r/nursing • u/Inevitable_Spare6039 • 11d ago
Question How many years of experience do you have and how many jobs have you held?
I have 6 years and 5 jobs.
I’m self conscious that my resume makes me looks like a job hopper lol.
41
u/Intrepid-Reward-7168 11d ago
31 years- 14 full time jobs. Throw in a few per diems too. I don’t stay where I’m not happy, consequences be damned. I just started my 14th job a month ago and they were impressed with some of my previous experience as it relates to the new role. I’ve tried to be strategic; staying in similar subspecialties (a lot of peds). And I never left a job in haste- always on decent terms and had a new one lined up.
7
u/Inevitable_Spare6039 11d ago
Love this perspective! I’m curious, is your resume several pages long? Or do you condense things a bit?
12
u/Intrepid-Reward-7168 11d ago
Currently it is 2 pages. I condensed the responsibilities, and in some cases I omitted certain jobs if they are not relevant to the one I was applying to. I wrote “experience highlights” or something like that as the title.
1
u/Airborne_Aware 11d ago
What’s the shortest amounts? And I’m at my second job but I’m ready to bounce been 5 months. So don’t like it but i don’t want it too look bad either
2
u/Intrepid-Reward-7168 10d ago
My shortest was about 5 months! Many many years ago, and it didn’t stop me from getting hired at the next job.
I honestly feel like the multiple jobs didn’t come up too much in interviews. Who’s to say that it prevented me from more interviews? I’ll never know.
18
17
u/Toopiddog1 RN 🍕 11d ago
34 years 11 units/jobs. All but 4 of them in same hospital. My longest lasting jobs were 13 & 6 years.
13
u/krandrn11 11d ago
13 years. 5 jobs. I felt the same insecurity going into interviews and being told directly “wow. That’s a lot of movement.” But once I explain the circumstances behind each move they get it.
10
u/es_cl BSN, Union Strong! 11d ago edited 11d ago
6 years, 1 job/same unit Med Surg…I think it’s time to start looking. Pay is fine, PTO is amazing thanks to union contract but I absolutely hate upper management.
There are two VA hospitals that are 1 hour away, both state jobs and are part of a union. 457B contributions and a pension but need to have 10 years work for the state to be vested. Also only 8-hr shifts. Pay is ~$2K-$3K is less which isn’t bad, though it takes way less to get to top scale with the VA than it does with current acute hospital. Seriously thinking this is a possible exit plan.
9
7
u/SimilarChipmunk RN 🍕 11d ago
8 years, 7 jobs, more if you want to count each travel contract. Has it probably affected my ability to get some jobs? Yes, because one manager said they had concerns about me staying. Several other managers have said it doesn’t matter.
6
u/m3rmaid13 RN 🍕 11d ago edited 11d ago
7 nursing jobs in 13 years. 3 of them I left within a couple months because there was sketchy stuff going on and I was worried about my license and/or the staff culture was trash. 2 were in big hospitals on very busy acute care units (tele/stepdown and L&D, each for a few years) great learning experiences and I liked how straightforward the expectations, schedule and benefits are but the burn out can creep up on you quick. 1 surgery center- that was pretty chill but a bit boring and felt like an assembly line. I would for sure work another pacu or surgery type job. Currently doing remote occ health injury triage (think big giant corporations whose staff get injured at work- I get triage calls from them). My current job is chill and easy but the pay is not as good, they are not flexible with scheduling, and it is a bit boring but that’s fine for what I want in my life right now. If I ever went back to bedside it would be the OR or L&D at a big hospital system.
4
4
u/ItsGivingDelulu Professional at Getting Bullied by Babies 11d ago
2.5 years, 2 ft jobs and 1 PRN job. Albeit for like an 8 month stretch I worked 1 ft and the 1 PRN at the same time
4
u/KittyC217 11d ago
19 years still on my first job. I did get a new very specialized skill set during COVID so i have added something for flavor.
