Your First Job as a Nurse

December 11, 2008 by  
Filed under Clinical Nurse (CNS), Finding Your Nursing Job

As a neophyte to the career, nursing students must be well oriented to the nature of their first jobs as true and professional nurses. Nursing and becoming a nurse need extensive support from the school you were into. Students must be properly guided with all the undertakings a novice nurse should encounter. Have a mindset of your own. If you don’t want to fail in your first job and get disappointment as well, consider the following factors before pursuing on to the job:

1. The nature and background of the employer and the company. Turn- over rates can indicate the efficiency of the employer to new nurses. Do not hesitate to ask about the turn-over rates of the employers. 20% or higher turnovers are significantly acceptable.
2. Orientation from the company. This will indicate how effective the company can guide you through your first years as a nurse. Preceptor programs are likewise must be observed. Preceptors are mentors for first time nurses to familiarize themselves with the hospital setting including standard procedures, use of equipments and hospital routines. He or she must be helpful in assisting you towards your first years.
3. Ask about support on adjusting to the nature of the job especially conquering emotional stress.
4. Observe on the totality of the hospital’s system. This will give you a closer look on the overall nature of the company. This will also provide you with the idea of the flow of the work.
5. Ask if you are going to be assigned in a specialty unit first. Specialty units can prepare the first time nurse to handle a broader sense of the nursing profession. Nursing and becoming a nurse must undergo a level on the intensity of tasks.
6. Ask yourself if you are really ready for the job. Nursing and becoming a nurse have to prepare you as a competitive and well- rounded nurse.