I am beyond frustrated with my hunt for a hospital job. I have been a nurse for almost 7 years: 4 years of med/surg experience, 1 year of home health and 1.5 years of outpatient radiology experience (which was multifaceted but bottom line, outpatient). I am working home health now, for the second time around because after being laid off from radiology (budget cuts) it was the only thing I could get. I have applied to countless jobs over the last 5 months and have not had a single call. NOT ONE. I have spoken to a couple managers, which ultimately ended in me being told the job had already been filled. Or I just never get a call back. I try calling the hospital nurse recruiter and I don't get a call back. I feel like I've been blacklisted! My acute care experience is "too old" and I don't have the faintest clue what I can do about it. Do re-entry programs even exist anymore??? Do I have to compete against the dozens of new grads for one new grad position come June? I don't even know how I find out about those...

There are plenty of jobs on the job boards but I am being told I do not meet qualifications for practically everything. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go into a new specialty area but it doesn't appear that anywhere is willing to train. I was reading the thread before posting and I see I am not alone. I guess I just want to know if there is any way to earn marketable experience for an acute care specialty position? Or am I going to be stuck working Home Health for the rest of my life. For what it's worth, I live/work in Northern CA. North San Francisco Bay Area.

have you looked into doing registry, travel, or float pool? i think it's easier to get into a med-surg position even part-time or per-diem just to get yourself into a hospital system...then after being in the system for a bit you can find out about internal positions available to transfer to. hope that helps.