Love working in an area that needs nurses

Nurses New Nurse

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So, I now have two jobs two months post grad: Med/Surg the local hospital and PRN home health. The first job interview went like this: "You've worked here as an aid so we saved you a spot as an RN. Just let us know when you're ready." Second interview was like this: "We got your application today. Here are the days we need help. Which can I put you down for?" It's easier getting a job living in an area where this "nursing shortage" is an actual thing! ;-)

It was awesome when I graduated, I had an offer from each job I applied to. And it's not because I'm special, I had a very average resume. I even said something that made me look like a huge weirdo in my first interview, and they still offered me the job!

The flip side is, once you're working, your unit/floor will probably be short staffed half the time. Which means higher patient loads, and lots of overtime. Not many experienced nurses around for help, and tons of new grads to train every four months or so.

Better than being un/under-employed, but it would be nice to find a middle ground!

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I am a new grad and have a job waiting for me for when I pass the nclex. It's on the floor I precepted in during my last semester and my interview pretty much went the same! They hired 6 from my class, just for our floor and I know of 5 others that got jobs on other floors in the same hospital. It is nice to not have to worry about applying and interviewing for multiple jobs after you take the most stressful test in your life. (even though I do feel more stressed before my nclex because I have so much riding on a passing result.) The "shortage" is real in some areas and it is nice to be a new grad in those areas!

Good luck on your NCLEX , and congratulations on your new position ! :up:

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Congrats on your job offers!

Around where I live (Indiana) the "nursing shortage" is a cruel myth.

Yet the nursing schools keep taking that tuition, and pumping out more and more new grads.... :(

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Congrats on your job offers!

Around where I live (Indiana) the "nursing shortage" is a cruel myth.

Yet the nursing schools keep taking that tuition, and pumping out more and more new grads.... :(

It's the same where I live....just not enough jobs for all the nurses, and there are probably a dozen schools of nursing just in my city ! :unsure:
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Englishgeek -- Your post is my new "happy place" to go to when the wolves come scratching at the doors.

Thank you for the bright ray of sunshine!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

What do you consider a "smallish" hospital if they're hiring 100 new RN's and are willing to fill all of those spots with new grads?

OP's location is set to somewhere in Oklahoma. I live in Oklahoma and can confirm that there's a nursing shortage here. We just had orientation for our clinicals this semester and the chief of nursing operations told us, "Right now, we're hiring for 55 RNs. By the time y'all graduate, I suspect that number will be more like 100. Apply before you even graduate and we'll give as many interviews as we have spots for!" This was at a smallish hospital in my town. In places like Tulsa, new grad RNs don't have trouble getting jobs in hospitals, not even specialty areas like ICUs/L&D/Oncology.
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Specializes in Clinical Documentation Specialist, LTC.

There's not a nursing shortage in MS. that I am aware of, but RN and LPN jobs are plentiful right now, many of them being new grad. friendly. Congrats OP! And good luck with your NCLEX and new career :)

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OP's location is set to somewhere in Oklahoma. I live in Oklahoma and can confirm that there's a nursing shortage here. We just had orientation for our clinicals this semester and the chief of nursing operations told us, "Right now, we're hiring for 55 RNs. By the time y'all graduate, I suspect that number will be more like 100. Apply before you even graduate and we'll give as many interviews as we have spots for!" This was at a smallish hospital in my town. In places like Tulsa, new grad RNs don't have trouble getting jobs in hospitals, not even specialty areas like ICUs/L&D/Oncology.

Gahhh, remind me to never get sick in Oklahoma!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I live in Oklahoma and can confirm that there's a nursing shortage here.
There's a shortage in Oklahoma because nursing pays so terribly there (read: less than $20 hourly for new grad RNs in Oklahoma City hospitals).

I attended nursing school in Oklahoma. At the time (2009), I was an LVN who had been earning $26 hourly in Texas and commuted to school in OK. A recruiter from the University of Okla. Medical Center visited the school and offered a starting pay rate of $18.65 hourly for new grad RNs. I had to laugh. It's 2014, and the starting pay in most OKC area hospitals is just a few cents shy of $20/hr.

The cost of living in OKC is about the same as it is in my city of residence in Texas, yet the nursing wages are significantly higher in the area where I live.

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