Decided to go back to the corporate world....

[shoegalRN]

Hello all!

I am a new grad just graduated on May 16th. I have been applying for RN jobs since February. I have been on 4 interviews and no offers. I left a very stable and well paying job in corporate america to attend nursing school full time. During the last 2 1/2 years, I had enough money saved from personal savings and student loans to keep me afloat.

I am a single mother with a mortgage and car payment. I had enough money to last me through May. I have contacted all my creditors to let them know I am unemployed and currently looking for a job. I have put in over 50 online applications for RN jobs in and out of state. I get the same rejection email daily: we have decided to go with someone who's a better fit/has more experience for our needs.

I am scared to death of losing my home. I've been in my house for 10 years and it's the only asset I have, considering I used my 401-K and pension to get me through nursing school. I attended a nursing school who is affliated with a hospital network and they agreed to pay for my schooling if I agreed to work for them 3 years after graduation. Although I have this scholarship, they have turned me down and this hospital system was 3 of the 4 interviews I've been on.

The dean claims she is gonna get to the bottom of it, and my contract says I have 30 days from graduation to find a job within their hospital organization or payment starts. In the meantime, I am dead broke, and doing the best I can to keep my household afloat. I've had to borrow money from a friend to pay for my state boards.

Today, I went to a job fair and was offered an interview right on the spot for an insurance company. I am currently taking Kaplan and decided to take boards in July. If I get this job at the insurance company, I have decided I will not return to nursing. I am already behind my classmates as far as on the job training and skills are concerned.

Although I will miss the bedside and patient care, my main priority is keeping my house and getting my financial status in order. I had NO debt prior to nursing school, now I'll owe about 40K in student loans, considering I'll have to pay back the scholarship to the school. My credit is now shot, because I have a 30 day late on my mortgage and all of my credit cards. I can't sleep at night and I find it hard to concentrate on studying Kaplan. I figure once I get myself out of this financial mess, I'll return to nursing and take a refresher course.

Any suggestions on how to keep my license updated and active while I am working outside of nursing? Any help would be greatly apperciated!

[Riseupandnurse]

I would encourage you strongly to talk to your friend's attorney husband or hire someone, even though you are broke. If you sit on this contract and try to revisit it later when you have more funds, you may find that it's too late. Don't wait; you have nothing to lose except just a little further in debt and an awful lot to gain. YOU have to be proactive; don't expect the hospital or your school to take care of things.

[JomoNurse]

i would be working my @$$ of at walmart and I would have a second job at target (or anything else that could provide income) if i were you. you could do odd jobs to supplement the income while you're in the application/interviewing phase. Please don't take the "screw your credit cards" advice someone said on here. the amount you'll owe will just keep growing if you do that. call your CC company and explain your situation. But the only thing I can offer you is that you should be working RIGHT now... 16 hour days if you have to.. to save your home.

[rngolfer53]

I live in Missouri.

I've tried Hospice and LTC's and the LTC's wanted new grad LPN's. I even tried some mental hospitals and they want someone with one year's experience. Hospice and Home Health both want someone with one year's experience. At the career fair, I gave my resume to a health clinic and she said she will call me to set up an interview if interested.

The good thing is the insurance company I am interviewing for is looking for someone with a medical background, preferrably a nurse, so it's a good fit from what I can tell. The only thing is I wil be missing out on valuable experience, which is what I'm scared of.

Right now, I have to worry about passing boards and getting a job to keep my house.

:twocents:Is there a free clinic in your area that uses volunteer RNs, etc? If so, you could gain some experience/keep your hand in patient care. If your insurance employer is a bit flexible, you could perhaps volunteer a couple half days a month, and work a couple 10 hour days to cover for it.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

IMO, do what you can to survive, and if that means taking the insurance job, then take it and run. You already have the NS degree and once you pass the boards, you'll have your license...so if/when the market improves down the road for nurses you'll be ready to go. For now, concentrate on staying afloat.

Also, I agree with everyone else: get an attorney to look into the contract mess. Good luck!

[shoegalRN, RN]

My interview with the insurance company is at 11:00am today. This morning I got up and had a nice cry. I'm so anxious and scared of losing my home. I don't have much left on my credit card and I still have to pay for my car insurance.

I have some jewelry I'm going to pawn to get me some cash for food and maybe a utility bill. I'm so stressed out, I can't study for boards. I've tried to redirect my focus, but when you are worried about losing your home and bills, it's really hard. Yesterday, I spent 14 hours looking online for jobs and submitting my application. I have a careerbuilder and an indeed account so I've been constantly submitting applications in and out of state.

