Dr. David Serana MD, Ed.D., MSN, BSSE, BSN, RN-BC, US Army Iraq War Veteran ⋅ Bethpage, NY U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 4 years served

Know what you want, where you want to work, find some endorsement to the job and apply. You have all the credentials. HR positions are very competitive. If you did not come from Pluto, drink gasoline and spit fire, you can just be clustered with other excess applicants. When the floor gets sicker and patient care gets more hectic, Nurses ran in droves for MSN and MBA. Good resume, good personality and good endorsement effectively help. You need not climb windows. You can approach the front door with a band waiting. Besides, you are a veteran. If you are here in New York, we have a Veterans Office that assist employment of veterans like you. Our North Shore LIJ CEO is very helpful to veterans with very good track records as you are based on your scholastic advancements.

Wilfred Chan ⋅ Randolph, NJ Verizon ⋅ 28 years experience

Hi Roseann, I think Katrina's idea is good. One of my friends started her career as a RN. Since she works well with people, she got involved in patients education and recruiting/staffing. Now she is working in HR in one of the health care providers in NYC.

Best of luck in your career move!

Mary Christian ⋅ Princeton, NJ Bristol-Myers Squibb ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Roseann, Are you open to relocation? I have a friend who is in Assisted Living and LTC facilities in NJ who is looking from someone to head his HR group. If interested, send me a note offline and I can connect you.
Mary
mary.christian@bms.com

Sharyn Abbott ⋅ San Leandro, CA Elite Leads Business Development ⋅ 22 years experience

Hi Roseann
I am in the process of finalizing the funds to build a high school for kids at risk living on the streets here in the US and moving them to Belize. Although you might want to leave the nursing industry it might be a good launching point for you to discover what you would enjoy doing. One of the greatest concepts about UBU (Ultimate Business University) is everyone including employees, will be encouraged to take courses along with the students and discover their true passion. UBU will have about 6,000 employees and be a city within itself adding a 4 year University within 4 years. Please let me know if you are interested in talking further.

Steve Nored ⋅ Saltillo, MS UPS ⋅ 27 years experience

If you are interested in the HR type of career, you can benefit from your nursing career. There are companies and services that work with contracting nurses into temporary positions. Traveling the country working for 3-4 months or up to a year in some cases. Your experience in the military and in nursing would make you a good fit for a company like that. Check with your local chamber of commerce for a company listing.

stacey tobik ⋅ Destin, FL Boeing ⋅ 15 years experience

Hi Roseann,
I have a couple of additional thoughts for you. Consider joining your local Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) group. This will provide you opportunities to network with local HR professionals who might be looking for someone who is looking to transition into HR. Also consider, volunteering at a Jobs + type organization. Volunteering in these type organizations will give you practical experience which you can use on your resume.

Best of Luck

Katrina Grooms ⋅ Pearland, TX U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 8 years served

Hello Roseann,

If you want to get into Human Resources you may want to consider looking for positions as a Nursing recruiter at an agency, or in a healthcare facility. You have the expertise in the discipline and would be a viable resources in brining in candidates in the nursing area. You can then branch out in other areas of HR if you so desire having that recruiting experience under your belt.

Best of luck to you!

Betsy Arroyo ⋅ Citrus Heights, CA Hewlett Packard ⋅ 10 years experience

Hi,
I have a couple of H.R. degrees, plus 10 years of military personnel experience. I find it's very hard to get into the H.R. field. It seems, most companies, hire from within for those positions. Anyway, I've been in the Provider Integrity (help adress fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare/Medicaid) industry for 10 years now and we use Nurses and Doctors as consultants. As analyst we review the claims data for fraud, but we also get medical opinions. I'm told, the nurses get paid well. It's not H.R., but it's also not dealing with patients, if that's what your ultimate goal is.

I. Roseann Gibbs ⋅ San Antonio, TX U.S. Army Reserve, Captain ⋅ 3 years served

Hello David. Thank you for the time you took to respond to my message. If I still lived in NY, it would have been great visiting your N. Shore LIJ CEO.

Nevertheless, since I wrote that message, things have changed. I realized I wasn't any forward movements in my attempts to break into HR. Today, my Plan B is focused on Nurse Management/Directorship. I have three hospitals in mind, and I am working on getting my foot into one of those doors.

My experiences showed me that getting a job a VA hospital in the US would require an act of congress. So I am looking at hospitals in the nonfederal world, but will remain an Army Reservist.

Thanks again,
Lyra

I. Roseann Gibbs ⋅ San Antonio, TX U.S. Army Reserve, Captain ⋅ 3 years served

Hello Chip, and thank you for your input. I have not thought of Pharma. However, I will research them and learn about CRO's. I am open minded and willing explore more areas than Human Resources, as long as the work I do involves helping others. I will keep you posted.

Chip Brown ⋅ Cary, NC IBM ⋅ 14 years experience

Hi Lyra, I undersand your comments about HR but with your credentials BSN & MBA have you thought about moving into Pharma Clinical Trials? Most Pharmas or CRO's will look for some experience but if you can get that you under your belt will become a high commodity with potential for more options then just an HR track. Just a thought.... All the best.

I. Roseann Gibbs ⋅ San Antonio, TX U.S. Army Reserve, Captain ⋅ 3 years served

Thank you, Judy. I work as a manager in a hospital, and am just looking for an opportunity to get into "a" human resources department.

Judy Tomlinson ⋅ Dallas, TX Energy Future Holdings ⋅ 25 years experience

I have a friend who was a nurse and she started working for a Health Care Provider as a Manager of their Care Givers. Another friend became a Care Giver. If you have management skills, check with your local hospitals and ask if they have some sort of Managment Training Program.

Good Luck!