive area, you might want to consider getting a part
time job as a CNA or a PCA, which is a patient care assistant, or as a transporter. You can
even work in the kitchen. As long as you're on payroll, then that makes you an internal
candidate. And typically a lot of hospital systems give preference to internal candidates.
So the other advice I would give you is that if you are doing an internship or just with your
clinical rounds at a hospital, I would really bring your A game when you're there, okay? So
you want to make sure you are super helpful for your nurse, you are asking lots of questions,
you are being super kind to the patient and doing everything you can to make them comfortable. You
really want to be proactive and really just knock the socks off of the nurse that you're working
with. So sometimes this won't be possible, right? We've all been paired with certain nurses who are
not excited about having a nursing student working with them. And if that's the case during your week
they're at the hospital, then that nurse is likely not going to help you kind of get your foot in the
door. However, if you are paired with a super nice nurse who is really eager to teach and to help you
learn, then definitely try to make that connection and really impress her with your A game. So I'll
give you an example. When I was working-- so I'm a wound nurse at my hospital and I was taking care
of a patient up on a particular floor and there was a volunteer there who was a nursing student
and she came in to kind of observe and assist and she really just blew me away as far as that she
was going to be an amazing nurse because she really anticipated what I would need and she
would hand me things or go fetch things for me, she spoke to the patient in a really kind way,
was super helpful, asked lots of questions, wasn't too pushy, but also wasn't too standoffish. She
was really just perfect and just so nice to the patient and just a delight to work with. So I
found out that she was applying for a PCA position at my hospital, which is a patient care assistant
role, and I went and found the manager when I could later on that day to tell her that this
particular student really knocked my socks off and that she would be an amazing PCA and eventually
an amazing nurse. And sure enough, she got the position and then later on she got a new grad
position because she was an internal candidate and she was also just a really good nurse. So,
again, if you get the opportunity to really impress the people you work with at the hospital,
then definitely do that. If you make a strong connection with a nurse, then ask the nurse if
they would be willing to put in a good word for you if you're putting in-- if you're applying
for a position at the hospital or if he or she would be willing to let you reach out to them
with any questions or advice in the future. So I've had a number of nursing students come work
with me at the hospital who have followed up in email and just asked my advice about different
things. And I'm always happy to help when I can. Okay. So now let's talk a little bit about what
to look for in a new grad position. So if you have multiple new grad programs that you're looking at,
it's really important to kind of look at the nitty-gritty as far as what the hospital system is
going to provide to you as a new grad. So my new grad position was 40 weeks long. During those 40
weeks, I had a preceptor for about 13 weeks. And then also during those 40 weeks, I had a variety
of classes and courses to help teach me different things. So I would have classes on diabetes,
I'd have classes on wound care, I'd have classes on respiratory therapies. I mean, you name it,
stroke. They gave us so many classes to help really educate us and build up our skills as
nurses. And again, I had 13 weeks with a preceptor where I slowly took on more and more patients.
The first day I was just shadowing. And then the second day I'd have one patient and then I might
have one patient again and then two patients and then slowly until I got to four patients. So you
just need to evaluate the program, find out how long it is, how long do you have with a preceptor
before they set you free, and are there courses and classes included in the new grad program. So
if you are looking at a hospital system and a new grad program that gives you a preceptor for two
weeks and then they're like, "Go fly," that's kind of scary, right? There is so much to learn as a
new grad and the stakes are really high. You don't want to make a mistake and you really want to make
sure you're understanding all the procedures and policies and how to chart and how to be a safe,
effective nurse. So two weeks with a preceptor is not enough time. So if one of the programs you're
evaluating, if that's the case, I'd really be looking at other programs if you can,
because you want to protect your license, you want to learn, and you want to be a safe and
effective nurse. So at my hospital system, which is Scripps Health, I had a great experience and
got lots of training. So I'm forever grateful for that. But I did have friends who were in
different hospital systems where they did not have as much training or as much time
with a preceptor. So definitely look into that. So that's it for this video. I hope some of those
tips and suggestions have been helpful. Again, the first step is looking at the competitiveness
of your geographic area and figuring out how hard and how proactive you need to be in lining up a
part-time job or something before you graduate so that you can be that internal candidate,
okay? So best of luck to you in school and with studying and I'm here for you, so take care.