I'm starting to get depressed. My house is a wreck, inside and out. My spirits are down and I literally had to pull myself out of bed this morning to give myself a prep talk so I can ace my interview.

I've decided if I get this job, and I'm really hoping I will, I will stay with it and pursue nursing once I've passed my boards at a later time and after I've gotten myself out of this financial mess.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

filling you in as a nursing manager in a large homecare agency with ~ 400 employee, what my life is like hiring staff:

hr staffing : can be an impediment.

hr director previously worked 32hrs/wk-off friday. 8 wks ago went to 40 hrs

hr assistant: works wed-fri.

application process: online

i now have online access to review candidates as it previously took 2-3wks to be handed applicant info for posted positions if hr staff busy other activity or off illness/vacation/outside meetings, etc. with online access i can start screening immediately.

positions are posted online ---and may stay that way unit selected candidate completes pre employment physical (in case candidate fails background screen) ----or hr staff has time to close position (open position still posted 1 mo wks after new hire started).

i can have 60 people apply within 48hrs position posted ---yet 50 will not have skills stated in position description so wade through many resumes to find true applicants.

getting a budgeted position posted online --- may take several days as need cfo sign-off.

(luckily i report to cfo, get approval in 1-2 days if he is working )

positions may be posted online then edict comes down from corporate to freeze positions, need 20% budget cut etc ---so positions still posted online in anticipation of hiring freeze being lifted.

average time takes to interview all applicants for one position prior to selecting potential employee: 2-3weeks

i've been able to expedite hiring process by doing own reference checks (which i prefer) as tone of voice or general questioning has lead to some red flag answers: poor attendance, not eligible for rehire, involved in others work without completing their own, unable to keep up pace of work, etc.

once all interviews done ( 1-2 staff participate in interview) applicant selected then hr sends off background check, employment physical needs to be scheduled by applicant and start date chosen. if applicant gets physical done on friday before start date, there is no way hr clearance can be given.

fastest i can get selected candidate in the door is 3 weeks ---average is 6-8weeks.

at one point 2yrs ago had staff with verbally agreed upon start date be given hr acceptance letter 2-4 days after starting position as overloaded with growth and amount of work. :imbar

hr now has smoother process and acceptance letter now out the door within 2-3 days my handing in paperwork as now send email with details along with our new electronic hiring software program.

i keep all applications on file in case new hire not working out. interviewed outside health system candidate i really wanted ---only to have internal employee apply who was appropriate for hire. 2 months later when another position opened, i called them again --they are starting to work on june 15th 7 weeks after i hired them and 2 wks later than agreed upon start date had to give current job notice.

in 2002, i held rally in philadelphia which tv covered bemoaning lack of applicants to nursing schools, lack of attention to nursing shortage (which will still occur in about 5-8 years--may be more gradual as rn's work longer due to economic impact this year). johnson & johnson started discover nursing campaign same year.

2009 will be remembered in healthcare as budget crunch year due to economy tanking (seeing signs of slow improvement), highest # new grads in years due to 2002 we need nurses campaigns being fruitful.

instead of finding a job within a month ---this year will taking 3-6 months to find position.hospital positions on downward spiral and expected to remain so for foreseeable future. new graduates need to realize services are changing to outpatient + same day surgicenters. that's where new positions will be created.

check out our tips: wondering why you can't get hired or promoted: resume + interview hints!

be polite but be persistent --plus early bird er student applicant, will have leg up on competition.

good luck ---take that insurance position until jobs open up next year in a hospital. you may be surprised where that nursing degree takes you. hopefully, it will be a long and successful career.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Take the job and take your boards. You will have amazing options in the future with both of these!

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

When I got laid off and ended up living in my car, I noticed that none of the nurses from other countries were laid off. Never saw one of them at the unemployment office. Never met one living in a car. In my home town, at the facility where I was laid off from, each one of them who wanted two jobs, had two jobs. Full time with overtime if desired. My DON didn't care one rat's patootie about my mortgage or my family or my education or anything else about me. Too busy keeping the schedule convenient for her favored workforce.

The issue at hand has nothing to do with "importing" nurses. You wouldn't see any at the unemployment office, because foreigners are not eligible for unemployment benefits. You wouldn't see them in a car, because they probably went home. The employment problems are due to a global recession, and nothing to do with those damn foreigners.

The nursing shortage is of EXPERIENCED nurses, not new grads. It's a hard cycle to get that experience - I agree with checking into any type of nursing job you can, while working in your corporate job. The longer you go after graduation without NCLEX or a job, the harder it gets.