[haleysmum]

I graduated last May. I have been working since November of last year in a LTC facility. I enjoy my job and care for my patients very much. HOWEVER, this is not the kind of nursing I want to do. I have applied, and I am not exagerating, to over 13 hospitals in my area. I haven't even gotten an interview. I am getting frustrated and angry. Every place wants 2-3 ys experience, but I can't get into a hospital to get the experience. I gave up a 16 yr career in another field, a pension for the rest of my life. I don't mean to whine. I love being a nurse, but this is starting to truly upset me. Has anyone else had to go through this. Any advice would be great! Thanx!

[IampattyRN]

are you RN or LPN??

regardless, keep looking online, keep on going to search engines, talking to other people. and eventually you will find something you love

[suninmyeyes]

Go in-person directly to the nurse managers of the units you are interested in. Have your resume, letters of rec., and a cover letter custom addressed. Drop it off if they are busy then follow up with a phone call several days later. I had to do some sleuthing to get names of managers of all th units but it is well worth it.

I never got an interview through HR (after 6 weeks) and finally landed a job right away when I began hand delivering directly to the units. You will have an advantage because your resume will be physically IN their hand and not just in a list on a computer.

The shortage is for EXPERIENCED nurses (unless you live/work in an "undesirable/unpopular" area). The hospitals can only have so many new-grads at any one time and those jobs are therefore limited. Of course my school never talked about this.

Good luck

[haleysmum]

Thanx so much for the advice! I did try being a little proactive and bring my resume and refs to HR at one place and they told me to go home and do an on line app. I have really trying to hit it in the last 2 months to be ahead of the new grads this year. I took IV certification, signed up for ACLS for next month, anything I thought might put me a little ahead (sigh). Maybe if we do an allnurses novena... haha...

Thanx for the help! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

[luv4nursing]

Originally Posted by haleysmum

Thanx so much for the advice! I did try being a little proactive and bring my resume and refs to HR at one place and they told me to go home and do an on line app. I have really trying to hit it in the last 2 months to be ahead of the new grads this year. I took IV certification, signed up for ACLS for next month, anything I thought might put me a little ahead (sigh). Maybe if we do an allnurses novena... haha...

Thanx for the help! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Are u an LPN? I tried to apply to a lot of hospitals when I was an LPN too, but there were very few openings and like you said, the opening they did have required experiences. Ironically, I did get a call from HR when I was in the process of moving to another city lol...it was like 8 months after I applied and they wondered if I was still interested. I just finished the LPN-RN transition back in December and took boards in March and have gotten call backs from every place I applied to. Unfortunately in most places, you may have to get your RN if you want to work in the hospital. Back in the day a long time ago, LPNs worked mainly in hospitals...those are the ones with experience and the ones who most hospitals hire these days. It really depends on your region though...because Im in FL and in Orlando they barely use LPNs in the hospitals,but here in Tampa they use them a lot...my friend is an LPN new grad and got hired straight into the hospital.

If u really want an interview, u will need to get creative...try to get the name of some unit managers and call them directly to express your interest and ask if there is a time you can come in to interview. If you get one, really know your stuff and memorize the organizational mission and try to paraphrase it and work it into questions they ask you.

Good luck!

[haleysmum]

Thanx again for the advice. I am an RN. The problem here seems to be experience. I guess I'm just gonna have to be a big pain in the btx. Alot of these hospitals have new grad programs, too. My fear is my skills getting rusty and forgetting things I've learned. I'll keep at it!

Thanks again!

[racing-mom4]

I cant say enough about the benefit of job shadowing...call into HR at the hospital your interested in and inquire about spending an afternoon job shadowing on the floor that interests you most. By having the staff see you, and see that your nice, eager and a team player they will have a huge influence on getting you hired.

Not to mention you may think you want to work on the tele floor but once there see they are high pt:staff ratios, crowded, cramped unorganized etc etc etc and you realize you dont want to work in that unit, then you can request to shadow in a different unit. Plus by being there on the floor you will hear the good/bad and ugly which will allow you to ask better questions during your interview process.

[IampattyRN]

keep looking online. the same thing happened to my friend, she ended up signing up for an agency that took her w/o experience.

[jessi1106]

Hi,

I am sorry you are having a hard time. Hang in there.

I completely agree with the poster who said to go directly to the nurse manager. This is what I did after applying online and hearing nothing.

I got the name of the manager of the unit I wanted to work on. I emailed my resume to her directly.

I was called for an interview the next day.

Hospital jobs for new grads are competitive...I think showing the extra initiative of going (in person or email) makes you stand out.

Good luck and keep us informed!

~Jess

[tarapom]

Originally Posted by IampattyRN

keep looking online. the same thing happened to my friend, she ended up signing up for an agency that took her w/o experience.

really? which agency hired her without experience? I would love to go agency- they pay better! (and I have more than 7 months experience)