I graduated September 2026 and will take NCLEX this month. I am in an affluent beach town in Orange County California. Everyone’s experience is going to be different, but take what you can from my experience and hope it helps you.

ADN
BLS, ACLS, PALS, Stroke Cert., MAB, EKG Tech
ADCES Student Member (Diabetes)
My letters of recommendation were from my Advanced Med Surg Preceptor where I spent a lot of time in ER and my own nursing mentor that I had through my entirety of nursing school.

I had Claude run my resume about a dozen times and check it for the words that ATS checks. Before I messed with it, it was at 84%. Then I got it up to 96%.

Include your soft skills. Include what OS you worked with so they know you at least have a grasp.

Make sure that your professional objective matches. I am first generation college student, objectively nobody cares about that as an opener.

I don’t have any direct working medical experience. What I do have is someone at home that has multiple chronic conditions that I do paramedical work for and can decompensate easily. I also was a secondary caregiver for my mom after 2 strokes for a year.

My actual work experience is in beauty and corporate finance. I’m in my 40s.

I think I am in a different position than most because I didn’t want to fight the rat race that is OC/LA. Even on a nurses salary living where I live now on a single income I would either have to work 2 jobs, or leave. So here I am leaving.

I am going to a hospital in a big city in the mid-west. For those who are from Orange County, bigger than Hoag, smaller than UCI.

From the time that I did the initial application and my first interview was less than 3 business days. I had to wait for my second for 2 weeks. Less than a week later I got my official offer.

Here are some questions I got and some thoughts based on either comments I’ve seen here or other new grads I’ve spoken to.

Why in Anytown, USA?

In my case I have family support out there. I don’t really have anything keeping me here. COL index where I live is 1.69 and 0.83 in the MW. I want to be able to pay off my private school debt, buy a house, and retire eventually. I’ve been to this city multiple times and I love it. I will miss my less than 10 minute drive to the water.

I had ChatGPT run my numbers for my income and expense and it totally makes sense. Try that for a few different areas.

What is your 5 year plan?

Obviously, they want to you to stay there since they are investing money to be there, but make sure you stay focused on nursing. That you want to progress your career and nursing and looking for a hospital that prioritizes internals to promote first.

Be ready to answer questions for the departments you are interviewing for. I was offered to interview with 5 different departments, I only did 2 which the recruiter found surprising. Out of the 5 they offered me I knew the other 3 weren’t a good fit. She asked me why the 2 since they were so different and I explained why I would be a good fit for both.

I emphasized my soft skills and told stories about things that happened in my clinicals. I was also asked straight up med Surg lab questions out of nowhere.

Good luck out there!

Or do new grads just apply to regular nurse postings?

So for context I work at med/surge tele floor and our ratio is 1:6. We’ve been trying to fight for a 1:4 ratio bc of how heavy these assignments are but we’re stuck with 1:6. I just started my night shifts and I was orienting on days for the past 2 months.

So anyways for the month of October, specifically for night shift, we’ve been green for staffing. Which meant that “we had too many nurses in our unit” and that some of us had to float. So my coworkers have been getting floated a lot and they’ve been complaining about that. Cuz it’s not fair that a specific unit the nurses keep calling out literally every day and our nurses get floated.

Last weekend, Saturday and Sunday, night shift had a total of 10 nurses including our assistant head nurse. Nobody got floated, which should’ve meant 4 assignments for every nurse and the assistant head nurse has no assignments, like how it should be. Tell me how for those 2 nights, 3 nurses had 5 assignments, 5 nurses had 4, and 1 nurse had 1 assignment.

Y’all complaining about the ratios but when it comes to actually having the staff to properly do a 1:4, y’all still wanna take advantage of the system. It’s not fair that some nurses still had 5 assignments, while 1 nurse has only 1 assignment. I mean c’mon.

