DEPRESSED New grad. What are we suppose to do?

[Newgrad_STAT]

Hi everyone,

I know this thread is nothing new... I guess I'm just looking for some insight or something.

I finished school in June, passed and all that and I'm registered. I have been searching for about 6+ months.

I first started applying to manly hospital job postings but for the last couple of months I apply to anything. (besides Homecare- I do not have my own car)

My question is HOW am I suppose to be spending my days? ahhhhh!! I feel like time is flying by.

I have completed an ECG course and am starting ACLS which I'm studying for. (I'm praying and hoping with everything that this opens some doors). I heard from another new grad (she finished around Christmas- it took her a while too to also land a job)

I currently live at home. All I do is workout and apply to jobs.

I've received one call (during the summer for a camp nurse job- he wasn't interested when he found out I haven't received my results back yet). I went on a interview for a nurse pool position- thought the interview went well - sent a thank you card... did all I could do. Didn't get the position. That has been it......

I try to get the hiring managers names to address on each cover letter. Many times I've been hit with "Sorry we are unable to give any specifics as to who to address... that is confidential" So, I am left with putting "Dear Human resource" ( this is what human resource told me- keep in mind I have gotten Hiring managers names but what good would that do if it goes through Human Resource first?)

Many of my friends have landed positions. Most in their last yr clinical rotations.. but were secured with a position before they even wrote their exam. I can't help but compare myself to them. I LOVED my pre-grad clinical rotation. I had an awesome time... everyone in the unit (express unit- not an actual floor) told me to apply (to an open position on a new floor), gave me awesome words of encouragement and introduced me to the nurse manager... she wrote my name down and everything. I never received a call... but I heard through the grape vine that one of my male classmates did. He never stepped foot in that hospital or anything. I guess I was just really hoping for that. "Would have been perfect"

I have student loans like crazy and I have to start repaying my 2nd one at the end of the month. My other loan is calling me every damn day. Seriously, I did not sign up for this.

I mean, Somethings got to give. This is keeping me up at night. I lose hours of sleep stressing over this.

And each time I see someone they ask me "Did you find a job yet?" ...............

I guess the only good thing that has come from this is that I have lost 30+lbs. Other than that God help me

ps. And getting references are a whole other stressors. None of my nursing clnical tutors are even returning back my emails or anything. I need references to even start a volunteer application........ in the hopes of getting my foot in the door.

Wish they would have told us this before we took all these loans out :crying2::crying2: I am losing my mind!!

I live in Southern Ontario.

whoa, and excuse my typos and horrible grammar... just a little frustrated

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

There are jobs in small Northern communities across Canada. I'm in Northern AB. We need 2 RNs, but no one wants to move.I miss my home and my friends terribly, but I'm learning a lot and making great money. I plan to stay a while longer, then move to a city. If you can relocate and tolerate the boredom in exchange for experience, it's well worth it.

[cityknitty_RN]

I definitely feel for you. Here are my 2 cents:

First of all, this job shortage thing has been going on for awhile and while it may not have been told to you in classes, any kind of research into the field would show that while unemployment is down, hospitals are just not hiring any more nurses because of the economy right now. In MN, all of the major hospitals went through a downsize where they fired many of the less experienced nurses, but after that they just went on a hiring freeze. This was the case in most hospitals around the metro area. I will tell you though, I've seen a slight increase in their hiring... which seems like good news?

I was going through the same thing. My sights were set on hospitals at first but as I realized that that route wasn't looking promising for a new grad, I applied to anything I could. This lead to working in a nursing home for 3 years to gain experience. While it was the last place I wanted to work (and I mean no offense to LTC nurses... Bless you for what you do! Whew! You're amazing!) it got me the experience I needed to land a great job in a hospital, which is ultimately where I wanted to be.

Networking is so important. Searching for community events that may be lead by local hospitals or nursing organizations may be a great way to meet some important people. A lot of getting into a hospital is who you know... unfortunately sometimes. Things will turn around... but in the meantime, it really sounds like you may need to find a job anywhere, even in a non-healthcare related field, especially if your finances are in such need.

I really hope you find something! Until then, my thoughts go out to you! I'm really sorry for your situation

[cityknitty_RN]

Get tough.

Network on a site like Linkedin

(World's Largest Professional Network | LinkedIn)and ask re jobs, give specifics, put your experience/details on there. Put down ANY experience, ie: clinicals, temp jobs, volunteering. Contact all the nursing agencies and see if they can help out.

Also if u have so many friends who have jobs, can't they help you?

And HR are not nurses. There must be job ads with people's names on them. Tell them putting Dear HR isn't acceptable. I think they're trying to fob you off TBH.

I'm not in the states or wherever you are so my advice won't be quite specific.

I always advocate that young people now should not go into nursing. The job market is NOT secure anywhere now & they are not mature enough to handle everything we have to deal with. I'd look at doing a separate course that gets you a job. Also do ANY job that comes your way - not just nursing - as that will give u money & keep ur spirits up. Apply for all and anything, even if u don't think ur qualified & say something like: willing to train or stay back to be train/do training courses.

I hope you get something soon.

I think LinkedIn is a great resource! Great information!

However, I do disagree that young people are not mature enough to handle what "mature" nurses handle daily. I am a young nurse and while it's busy, I do think that both mature and young nurses have a lot to learn from each other. I think it's unfair to discourage young people to go into nursing with that being one of the reasons. Everyone needs to start somewhere.