New Grad Nurses struggling to find jobs - CNN Reporter wants to hear from you

Nurses New Nurse

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allnurses.com appreciates how difficult the job market can be for new grad nurses.

We are working with Annalyn Kurtz, a CNN Money Reporter get info for an article that will highlight this nationwide issue. We have created a form where you can share your story with the reporter.

We WILL SHARE this info with the CNN Reporter and she MAY contact you with your prefererd contact method. All the info you share is OPTIONAL and will not be posted on the public board.

*Even if you did get a job, please fill in the form to share your story of your job hunt process.*

Thanks in advance! - Brian Short - Founder of allnurses.com

Click here to go to the form to fill out

If you wish to comment on this publicly, please post your comments below.

You are lucky that you had any job offers. I passed the boards in November, have filled out every application for any position and have not had one phone call or interview. At this point, I will work anywhere just to gain some experience. Today I walked into an HR department in a hospital and left my resume. Hopefully another approach will work!

Me to I am starting to feel depressed. I am from Texas.

netglow;7111959 "No no no! Don't keep going back to school! Beyond a BSN, without nursing work experience, additional degree education means nothing! So many nurses have gone right back to school and now are in serious trouble - still unemployed!"

This ismy situation. I have accrued four times more debt finishing my BSN than I hadafter my ADN and still no job. Student loan payments begin next month. When Istarted my Nursing education, the hospital I did clinicals in was offering $5ktuition pay-back w/ contracts and $10k relocation funds for new grads that lived over 50miles away. Now the HR department won't even interview me because they saythere are so many new grads that live right in the vicinity. I feel like thecolleges didn't emphasis the reality of poor job placement because they wantedthe $tudent$ to feed their wallets - what college staff wants to lose their jobbecause new grads aren't finding work? Keep it hush-hush and CYA with the"no Guarantee" clause found at all colleges.

Specializes in ED, Telemetry,Hospice, ICU, Supervisor.

Finally get the word out!!!

It is time for nurses to get the word out about the truth and not the lies that schools and companies are saying.

I swear if I run into another person that talks about the "nursing" shortage, I am gonna go off on them.

Send a link to all your friends, facebook, twitter, local colleges, your hometown newspaper, put info up on college job boards, pinterest, tell job counselors, put flyers up at libraries, starbucks, etc. I emailed my alumni and another collegue and they were so happy finally somebody is collecting research.Get the word out. Let's crash their inbox!

Specializes in APRN, ACNP-BC, CNOR, RNFA.

Me to I am starting to feel depressed. I am from Texas.

Where in Texas are you? I've seen postings for Dallas, Austin, and Houston. When did you start looking? A lot of new grads want to wait until they pass NCLEX to start job hunting, BIG MISTAKE. The Spring internships close in Sept. and the Summer internships close in Feb. Are you a BSN grad? I may be able to help if you're in Houston.

Three months is not a long time to be looking for a job. I have always heard that there is a nursing shortage so my expectations were unrealistic. I expected to pass boards and have a job immediately. Now that I know that it may take six months, I have a different perspective.

Three months is not a long time to be looking for a job. I have always heard that there is a nursing shortage so my expectations were unrealistic. I expected to pass boards and have a job immediately. Now that I know that it may take six months, I have a different perspective.[/quote

That's what I heard too which is why I am trying to become an LPN. Jobs everywhere. I am hoping that it is not state to state and just in certain areas. Is it just in hospitals? Or are nursing homes not hiring either? I do know around here nursing homes tend to hire LPN's quickly, so getting a job is not that hard. From what I have been told anyway. The thing is, I am not sure where I will be in a year so I am hoping once I become an LPN (fingers crossed) I will be able to get a job where I will eventually be.

This is an eye opener for me because that's all that is told to us. No enough nurses.