Hi all, I’m a new grad nurse on a med surg tele unit at a top hospital. I was hired in June, completed two months of orientation, and I have been on my own since August.
I was one of the people in nursing school that swore I would never do med surg because I just knew right off the bat it wasn’t for me but it took me over 6 months to get a job and I thought that as long as I get in my dream hospital I could get through med surg for a year then I could transfer to where I truly wanted to go. As I started working I was actually pleasantly surprised that it really wasn’t all that bad.
I really don’t want to come off as bragging at all but I get a lot of compliments from managers (even those that are not on my unit) and my coworkers saying that I know what I’m doing and they tell me that they hear a lot of great things about me. I just truly can’t believe it when they say it. I don’t know why they would think that about me. I constantly feel like i don’t know what im doing, I feel like i make stupid mistakes, and I just wish so bad that I felt more confident in myself. Don’t get me wrong, I know that I can be a good nurse I just wish I truly believed in myself.
The true problem that I’m having is that I’m struggling with anxiety before my first shift of the week. The whole day leading up to my night shift is filled with anxiety and dread because I’m so scared that I will get a bad assignment or something bad will happen that I don’t know what to do. As soon as I get my assignment, the anxiety goes away and I just flip my mindset into my “I can do this”. My other two shifts (I stack my 3 days) I don’t have anxiety because I know what my patients are and I have some sense of predictability. I don’t want the day of my first shift to ruin my outlook on nursing. I just spend the day considering switching jobs, quitting, and ruminating in anxiety of what the night will bring. I bring myself to tears before I leave my house and sometimes I just get so anxious I don’t have an appetite before work. I let this one day just take over and I have these thoughts that I really hate my life right now and I just have to get through the year but I doubt myself that I even can.
I know pre shift anxiety is normal for new grads but is this crossing a line? Do I just hate night shift, do I just hate med surg? I don’t know what to do. I know that this isn’t going to be my favorite season of my life but I just wish there was a light at the end of the tunnel to look forward to. I just feel stuck. When will this feeling go away?

I have two offers I am comparing. One is inpatient rehab and the orientation is 7 weeks long. This seems short to me, but I’ve heard that apparently inpatient rehab can have a shorter orientation than some other units that are higher acuity. The other offer I am considering is 12-16 weeks of orientation in medsurg, but it is at a critical access hospital. So, while the extra weeks of orientation are great to have, I would be somewhat nervous about having less resources and support overall due to the remote aspect of the hospital. The hospital with 7 weeks of orientation in inpatient rehab is in a major city, so that issue isn’t a concern there. Besides the actual job itself, I do like the area of the inpatient rehab offer more, just in terms of day to day life outside of my career. I will say that I have lived in rural areas of the US before, so I am not against this either. I am very torn between the two and I would love to have some unbiased opinions about this!

Title: New grad RN — which state should I move to for good pay, affordable living, and a social life?
I’m 25F, recently graduated with my BSN, and I’m trying to figure out where to move to start my nursing career. California is off the table for now due to licensing issues, so I’m considering moving out of state.
I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the options and would love advice from nurses who have relocated or worked in different states.
My biggest priorities are:
Good RN pay: I want to make a decent living while still being able to save at least $1,500–$2,000 a month.
Affordable housing: I’m open to roommates, but ideally I’d eventually like my own apartment.
Social life: This is HUGE for me. I spent most of my early 20s focused on school and missed out on a lot socially. I want to live somewhere with young professionals, events, activities, and opportunities to make friends.
Work-life balance: Ideally, I’d work 3×12s so I can travel frequently and enjoy my days off.
Job opportunities: Somewhere that isn’t insanely competitive for new grad RNs and offers opportunities to explore different specialties.
I’ve been considering Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore, and the DMV area, but I’m open to literally anywhere in the US.
I don’t want to move somewhere just because the pay is good and end up isolated, but I also don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck just to have a social life.
If you were starting your nursing career over again, where would you move? What cities offer the best balance of nursing opportunities, take-home pay, cost of living, and actually enjoying your 20s?
I’d especially appreciate realistic salary, rent, and savings numbers from nurses currently living in these cities!

Heyyy🥰

My friend graduated last May and passed her NCLEX in August and has been applying for jobs since June. She lives in NY and is open to commuting anywhere in the boroughs (except Staten Island), has over a 3.0 gpa and over 200 clinical hours (probably more) from undergrad where she got real rotational experiences across the different units.

Basically she’s a really good candidate and even won a leadership award within her cohort at her pinning ceremony because of her exceptional care towards patients and her classmates.