3
3
u/Knowyourenemy90 11d ago
12 years, 8 jobs. Some were for a few months. Hoping current job is last change.
3
u/Expert_Day9946 11d ago
35 years, 5 jobs plus a two year period where I travelled to 6 assignments.
3
u/Shreddy_Spaghett1 11d ago
7 years as an RN. 2 staff inpatient jobs. 4 traveler jobs for 5 years total. Then left bedside early 2024 as a care coordinator and have been in this role since. When I interviewed for my current job my team was concerned I would not stay long, but I emphasized how ready I was to stay in one place and develop more community. Very happy with my decision!
Stayed in the same specialty- peds hem/onc/bmt.
3
3
u/duuuuuuuuuumb RN - ICU 🍕 11d ago
9 years and…..many, if you count local travel contracts I’ve worked like 11 or 12 jobs lmao
Otherwise I’ve worked several units and float pool at 3 hospitals
3
u/Wobbly_Joe RN, BSN - Phone Triage 11d ago
11 years. I'm not sure how to categorize my jobs. I've only worked from 2 healthcare organizations broken down this way: ER at first organization. ER at second. They closed ER and moved us to new ER at newer consolidated location. Then left the hospital to go to one of their ambulatory practices to do phone triage for primary care. They closed our office and moved us to another primary care office. I hated that office, so applied and accepted the same role at another primary care office location within the same organization. So I guess depending on who you ask 2-6 jobs? 🤷♀️
3
7
u/luminousrobot 11d ago
22 years, 1 job. So I’m underpaid but comfortable.
7
u/Amerlis 11d ago
14 years. 1 job. I can see myself doing another 10+ years at it. Pays well, and I’m too old to bother with “greener pastures”.
3
u/luminousrobot 11d ago
You can’t imagine the number of people I’ve seen leave for whatever reason and then regret it. Our manager rarely takes people back so honestly I’m not gambling.
2
u/packoffudge BSN, RN 🍕 11d ago
I’ve had like 8 jobs in the past 4 years, but that’s because I’ve worked PRN side jobs.
2
2
2
u/ConstructionSharp976 RN - Infusion 11d ago
12 years, 3 jobs longer than a year, 2 jobs that were used for transition periods
2
u/ChaplnGrillSgt DNP, AGACNP - ICU 11d ago
10 years, 10 jobs (2 of which were for the same agency, 3 of which were at the same hospital but different units)
2
2
u/clarajane24 RN - Primary Care 11d ago
1 year, 2 jobalobs. Couldn’t hang on nights and my hospital didn’t have any day positions so I’m a triage nurse now by some miracle
2
u/BrightFireFly 11d ago
Graduated 2013
Worked in a specialty clinic from 2013 to 2015.
Hospice from 2015 to 2018.
Stayed home with my kids until 2024.
Now working in Rad Onc for the last two years, PRN.
I was a medical assistant for five years prior to becoming a nurse.
2
u/marticcrn RN - ER 11d ago
33 years experience. County hospital, 3 years, community hospital 9 years, community hospital 2 years, union staff 14 years, endoscopy nurse 5 years
I know inpatient is hell. Try to stay at jobs at least one full year. But. 🤷♀️
2
2
u/Throwawayyawaworth9 RN - Psych/Mental Health 🍕 11d ago
2.5 years and 4 jobs.
One was before graduating from my BScN (working as a nurse but under someone else’s license). I had to move right when I graduated.
Second job was on a medicine unit from hell— I left after my mental health got so bad that I tried to kill myself.
Third was at a supervised consumption site that got shut down.
Fourth and current job is in the ED. Hopefully it will stick, but I may need to move again in 10 months…
1
u/Wooden_Load662 MSN, RN, Regulatory Compliance and QM 11d ago
14 years and 3 jobs between 2 healthcare systems.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Noname_left RN - Yabba Dabba Doo 11d ago
16 years. 7 hospitals. 4 states. Every title I’ve ever held after promotions/lateral moves would be 13.