I live in Milwaukee, WI. I submitted my story and talked to the reporter. I graduated in May, passed boards in August... i have 10 years of medical experiance 4 being as an ER tech in a level 1 trauma Center... In dec i FINALLY got a .3 (every 3rd weekend) position in an ER - and Not at the hospital i have been at for 6 years... (that place i couldnt get a job and barely could even get an interview!!). I applied for everything and anything not just ER. I was even contacted by agencies however i didnt think it would be a great idea 1 day of orientation and your on your own (didnt think it was wise for a new grad)... Anyways i havent and still dont have health insurance since i graduated school so still applying for Fulltime positions and hoping my experiance im gaining at my new ER job will help...

I tried to get names and phone numbers of recruiters and HR departments and just be persistant... it worked i have a job and maybe something else in the works a fulltime job... but we will see.

I have a asn degree and most hospitals in in nyc want a Bsn.The poster that you quoted most likely has a bsn, while i will not have that degree till 1 1/2 from now.When i do graduate from a bsn program i will not qualify for a new grad position even though i have never worked in an hospital setting. The hospitals do this so they dont have to pay your for experience. I have found a job after 4-6 months, what i wanted to state is if new york wants to hire bsns in the hospital do away with aas degree but they wont do that because it is a money maker bottom line .Most of my nursing instrutors that have thier msn currently started out with thier aas.Everything leads back to money most of the leaders in the nursing profession started out with an aas and worked thier way up to an msn, but i guess they think nurses of this generation do not want to continue thier education which most actually.Most people i graduated with are enrolled in an bsn program.

depending where you are you really have to apply everywhere home health,clinics ,hospitals and something will latch on thats what i did. continue on with your bsn while u work as an nurse. i know bsns that owe over 50k for a nursing degree that is crazy ,people need to wake up and see this is all about the bottom line for these schools to make a profit

Specializes in Peds Medical Floor.
Graduated with a BSN in 2011. Seems like many of my peers had job offers upon graduation or shortly after. Some from practicum placement, most on units where they worked. I was in the subset who didn't work as a PCA during school, so fell into the group that had a difficult time finding a job. Having kept in contact with many people who initially didn't find a job, most (all that I know of) did find jobs eventually...some in LTC or psych, several in a PDN agency that I also took a job with initially. It took me seven months to land a hospital job. Two of my friends who also worked at the PDN agency just now found hospital jobs, but at least they had work.

I know quite a few people who graduated with ICU and ER jobs right out of the gate. At least two others held out until the end of summer and landed L&D/Mother/Baby jobs. At least three others moved out of the area to get pediatric jobs. It seems, to me at least, that the people with actual prior medical experience had the strangely hardest time getting a job -- the LPNs, paramedics, and former military medics.

This was my problem. I got offered one LPN job (I had been an LPN for years before my RN) but it was a huge pay cut and it seemed stupid to take it. But there was a chance I'd become elligible for an RN job so I was seriously considering taking it....thank goodness I finally got a job offer for an RN job!!!

That's what I heard too which is why I am trying to become an LPN. Jobs everywhere. I am hoping that it is not state to state and just in certain areas. Is it just in hospitals? Or are nursing homes not hiring either? I do know around here nursing homes tend to hire LPN's quickly, so getting a job is not that hard. From what I have been told anyway. The thing is, I am not sure where I will be in a year so I am hoping once I become an LPN (fingers crossed) I will be able to get a job where I will eventually be.

This is an eye opener for me because that's all that is told to us. No enough nurses.

Cannot speak for "everywhere" but in NYC LPNs have long been phased out of acute hospital care. IIRC some places such as Mount Sinai and NYP still have them but they work in clinics or some such.

Also because so many hospitals are pushing for the BSN many ADN grads and even experienced nurses with that degree are finding the only work to be had in LTC/nursing homes/rehab. This has created a happy hunting ground for said facilities as they have access to a large pool of nurses from one level above a LPN that they often don't have to offer that much more in wages/bennies.

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