Passed the board exam...now what?

It has been a month since I've actually practiced being a staff nurse in a hospital. Yet, every minute of it is crystal clear in my memory.

As I look back on the days, I can still smell the scent of sweet victory when I first learned that I pass the nursing board exam in my country. It was glorifying and terrifying at the same time! I was turned into a professional and unemployed citizen at the same time. I was standing at a crossroad of my life when I had to choose between regretting this day and moving forward with my life.

At that moment, I inhaled deeply and chose to party all night! I could always get serious about my future in the next days, but definitely not today! I called up my friends, of course trying to avoid mixing up the failed batch mates from the victorious ones. I gathered up a group of 15 persons in a matter of 15 minutes. One RN (registered nurse) per minute.. Not bad! Considering the high pitched and agitated atmosphere after calling and discovering that they actually passed! Of course, I had the occasional mistake of calling someone who flunked and pretending the line was jammed and hanging up.

We went to a club and partied the hardest for as long as I could remember. I had the worst hang over the next day and had the faintest idea of how I ended up in my bed. Thanks to my loyal boyfriend!

The first thing I browsed after I have recovered from the headache of the century, was the classified ads. Not surprisingly did I find nothing about hiring staff nurses from local employers. Nada. Zilch. Being a plumber or tailor would be a better job opportunity at the moment than being a professional nurse. After all those years of tedious hardwork and non stop studying, this is what I get? Unemployment and uncertainty in life! They should have included that in our course description!

Bachelor of Science in Nursing: A course that covers all the details of the human body from birth to death, with the complete coverage of emotional, psychological and other BS (that doctors rarely care about) for which you will compensate for. With a range of specialties including pediatrics, intensive care, hemodialysis, etc. Feel free to study and kill yourself memorizing godzillion terms of whatsoever and after becoming an RN, unemployment awaits you! P.S. Jobs abroad require two years of hospital experience which you can never, ever have! So good luck!

I remember the first steps I take to my college, I said to myself, "This will be a start of my journey to success!" Little did I know, this will bring forth the pitfall to my current status. I have been cursed. Why did I ever took up this course???!

Filipinos always had the American dream. No idea where it all started, probably due to the colonization of American hundreds of years ago. Anyway, my parents knew it, their parents knew it, my ancestors knew it, and so it coursed through my veins. The American Dream. Now, that dream seems light years away. it would remain just a dream unless I do something.

The first thing I did when I opened my laptop, I created my very first curriculum vitae. Contacted my past professors for recommendation letters and completed the requirements that I think every hospital would ask for. Of course, this would be documents that would serve as an evidence that I actually graduated with a bachelor degree in Nursing and that I recently passed the board exam. I thought that would be easy.

Patience is indeed a virtue. The next days dragged on. I waited for the processing of these requirements that took a month to complete. So I advise the future graduates to invest in the expedite form for you to be able to be one step ahead of everybody else. Time means a lot when there are millions of graduates and licensed nurses waiting to grab the spot you are aiming for.

I landed on the dream hospital which has the highest paying salary in the country. The only one I've set my eyes on. It was pure victory. However, after two and a half years of tenure, I resigned. I will unveil the reasons one by one in my succeeding posts.

Be on the know of the "in-hospitals". These are either those who have good salaries, excellent benefits, famous names and accessibility to your location. Remember, there are 3 shifts in our work including the afternoon and night shifts, so safety and means of transportation are one of the many things you need to consider when choosing the right hospital for you.

But come to think of it, these days, you're even lucky to discover a hospital that is open to hiring nurses. There are many that I could share that are open to trainees with a price! How cruel. That's the life of nurses here in the Philippines. And that's just a glimpse.