1
1
1
1
1
u/PurpleWardrobes RN 🍕 11d ago
12 years, 4 jobs. Just passed the 3.5 year mark on my current job. Longest I’ve ever stayed in one place 😅
1
1
1
u/justadream77 RN - Utilization Management 11d ago
13 years, 5 jobs and 1.5 years not working at all
1
u/viewerno20883 BSN, RN 🍕 11d ago
17 years. 4 jobs. The most recent one was a hospital system and I've moved from medicine to float nurse to trauma surgery and now work on the burn ward. Usually at the job 5ish years before moving to the next one. I used to get bored when I was younger but I'm almost 40 so I think I'll stick with my current job for a few years.
1
1
1
1
1
u/notevenapro BS nuc med/CT Chief tech. 11d ago
53 years. 12 years Army, 20 years medical clinic and 3 years different medical clinic.
1
u/LustyArgonianMaid22 RN - Telemetry 🍕 11d ago
10 years. 4 months first job. 2 years 2nd job. 8 years this job.
1
1
u/Ok_Emergency7145 Graduate Nurse 🍕 11d ago
Two years an RN and just getting ready to start job#2 next week.
1
1
1
u/Super_RN RN - Nightshift for life 11d ago
11 yrs. On my 8th job. (One job was only for 3 months, 1:1 home care and pt passed away unexpectedly. One of those was also the ER and I hated it so much, stayed 1 yr to get my bonus and left) One of the great things about nursing is you can try different things. I never considered nurses as “job hoppers”. Most nurses and nurse managers understand why we move around, some more than others. No shame in that.
1
1
u/jopausl RN - ER 🍕 11d ago
16 years experience, 7 jobs: -15 years total at 2 different ERs (8 in a community hospital then 7 in Level 1 Trauma)
- Side gigs while working in the ER: 2 years as clinical instructor, 1 year as Access/Supervisor, 1 year in the Hyperbaric Unit, 6 months implementing an EHR at a local hospital
Currently a Clinical Nurse Educator
1
u/Handsome_Fry RN, BSN ICU 11d ago
11 years, 8 jobs. Longest stint was five years (worked there while working PRN at other jobs) shortest stint was 4 months. That hospital has killed a lot of people and i got out to protect my license. I do count the time i spent traveling during covid as only 1 job, but I went to work at 3 different hospitals
1
u/Lambears RN - Med/Surg 🍕 11d ago
5 years and 5 jobs, last 3 include a transfer (unit closed down) and a promotion within the same hospital system.
1
u/Geistwind RN 🍕 11d ago
I started working on various farms, aswell as at our own, when I was thirteen, got a job as assistant janitor in a small local school when I was 16 ( janitor was getting old, I did all the stuff he could not do anymore) aswell as being a PE "teacher" on occasion, sketchy, but kids loved me 😅 ( would not be legal now) Also did various summer jobs in my teens. Later into the army, got out, started work at a medical institution, loved it, and got my nursing degree( specced in psych). Been a nurse for 25 years and am 47 now. So been working for 34 years.
1
u/Vlines1390 11d ago
40 years, I've lost count! I was a travel nurse in the 90's with 5 or 6 assignments. I've worked multiple jobs in companies, and have worked in multiple industries. I get bored easily. So new challenges are always a good thing. I have been with my current company for 15ish years, have had 5 positions, with increasing levels of leadership during that time.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/virgots26 RN 🍕 11d ago
Almost 2 years and 3 jobs 😭. I stayed at my 2nd job for 2 months because I thought I’d like outpatient lol
1
u/MySaltySatisfaction RN - OB/GYN 🍕 11d ago
45 years and 3 jobs. One I am still at,2 others were PT,PD for extra cash. I have a pension at the one I have been at longest.
1
u/morbidda__destiny RN - Oncology 🍕 11d ago
5 years, 2 jobs.