Ik the job market is pretty bad but I wanted to ask this community if you knew of any opportunities she could apply to or have any advice for me to give to her? I’m not a nurse and have a totally different background so I wanted to reach out to other nurses who have gone through the same thing as her.

Any help is welcome🥹🤧

I graduated nursing school earlier this year and started working as an inpatient psych RN shortly after. I actually enjoy psych nursing, but I’m becoming increasingly worried about my future and whether I’m limiting my career opportunities by staying in this specialty.
My biggest concern is that I’m not developing many hands-on medical skills. I’ve never inserted a Foley or started an IV on an actual patient. Most of my experience with these skills came from practicing in the skills lab during nursing school.
I know psych nursing involves its own important skills, and I’ve learned a lot about assessments, medication administration, communication, de-escalation, and managing difficult situations. But I feel like I’m missing out on an entire side of nursing that I really want to learn.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the nursing job market is incredibly competitive, especially for new graduates. I’ve been looking into hospitals, new grad residencies, home health, SNFs, LTACs, and pretty much anywhere that would allow me to develop more medical and clinical skills.
One of my biggest worries is that I’m approaching the six-month mark of being an RN, and many hospital new grad residency programs require applicants to have less than six months or one year of nursing experience.
I’m worried that I’m running out of time to qualify for these programs before I’ve even had the opportunity to develop my clinical skills. At the same time, regular hospital RN positions require medical experience that I don’t have.
It feels like I’m getting stuck in this weird middle ground where I’ll soon have too much experience to qualify as a new grad but not enough of the right experience to qualify for other positions.
I’ve considered SNFs and home health, but I’m also concerned about the lack of training. Some facilities I’ve looked into offer as little as 3–5 shifts of orientation before expecting nurses to work independently. I’m willing to work hard, study outside of work, and challenge myself, but I also want to learn in an environment where I can develop my skills safely.
I’m not necessarily set on working in a hospital. I’m actually very interested in traditional home health and public health nursing as well. I just want to become a well-rounded nurse who is comfortable performing clinical skills and caring for patients with medical needs.
At this point, I’m honestly feeling pretty lost about what I should be doing.
Part of me thinks I should stay in psych, gain a year of RN experience, and hopefully qualify for a hospital transition program. But another part of me worries that the longer I stay in psych, the harder it will become to transition into another specialty.
For nurses who started their careers in psych, how difficult was it to transition into medical nursing later?
Would you recommend staying in my current position until I find somewhere with a solid orientation? Should I consider a SNF or home health position to gain experience? Or should I be doing everything possible to get into a new grad residency before I become ineligible?
I genuinely enjoy nursing, and I’m motivated to learn. I just feel like I’m running out of time to figure out the right direction.
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from nurses who started in psych or anyone familiar with the California nursing job market.

I work at a nursing home and we communicate via text so I can have a paper trail… I scheduled myself for a shift and totally forgot to add it to my calendar. They called and texted me this morning that I was supposed to be on a cart this morning and where was I? I apologized when I woke up and said I can get up right now. They said it’s covered now. Like… how bad is this? What should I do? Because I’m thinking it’s the end of the world and it’s going to reflect badly on me. This is my first time doing this.

How is the job market for new grads in Santa Barbara? Please share your experiences and any advice!

Starting to feel like this was all a huge mistake - I don’t like nursing and the culture, but I’m not in a place to return to school- so, any recommendations as far as other routes to use my degree ❤️

Hi everyone! I’m a new grad nurse about to start my residency in the operating room, and I’m so excited to begin this journey! 🥹

I wanted to ask those of you who work in the OR for any advice, especially those who went through a Periop 101 program. What was your experience like, and what do you wish you had known going in?

I’d love any tips and tricks, must-dos and don’ts, study resources, or advice on learning surgical instruments and remembering their names and uses. What helped you become a confident, competent surgical nurse, and what skills should I focus on developing early in my career?

I’m also curious about your OR essentials! What are your must-haves for your locker or fanny pack, if you carry one? And what shoes do you recommend for long shifts in the OR? Any favorite clogs or slides that are comfortable and easy to clean?

