The annual nursing recruitment fair was filled with GCSU nursing students donning their business attire and scrubs on Monday, Feb. 10 in Magnolia Ballroom. The fair started at 11 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. 

The fair helps students meet potential employers and find what field they want to go into.

Some employers that were in attendance were Autumn Lane Health, Well Star, Georgia Department of Community Health, Morgan Medical Center, Centurion, Piedmont Health, HCA South Atlantic, Emory Health Care, Archbold and Northeast Georgia Health System. 

GCSU nursing students showed up looking for externships and job openings. Students attended with multiple copies of their resumes and badges. 

“I’m really hoping to get an externship for this summer with one of the hospitals around Atlanta,” said Anna Sorckoff, a junior nursing major. “Hopefully in pediatrics or the neonatal ICU.”

Autumn Lane Health and Rehab is located in Gray, Ga., and offers 24-hour nursing services, pharmacy services and outpatient rehabilitation.

“I’m here because we’re recruiting any nurses that we can find to come and work with our long-term care,” said Verdine Young, a social worker from Autumn Health and Rehab. “So that’s the main qualifications that they need to be, you know, a qualified RN to come here.”

Nursing students walked through the ballroom with tables on each side of them with one to three representatives from each company waiting to tell them about the opportunities at their respective companies.

Students could also get professional headshots done in between talking to the different companies that attended. 

Another company that attended is the U.S. Renal Care and they are one of the leading kidney care providers in the U.S. and have a location in Milledgeville. They had openings for hemodialysis registered nurses, and peritoneal dialysis registered nurses, who work in outpatient facilities to treat patients with kidney disease.

“We are looking for someone who wants a fast-paced work environment and someone who wants flexibility in their work schedule and someone who is really looking to build relationships with patients,” said Kellie Crumpton, director of operations at U.S. Renal Care. “So that’s one thing about being outpatient. We have patients that come into you every week.”

Students spent their time talking to the recruiters about the open positions and where to apply for externships. The tables had information sheets, brochures, job descriptions and swag for the nursing students to take home. 

Centurion Health had a table at the fair and they provide care for the corrections system of Georgia and Florida. They give all healthcare for the incarcerated and have been for 17 years. 

They were looking for nurses for the multiple prisons across Georgia to work in various fields from pre-natal care to trauma. 

Licensed practical nurses start off making 30 dollars and registered nurses can start between 41 and 44 dollars an hour at Centurion. 

 Another employer in attendance was Georgia Department of Community Health and they were looking for anyone who was in healthcare and wanted to work in government administration. 

They would work as a surveyor for the state to help ensure the safety of the patients.

“So many of our positions that we offer specifically for the healthcare facility regulation division, which is a division of the Georgia Department of Community Health, is surveyors,” said Asif Asani, a human resource specialist at the Georgia Department of Community Health. “So these are compliance nurses, compliance specialists, that go out into the facilities to conduct surveys on site.”

To become a surveyor nursing students have to be registered nurse and have at least five years of professional nursing experience. 

The nursing students even had a chance to speak with the graduate school professors from GCSU. GCSU offers students to go into a graduate program and come out with their doctorate as a nurse practitioner.

 This program can take two to three years and is another option for students before they join the workforce. 

All nursing students in attendance had a chance to meet recruiters from companies that they knew about as well as ones they did not face to face in hopes of finding their future job.