How do you get experience if you are just starting out as a nurse with no hospital experience?

I recommend starting on a telemetry floor, because you can get inpatient experience and every aspect of nursing you need to know about the heart. So telemetry nursing would give you great experience for any field or specialty of nursing after that.

The best way to get experience regarding hospital experience would be to sign up for volunteering with blood drives or areas of the medical system that you could assist under supervision.

Many places offer intern type positions to allow you the opportunity to gain experience. While hospital experience is great in providing multiple skills and learning how to organize & prioritize, it is not always the right avenue for every nurse. Search in your area for things like private care, home health, hospice, or stand alone ERs. All of these places usually hire new grads.

In general hospitals will hire you as a new grad once you graduate. You will be on orientation as a new nurse and given a preceptor. Once you pass your NCLEX, if you’re talking RN, you are eligible for hire. If you start in the ICU, many hire new grads to train their way, you generally write your ticket to pretty much any specialty and you may love it there too. Good luck!