Has the job market gotten better for new grads?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2013

I suppose the local job market is highly dependent on the new grad's location.

I am in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas and the local nursing job market is dismal if the new grad wants to start his/her career in an acute care hospital. Currently, each new grad position is receiving several hundred applications, so there's fierce competition.

Thinks look bleaker for new grads who lack BSN degrees and wish to get into a local acute care hospital. However, there are still jobs in LTC, home health, hospice, clinics, LTACHs, rehab, psych, developmental disabilities, and other areas outside the major hospitals.

Annachu512, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2013

Completely depends on the area. I'm in central PA and the local hospital hires a lot of new grads. I have not yet heard of our grads having any issues. But again, that's here. Each state or even city is different.

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Jun 14, 2013

I'm in NE Pennsylvania and we as new grads pretty much haven't had any problems getting jobs. Over 50% of my class of 48 have jobs and the others have other plans for the summer - long vacations, a few are getting married, don't want to have to worry about child care etc - and I'm sure they'll have no problems getting jobs in September after they take boards this summer...

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 14, 2013

In NYC are things *seem* to be picking up, that is you hear more new grads landing spots and or about open houses and so forth. However the market is still really tight in that hospitals are extremely choosy which new grads they take on. Oh yes it does seem BSN grads are still preferred over ADN.

nyrn310 · Jun 15, 2013

im in NY and i talked to an RN during my clinicals (who graduated from my ADN school) and he told me things are actually starting to get better. He even mentioned a hospital that always seem to hire new grads.

Katie71275 · Jun 15, 2013

I graduated in a class of 23 in May. As far as I'm aware most of the class has jobs. Most secured employment about 4-8 weeks prior to graduation. I think 3 of them don't have jobs yet(that I'm aware of)...1 who is in the process of moving, 1 who is working on getting licensed in another state, 1 who lives about an hour away who is in a bit tighter market. There's 1 I'm not sure about completely..so I guess that makes 4.

I can tell you where I live, it was a good enough market that many of my classmates went into the specialities they wanted (ER, PICU/Peds, NICU/L&D).

hope3456, ASN, RN · Jun 15, 2013

I was wondering the same thing! Thanks for asking debi! What state r u located in Katie?

bigsick_littlesick · Jun 17, 2013

It's all bad in California still. I'm in the Sacramento area to be more specific. I graduated in December 2012 and am just now getting offered a position on the surgical floor I work as a float CNA at. Out of our whole class, I think about 6 out of 28 have acute care positions with 2 of those having to move to South Dakota and Montana to gain employment. There's 2-3 that took SNF positions right away and 1 became a dialysis nurse where she worked as a tech during nursing school. There are quite a few people from the graduating class a year ago (May 2012) that still don't have jobs.

I've heard that the situation in the Los Angeles area is pretty dire as well. Central California is a bit more promising but you'd have to be willing to work in places like Bakersfield or even Stockton (no thanks on the Stockton). I'm sure the Bay Area is even worse.

I work with a nurse who happens to be an instructor at a couple of local programs and she goes to all these conferences about nursing education. The last one she went to said the average time from graduation to getting a job has lessened from 8-12 mos to 6-8.

dt70 · Jun 17, 2013

In my area there's a $10k sign on bonus.

Hope that's available when I graduate 2016/2018. I expect the economy to start getting better after 2018, so that should be good.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2013

It's all bad in California still. I'm in the Sacramento area to be more specific. I graduated in December 2012 and am just now getting offered a position on the surgical floor I work as a float CNA at. Out of our whole class, I think about 6 out of 28 have acute care positions with 2 of those having to move to South Dakota and Montana to gain employment. There's 2-3 that took SNF positions right away and 1 became a dialysis nurse where she worked as a tech during nursing school. There are quite a few people from the graduating class a year ago (May 2012) that still don't have jobs.
I've heard that the situation in the Los Angeles area is pretty dire as well. Central California is a bit more promising but you'd have to be willing to work in places like Bakersfield or even Stockton (no thanks on the Stockton). I'm sure the Bay Area is even worse.
I work with a nurse who happens to be an instructor at a couple of local programs and she goes to all these conferences about nursing education. The last one she went to said the average time from graduation to getting a job has lessened from 8-12 mos to 6-8.

This was my exact experience in 2009 but east coast.Down to the classmates moving to Wyoming, Texas, rural New England .

McNabK9, BSN, RN, APN · Jul 30, 2013

Curious about the "no thanks on Stockton"....are you referring to the newly opened CDC/CDCR/DSH facility on Arch Road? How come?