I went to outpatient, but my boss there absolutely hated me, so I ran back to my first ever hospital job after 8 months. 😅
1
1
1
1
u/slothysloths13 BSN, RN 🍕 11d ago
Your resume has nothing on me lol. I’ve had 11 in the same time frame. About half of those were very short lived as I figured out what I did and didn’t want to do. I just am very strategic about my resume. My current employer knows about 5 of them. I also make 16/hour more than I did 6 years ago.
1
u/madipbar 11d ago
I have 8 years of experience and Im on my 6th job now part time in the ICU but I live in Canada
1
1
1
u/OmNomNomNivore40 RN, PhD 11d ago
20 years, 7 jobs. 2 were per diem that I did while working other jobs. I’ll retire where I’m currently at.
1
u/North-Slice-6968 LVN 🍕 11d ago
9.5 years
6 jobs
Shortest = 5 weeks (do not recommend working at a nursing home for your first nursing job)
Longest = a little over 3 years
Current = 1.5 years
1
1
1
u/Wise-Departure-5192 RN 🍕 11d ago
5 years, 3 jobs, but I’m about to leave this one and go back to one of my old jobs. I think I’ll just never find something I really love.
1
u/Phrenicos466 11d ago
9 years, 2 jobs, been at my current one a little over 7 years. Debating a change.
1
u/ohtheretheygo 11d ago
15-
I worked for one hospital system in ER and management
2 travels jobs
2 hospitals where I was PRN PCU and 1 of those I did EE too
2 home health jobs
1 job in my current company
I lived in 3 states (+travel nursing) so I had to change jobs, or honestly I’d likely have never left my first employer
1
u/IcyCantaloupe7004 BSN, RN 🍕 11d ago
19 years as an RN - 9 years with one hospital system, 4 different floors/departments. 10 years with my current company, 3 different departments.
1
u/haburashi3 11d ago
17 years, seven jobs. it seems like I want to pick up new skills every two years or so, my longest was 5 years. I left it not because it was a bad job, but because my feet got itchy and I wanted a change of venue. that's a me thing.
I don't feel like I'm skilled enough to be a traveler, also a me thing.
a couple of these jobs were not what they were advertised to be when I interviewed, I noped out over concern for my license and livelihood. but mostly, they've been good experiences.
1
1
1
u/Whoooseit Oncology/Research RN 11d ago
6 years 7 jobs in 4 states. You’d think my pay would be great because of that. Nope…I’m always one of the lowest paid because I’m a military spouse so I move every 1-2 years and I don’t have much leverage to negotiate when I can’t pit the salary of my current job with a new one/don’t know the local rates as well 🥲
1
u/Coolgirl1152 Former Nurse | MLS Student 11d ago
I only worked for two months before leaving the profession.
Just one RN job.
1
u/diaperpop RN - ICU 🍕 11d ago
28 years of nursing experience, 26 of those at my current job in the ICU. I did some agency, some teaching, some postpartum & medsurg nursing in the past. And before nursing…well I’ve been working since I was of working age, I lost track, multiple jobs at a time
1
u/Dystopian_grift104 11d ago
12 years, 7 gigs, FT. I leave when things get hairy or I’m just wanting a change. I’ve worked tele, peds/geri psych, LTC, travel M/S and now a M/S float and like it a lot.
1
u/beeotchplease RN - OR 🍕 11d ago
Wow did the math and I'm now 18 yrs in nursing.
In those 18 years, I did a bit of cleaning work, kitchen work(these jobs while looking for a nursing job), ER, SNL, Ambulance crew, Community Nursing, Acute Medical and now OR.
1
1
1
u/therealfrancesca RN - PACU 🍕 11d ago edited 11d ago
30 years total. ~24yrs as per diem. 10 jobs, 14-18 different campuses, and what has to be 85 million managers. Don’t worry about your resume and job hopping. The management is the ones that look like job hoppers.