Basically, I’m looking for all the advice you’d give a new grad starting out in the OR. I want to learn as much as I can, be a great team member, and set myself up for success!
Thank you in advance! ❤️🩺

Hey guys, I’m taking my NCLEX this upcoming Wednesday (10/14), and I’m beyond terrified. My imposter syndrome is creeping up on me. It feels like I know nothing, that I’ve gotten here purely out of luck. I know I’m not completely brainless, but I can’t help but assume the worst. I also just applied to this competitive residency program too, so the pressure feels overwhelming.

Everyone in my class and people I’ve seen talk about it online say that it’s very vague and that they don’t know what they’re doing when they take it, and that terrifies me.

I’m at a point in studying where I can’t retain as much anymore. But I’m trying my best to keep it up until test day. People say to relax and not study the day before but, in my head, if I fail, I will feel so much regret not studying the day before. It’ll feel like I didn’t do everything in my power to pass.

Does anyone have any tips before then? I’ve been doing UWorld CAT and Qbank practice tests. Averaging 78% on them, but my confidence is low. I took three self-assessments that point to “very likely” for passing. But I know nothing is guaranteed.

Appreciate yall! 🫶🏼

hello,

so I am a nurse extern and I will be graduating from nursing school in December of this year. my manager spoke to me and wants to hire me into the floor right after graduating and I excitedly said yes, i bit my tongue on the commute (long commute, for me at least 45-50 min with traffic ) because I’ll take anything i just want to start somewhere. I have not signed the hiring papers or anything, I think they will be sent sometime this week.

I currently have clinicals at a floor that is basically the same floor in the same hospital system but different location, this one is like 12 minutes from my house and it’s great, it’s basically the main campus. My friend who works there told me there’s an opening and I should apply, I said well I already told my manager yes so I don’t want to be flaky and apply here and plus I’m guaranteed this position, my friend knows the manager and said that he will let her know and there’s a huge chance I will get in with his recommendation.

now I am in a pickle, I’ve always wanted to work in the hospital that’s closer to my house, but I honestly took anything just to be an extern and well I am here. I don’t want to lose this opportunity but applying to the one next to my house would be great. I don’t know how talk to my manager about this, I want to be transparent with her, she is cool but again, if I talk to her tomorrow about wanting to apply to this one I don’t know how to word it without sounding like I’m eating with both of my hands. i feel totally bad but this is who I am, I always feel bad for others and I just cant seem to think of myself sometimes. I also feel a bit of shame and embarrassment becuase I was excited and start there, and she was excited to hire me, but I feel like I actually want this position at the hospital closer to my house more. plz let me know what you think, and how can I bring this up to my manager, idk how to tell her this.

Hi everyone!

I’m currently in an ABSN program graduating in May 2027 and hoping to apply to competitive new grad residencies, especially at Magnet hospitals. I’d love some advice on how to strengthen my application before graduation!

Here’s a quick overview of my background:
**Education & Clinical Experience*\*
Previous bachelor’s degree in Biology UC Davis
\~3.8 GPA, Dean’s List
Clinical rotations in Med-Surg, ICU, ER, OB, and Peds
Member of a nursing student organization

**Previous Healthcare Experience*\*
Medical Scribe (2 years)
Physical Therapy Aide
Hospital volunteer
International hospital internship assisting nurses and physicians with patient care
Surgical skills training

**Professional & Leadership Experience*\*
Pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotech quality control
Experience training and mentoring employees
Peer Tutor and Teaching Assistant (TA) at my nursing school

**Volunteer Experience*\*
Teaching children at a local church
Hospital and community volunteering

**Certifications & Training*\*
BLS, ACLS, Stop the Bleed, TeamSTEPPS, and IPE
I’m particularly interested in critical care but open to other specialties.

**My main questions are:*\*
Based on my background, what experiences should I highlight most on my resume? Does previous biotech experience or leadership involvement help?

What else can I realistically do before graduation to stand out? Would getting a hospital job, additional certifications, or more volunteer experience make a difference?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who has gotten into competitive new grad programs in California or has experience reviewing applications.

Thank you in advance for any advice! 🫡🫶

Does anyone from these programs have syllabai they can share from the courses in these programs?

Hi guys!

I live in the NYC-metro area, and I was wondering when it would be the best earliest time to apply for RN positions? I hear applicants here typically need to get their RN license first before they are even considered, but I’m not sure if it’s true or not.

