New grads Need Not Apply

Nurses New Nurse

Published

You are reading page 3 of New grads Need Not Apply

RN 12/12

7 Posts

Saw this article through my aunt who sent it to me. Used to log on to allnurses.com a lot throughout nursing school because I loved the support and hearing stories of people experiencing exactly what I was. I haven't been on lately because everything to do with nursing and being a nurse has been so hard to deal with lately. I graduated over a year ago and still haven't found a job as a RN. I've had little side jobs here and there teaching CPR, etc but nothing to actually market me as a nurse. It's so incredibly frustrating. Someone on this forum said that looking for a job is a full-time job in itself! Yes! It is! Except that it doesn't help my nursing skills, doesn't pay, and is unbelievably disappointing day after day. I want to be an excellent nurse. I want to learn, to grow, to share...but will I ever get the chance?? :(

mariahlily

41 Posts

i'm in the same boat. :(

mariahlily

41 Posts

Nursing students, prospective students, graduates, new RNs, please understand a fundamental truth about the nursing profession: it is broader than hospitals. Only about 60% of RNs work in acute care settings. This means that roughly 4 out of every 10 new graduates WILL NOT GET A HOSPITAL JOB! Sorry, that is the reality, and it will get worse as health care keeps moving away from acute care to home health and outpatient facilities. What makes you think you are entitled to work in a hospital? Your degree is Associates Degree in Nursing NOT Associates Degree in Hospital Nursing. Your qualification is Registered Nurse NOT Registered Hospital Nurse. Let's embrace reality and stop equating RNs with hospitals. It is living in fantasy land to do otherwise. I am tired of new grads ******** about not getting hospital jobs. Not everyone will. It does not mean there is no nursing shortage all it means is that there is no acute care nursing shortage. Also, do you think you are ready to hit a hospital floor and manage an assignment of 5 patients? Hell no! No new grad is and by a long shot. They have to train you before they let you loose on the floor. Do you know how much it costs to train a new grad? My hospital is spending nearly 80K in training costs for each of its new grads in its residency program. Not every hospital can afford that. You can't really blame hospitals when choose not to hire new grads. You say you are a mother, an adult, but your post sounds very immature and to me, like my niece crying she didn't get her favorite Christmas toy.
FYI: In a lot of states, even non-hospital venues like nursing homes and prisons are asking for 3-5 years of experience. Check your facts before you personally attack someone. That being said, the tone of your post is childish. The OP is struggling with this economy, she's dealing with student debts, and your first response is to call her names??? Seriously, I feel bad for the patients under your care. I can only imagine that they get a boat-load of attitude, judgment, and nastiness from you. It really terrifies me to think that people like you work hospital caring for vulnerable and oftentimes scared patients. Lord, please promise me that I will never have you as my nurse.
Trauma Columnist

traumaRUs, MSN, APRN

88 Articles; 21,249 Posts

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Okay - lets try to be polite to everyone. This is a hot topic for everyone across the nation. There are sometimes that its just better to take the high road and realize that you might not agree with everyone but we do ask that everyone be respectful.

philipb

2 Posts

I have been a nurse since 1985. When I graduated hospitals wouldn't even accept applications from new grads (Denver, CO). My first job was in a SNF. Great experience, it really helped with organizational skills. By 1987 the situation had completely changed. You could walk into a hospital HR department wave your license in the air and start the next day. I also went through the re-engineering fad in the 90's with its lay offs. Again within a year or so hospitals were begging for nurses.

I am just saying "Hang in there". Things will change.

rnmama999

28 Posts

There is a theory about the entry level RN wage at hospitals decreasing due to "obamacare." I think many new grad will shift their preference from acute care to outpatient/home health nursing...

Willie54

2 Posts

Come to ND...I work at Sanford in Fargo and we have a long listing for nurses and they hire new grads!

Specializes in Public Health Nurse.

The OP asks "Where will these facilities find their new workforce?"... they will get them from other countries like they used to up to a few years ago, because us new graduates are getting tired and pushed to go into other careers due to the lack of jobs being available to us.

ariel4164

9 Posts

I am a new RN grad and I do not want to work in the hospital. Unfortunately, many non-hospital RN jobs require 1 year of acute experience. Any suggestions?

babygirl3374

29 Posts

I think the problem is pigeon holing in Nursing Jobs. If you graduate and don't keep certain skills up to date by taking a job at a LTC...it's difficult to move from there. And if what you say is true, NURSING PROGRAMS SHOULD BE HONEST AND OBLIGATED TO STATE THE TRUTH to prospective students before taking their money and years of their life--which they ARE NOT. Just saying. I finished one term last month and one of the instructors was glorifying our careers and how great the pay and benefits are working in a hospital...seriously. And this is an ASN program...

sunshyne17

190 Posts

The nursing programs are trying to make a profit too so how honest do you expect them to be? You WILL have a good career assuming you get a job.

I am in LTC now and got a job offer for a hospital position to start in a few months. I will be traveling back and forth every day but this post has solidified why I need to do it. Because LTC experience is like bad credit and being a new nurse is like having no credit at all.

Only good credit is hospital experience..

Specializes in Public Health Nurse.

So sad but true, I am back doing what I used to do before in a medical office due to the lack of job offers, even though I have submitted hundreds and hundreds of applications. I am finishing my BSN; hopefully this year, and I am hoping that it will open at least a crack in that door. Once done with this level of nursing education I will have a better idea and consider perhaps getting a job even if is 200 miles away from home. Unfortunately with a full time job, and going to school at the same time, it is leaving me with little time to keep up with my skills and therefore forgetting them. Most of the time, I keep my spirits up, but I do have my moments when I question if getting this degree was the smartest choice. At my age, is not like I have a lot of time to hang around until I get that job, plus getting older may limit my options to even being considered :blink:

+ Add a Comment