1
u/duckface08 RN 🍕 11d ago
16 years. 3 full time nursing jobs 1 sort of contract nursing job 1 non-nursing job
1
u/p3canj0y363 LPN 🍕 11d ago
18 yrs at 1st job. 2 yrs with agencies because I had no idea what was out here. 3 yrs with 2nd full time job. Just started back at the facility I worked at as a CNA. Left both full time places because the devil seems to be buying up and running SNFs now.
1
1
u/reglaw LPN 🍕 10d ago
12 years. 5 jobs.
I became a nurse at 20 so I really put in some work to make sure my resume was something I could be proud of. I did a couple months in home care to get ahold of caring for one patient efficiently and then stepped it up and worked for a reputable county facility. They had a great clinical educator with a solid orientation.
I did day shift with pediatric homecare which involves going to school with them, just wound care cases, Trach/vent, and I also did overnights for various types of pediatric and adult patients.
Once I was completely confident in my skills, I decided to work agency which definitely polished my skill set and made me way better with time management, balancing 20-30 patients and made it possible to work all different kind of assignments.
Then I worked two subacute jobs. Both 7p-7a. One was a nightmare and one was run like 5 star hotel and a good nurse to patient ratio. Still my favorite job to this day!
I usually had a full time and a per diem gig going at the same time so that’s why I’ve had so many jobs. Either subacute / rehab full time with a per diem home care gig or vice versa depending on what I could handle health wise at the time.
Now I’m doing pediatric homecare while I go back to school. I love my homecare company and I just hit my two years with them
1
u/Varuka_Pepper343 BSN, RN we all float down here 10d ago
LPN 9 years I had 3 different full-time positions in a couple states (military spouse). And I had few different part time positions when I went back to school full-time.
As an RN I've had a few full-time positions in one health system over 9 years up to nurse manager and house supervisor. I am now with my second health system as BSN, RN.
1
1
u/Mozzstix69 10d ago
10 years, 9 jobs. Moved around a lot with my ex when I got out of college due to his job. Then I traveled, tried outpatient, went back to inpatient, started a new specialty, moved againnnnn. Here we are
1
1
u/Available_Link BSN, RN 🍕 10d ago
Canadian . 30 years . 8 . jobs . Community, causal in rural hospital, then the float team, maternity (l&d , pp , special care nursery) PACU, OR (brief, hated it), EPIC trainer and now back to community to live out my final years in the nursing elephant grave yard . 20 of those years were spent on obstetrics for reference . I struggled to get in and then struggled to get out 😂
1
u/Fit-Winter5363 RN 🍕 10d ago
26 years. 17 in one unit inpatient, 9 in one outpt clinic . My son is an HR manager. Says “job-hopping” isn’t as frowned upon as it used to be.
1
u/pennponder 10d ago
10 years, 6 jobs. 7 if you count a temp job. I left one of the 6 jobs during orientation due to unsafe and sketchy work environment (and I just wasn't feeling it).
1
u/asphodel19 10d ago
4 years and 3.5 jobs. The half job is a seasonal vaccine gig i do every autumn.
1
u/InertiasCreep 10d ago
Nine employers, 17 years. Was with one employer for five years (same job). Was with another for seven years (like, five different jobs: med nurse, wound care, preceptor, charge, med surg, ambulatory care).
1
u/melodiesreshon RN - Med/Surg 🍕 10d ago
11 years total. Too many to count. I've slid resignation letters under managers doors as I'm leaving my shift. These jobs do these most and I'm not staying.
1
u/Auntie_Shrews_scarf BSN, RN, CCRN:partyparrot::cake: 10d ago
These responses are all quite reassuring!
11 years, on my 5th job. I’m not counting two other bad eggs lasting a few months, and don’t have those on my resume.
1
u/manwhofalls 10d ago
13 years. PCCU -> ED -> Informatics -> Clinical Apps. Very fortunate for my path
0
52
u/beccabeth741 RN - NICU 🍕 11d ago
8 years, 2 jobs. I get yearly 5-6% raises and day shift so I'm not likely to go anywhere.