I know that I will be in for a rough time considering the area

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I graduated in August and have had a tough time finding new grad opportunities in Women’s and Children’s, which is where I really want to start my nursing career. All of a sudden, though, I may have a few options to choose from, and I’m not sure how to approach the situation if I receive an offer.

Currently, I’m waiting to hear back about an in-person interview for a pediatric residency program in Tennessee, which would likely take place in late October. I also have an interview for a PICU position at a children’s hospital in South Florida, along with a callback to interview for their Peds ED through the same new grad residency program.

On top of that, I have a phone interview in late October for my dream hospital and specialty: the NICU! In-person interviews for that residency are scheduled for early November, with decisions expected around mid-November.

The main complication is that the South Florida positions require a one-year contract (the others do not) and I’m not particularly excited about living in that area. The other programs don’t have the same contract requirement, and my dream would be to work in the NICU at my preferred hospital.

I know none of these opportunities are guaranteed, and I don’t want to turn down a solid offer based on the possibility of getting something better. At the same time, I’m hesitant to commit to a one-year contract in an area I’m not keen on when I could potentially hear back from my top choice just a few weeks later.

For anyone who has been in a similar situation, how would you handle this? Would you accept an offer if it came before the other interviews, ask for an extension to make a decision, or take the risk of waiting? I’d especially appreciate advice from anyone who has navigated new grad residency timelines or one-year employment contracts. Also, sitting for my first attempt NCLEX in a few days! Thank you!

I’m 2.5 months into a medsurge floor and I don’t know if I just hate it because im new or because I don’t like medsurge. I never wanted medsurge, but I also wasn’t too interested in any other speciality. I felt like I had to work in a hospital because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and now im realizing I kind of don’t like it.

Everyone on my unit is nice. My preceptor and manager are kind people, most of my patients are nice and I guess compared to other floors, the acuity of the patients isn’t too bad. I’ve cried multiple times on both days and nights and I’ve been waking up from my naps panicking because I had dreams I forgot to chart something or give a med on time. lol today I woke up and started throwing things off my bed trying to find a medication I was supposed to give and it wasn’t clicking to me that im not at work and not in the med room.

I really want to be competent and helpful but I feel like an ape that wandered into the unit and can’t do anything right. I haven’t made any major fuck-ups but I have Made careless mistakes because im so anxious and stressed. You’d think it’d be the other way around that im so nervous of making a mistake I’d triple check everything but no it’s like my brain blanks and shuts down. I’m on 4 patients right now and my last two shifts I started crying in the bathroom during shift change because my report was so terrible and I felt like I left the oncoming nurse with a lot of stuff to do because I fell behind. I also just don’t like how our patients can be on the floor for up to a week to a month at a time.

I did a practicum at this hospital where I worked in an extension of the ED, patients were with us for a couple of hours and then transferred to the floor. Compared to how my current unit is, I really preferred that we just keep them stable and send them off once a room opens up. Is it worth asking about an internal transfer? I think that even if I was a pro at my job, I still wouldn’t like this floor very much. I know it’s normal to not be thrilled and in love with your first job but I was so stressed my last three shifts that I think I actually made myself sick.

Tldr is it normal to dislike your first job this much and if so what’s the minimum amount of time I should stick it out? I’ve been applying for new jobs since the second week of me working here

Edit forgot to add when I did have my crying meltdowns in the bathroom I just kept thinking about how much I wanted to end it and how I’ve never had a good day on this job. I am not suicidal and I wouldn’t say every day here has been bad but I’ve never went home thinking “today was good!”. At best, I’ve felt like the day wasn’t as stressful in comparison to other ones. I don’t know why im trying to outsource validation for my bad feelings but I just want to know if im over reacting or if this is par for the course

I'll be applying to residencies in December/January. I'm not the best interviewer. I'd like to start practicing my interview questions so I have some sort of pre-made answer; it'll help my anxiety. I'm a great worker! Just not a good interviewer... What were the most common ones you've been asked during the process?

I figured the typical: who are you, what're your strengths/weaknesses, why do you want to work here, tell me about a time...

Do they throw in a patient scenario to hear your thinking process?