Officially giving up

[CuddleFox]

Is there anything I can do with this nursing degree besides nursing or teaching in nursing?

It's been 18 months and NO ONE will hire me. I've looked out of state, internationally, even tried to volunteer and I can't !&*^@*$ win. I had a position offered to me then retracted because the manager decided to change the "new grad" position to someone with experience. Every other interview I go on, I always get to the final interview and then told I didn't get it for some BS reason.

I spoke to a nursing recruiter and told me that I was basically screwed. Mostly because I've been out of school for so long and refresher courses are reserved for those who have had experience but have been out for other reasons. A second recruiter told me to find a new dream.

This is my second degree, the first is in biology, I have no clinical experience other than what I did in school but my resume is still impressive. I can't believe I wasted three years of of life getting my BSN all for nothing.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Have you tried case management with Insurance Company? The pay is good and you don't have to worry about your clinical skills being up to par .

Oh, so not true. Your clinical judgment and experience are the reasons you get hired. CM can be a lot like home health in that you are in the field (or on the phone) with no back-up immediately available. You'd better be good. Totally not a field for rookies, and nobody will hire a rookie for this.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

When I was a new LPN.. I put my clinical experience under work experience just as if I had worked there.. It worked.. I got a job at an Assisted Living and PRN on Medical Surgical Unit. Try that.. Sometimes they forget that you have experience which you gain in your clinical settings.

I strongly advise against this, as it demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of WHY an employer would seek an experienced nurse for a position vs. being willing to consider a new grad.

Student experiences in this, that or the other setting are limited, structured, and you as a student DO NOT have bottom line responsibility for the patient.

You do yourself a disservice in assuming it was a *clever trick* which resulted in job offers, one which I strongly suggest you do not further highlight as it may come back to bite you.

OP, please do not do this, as it will further negatively complicate what has already been a frustrating search. If you feel a particular clinical rotation/experience you had while a student is especially noteworthy you can include it in the education portion of your resume, or discuss it in interviews in terms of what you learned from the experience, but DO NOT attempt to pass it off as work experience.

Don't give someone such an easy reason to pass you by as an applicant as inconsistent dates/information or falsehoods on your resume.

I wish you well.

[CrossCountryRN2008]

Try rehab ltd flu shot clinics home care try calling specific unit managers to try to get in. Go to hiring fairs

[neonurse97]

This officially has me scared. I have not even started yet. I have a BS in another field and am starting my 5 pre req's in the fall for a 16 month accelerated bsn program. I keep reading about new grads not being able to find jobs and it has me worried.

I've been a nurse for 19 years now and I can see what is happening all over the country. If you don't have experience you WILL have a hard time finding a job. If I were you, I would go into another field, perhaps pharmacy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy...etc....not nursing.

[DavidDudley]

I've been a nurse for 19 years now and I can see what is happening all over the country. If you don't have experience you WILL have a hard time finding a job. If I were you, I would go into another field, perhaps pharmacy, physical therapy, respiratory therapy...etc....not nursing.

My brother in law who is a respiratory therapist has not been able to get a job as everyone wants experience even from them. Best to actually talk to people in whatever field your interested in regarding how the job market is. Just because the market is terrible for nursing doesn't mean its any better elsewhere.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

I started nursing school smack in the middle of this recession, when everyone was saying the same thing they are now: that new grads will not get jobs. Well, I graduated with my BSN last year and had a job offer on graduation day (in the highly competitive New York metro area). Although there are no guarantees, you still have to do your homework and be determined. If you expect to just go home and spit out resumes through online applications, then YES you are gonna have a tough time securing a job. Networking still remains the best way to get a job ... people hire people they know or that know of them. This is an underestimated tactic. If nursing is what you really wanted to do, pursue it 100%. I'm glad I didn't listen to the people that told me to pursue something else as there were no jobs out there for new nurses, because that's just a lie. There are, there are just less of them than there were about 10 years ago. New nurses ARE getting jobs, you just have to work harder to find them and get them without being too picky about where you start out.

[mestrela]

I know how you feel! I've been out of school for a year and a half, applied nation-wide, only have had 3 interviews, attempted to get into the Air Force where I was told that I didn't have enough experience for the new grad position, and I was finally "hired" into a new grad position only to find out that there is no financial approval. Currently, I'm working in a temp position as an Epic Superuser for Providence to try and help them with the go live process. It's a huge headache. I carry so much in loans and there is no way that I can pay them with a temp job. Sometimes I feel like the world is caving in on me and there's no way out.