How do new grad Nurses that don't have BSN manage to survive this job market ?

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  1. Are New grad ADN nurses doomed to be jobless

    • 49
      New grad ADNs can still get jobs
    • 4
      No you all are doomed to be jobless after you graduate

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Most places are now requiring New grad nurses to have BSN , I am not a nurse yet nor am I finished with my prerequisites ,but it scares me; To think after I graduate from nursing school I will not be able to find a job . My questions are if you are a New grad ADN how did you manage to beat the odds to find a job and gain experience ? , also are there other fields besides the hospital that New grad ADNs can again work experience in ?; Or are ADNs doomed to be jobless after graduating .

Sometimes a person already employed gets passed over because the employing entity has decided they do not like the person and/or their work or prefer the untried, untested applicant. So, it can go either way.

I've even seen very good, very well-liked employees get passed over because there just weren't enough open spots.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Consider relocating to a smaller community or rural area. Communities that are 1 hour+ from the nearest University BSN program, but that have a community college ADN program locally, are going to be far more likely to hire ADN prepared nurses, because those are the nurses that are in the community.

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I graduated with my ADN , took me about 8 months to find my first hospital job. Before I landed the hospital job ,I worked in a a nursing home. My advice is to take any SAFE nursing job that is available and do that for at least one year. Also highly recommend that you start a BSN program as soon as you can that way you have more options.

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Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

Parts of SC still hire ADN's and I'm not talking about rural areas. I know that the two teaching hospitals in upstate SC are hiring ADN's. They are having to use travelers to fill the gaps. And there are 3 BSN programs in the upstate. You might need to relocate, or get a job outside of a hospital but you definitely can get a job with an ADN.

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I live in a city with 2 big nursing universities. I graduated last year with my ADN and work in the ER, didn't have any problems. I do have to get my BSN within 5 years which I'm working on now.

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In New York a lot of our hospitals are magnet hospitals so they can only hire BSN. But there are many different nursing paths that you can get hired easily. Nursing home is your best bet for experience if you can't get hospital job. Maybe only do a year there (unless you like it) then move on to clinic, doctor's office, amb surg, home health, school. There are many different paths once you figure out what you like

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Specializes in Hematology-oncology.

Even some magnet hospitals still hire ADN new grads (or have re-started hiring them because the job market in many areas is swinging back towards favoring nurses). There have been many good ideas already. Working as a PCA/PCT on a floor you are interested in working on as a nurse is a great idea. It's not a guarantee, but it helps TONS. Another good option is to work in the float pool during school. You will experience many different floors, and create more connections for a possible job upon graduation.

Research realistic plans to obtain your RN-BSN, and talk about your game plan with a planned graduation date during RN job interviews. Best of luck!

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Location, location, location. It's all about supply and demand. If there's a lot of BSN applicants, then the employer has their pick of who they want to hire. If there aren't, well, they can either bite their nose to spite their face or they can hire one with an ADN...or hire an LPN...which I remember reading a post on this site not too long ago where hospitals in certain areas were hiring LPNs and putting them through school to bridge over to RN.

Local hospitals in my area are using a lot of agency nurses to fill the void (ADN only required for the agency). I cannot see them going completely BSN for quite a while at what they pay for an agency vs. a staff nurse....and 50 cents to a dollar more per hour for the extra tuition and hassle is not a huge incentive at this point for me. Yes, I will eventually, probably need to go on for a BSN....but right now I'm too busy trying to master common core math and second grade social studies research assignments right now to try to add more academics onto my plate. It's strange...I graduated from high school 20 years ago, got my LPN diploma 17 years ago, got my ADN two years ago.....and yet every year I find myself getting sent back to grade school like I forgot something...I swear I have a diploma proving that I finished this but ever since my child started school I've been getting these weird assignments that make me start twitching....and I think common core is a new predisposing factor for developing tourette's ticks...

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But nurses in leadership roles must have a BSN at Magnet hospitals. Nevertheless I saw someone mention maybe that's one of the issues with high turnover rates at hospitals but to me nursing essentially was hands on learning on the floor. What I learned in school gave me a good foundation but what I learned from my first nursing job at SNF made me a good nurse. Experience is the only thing that will make a good nurse

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Yes you can gain nursing experience elsewhere other than at the hospital. Setting such as home health, PDN, addictions/substance abuse, mental health facilities, LTC aka nursing homes, LTAC, rehabs, dialysis centers, corrections, aesthetics, family practice/doctors office. Pain management. Fertility and women's health clinics. And more :)

Thank you for this at least I know I have some other options .

I don't mind working in a rural areas as long as they are still in my state or even in one more state over ,but I can't relocate due to money ; This makes me feel better that there are other options and that ADNs aren't doomed in the work force .My dream is to become a neonatal nurse , also before that I would like to try out home care ; I plan on getting my BSN in the future and in the future I would like to become my NP .

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Specializes in Emergency Department/Labor and Delivery.

The squeeky wheel gets the grease... Apply and call the Director and or manager of the department until you actually have a conversation with them. A lot of places say wait for a new grad program to open up.. yeah... no. Think outside the box er, the hospital. Dialysis centers, hospice, LTC, psych, rehabs. These places don't wait till the winter and summer solstices to hire. I had to apply to about 40 positions-not desperate or anything - before I got a call back.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
The hospital system that I work for will hire ADNs but they stipulate a date by when that nurse must complete the BSN. Our ICU only has BSNs who are also certified in critical care.

My hospital used to stipulate you had to have a BSN within three years of hire, but since the big corporation took over I guess that went by the wayside since they probably didn't want to encourage people to use tuition reimbursement as that would take money away from the CEO's profits. Heck I'd be surprised if we even have tuition reimbursement anymore. lol

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