Need Job For New Grad Rn

the local new grads here can't even find jobs and preference is given to them since they do their clinicals there.. it kinda sucks here right now for new grads

Aloha--any suggestions for a BSN grad with a year of ICU exp that has a home in Honolulu and been applying for any and every job listed in the acute care setting? I took boards in HI after grad...and had to move back to the mainland b/c no one was hiring new grads. My goal/practice is to care for my pts as if they were part of my ohana...



Any info would be greatly appreciated...

a hui hou...

J

No one is hiring now and if they are they are picking up the displaced HMC nurses (St. Francis) who are very experienced.

It is an extremely tough market in the Islands now. Queens has instituted a hiring freeze. I think they might have cancelled some of their new grad programs too.

Sorry.......

Has finding a job for a new grad been a problem for a long time, or is it just an issue at present? I will be graduating *hopefully* December 2009 and possibly moving because my boyfriend will be stationed there. I know no one can really comment on what things will be like in over a year, but if it is a long standing issue, then it may not be resolved by then. Thanks!

it's fairly recent. a couple years ago it was the reverse. there were pages and pages of RN job listings at every hospital. new grad orientations every couple months at queens too. a lot of it depends on the economy and the retirement of our seasoned nurses. hawaii's a fairly contained environment so it's not like people can go to the next town over looking for work. i've read that hawaii's nursing force is on the older side so there should be more positions opening up. however, if the economy is doing poorly, many may refrain from retiring for a couple additional years.

Mahalo! I am writing this post Nov 20th, 2008. I am writing not just to the person who originally started the thread; I am writing to any new grad LPN RN or BSN thinking about moving to Maui. I agree with what many other people are saying on this forum... there are virtually no jobs for new grads in Hawai'i.

If you are a new grad... and you already know someone who will hire you, and you can afford the cost of living, then go for it, move to Hawai'i.

If you are a new grad... and you do not have a job lined up... do yourself a favor. Get a job on the mainland and spend the next two years getting trained. Become an expert at what you do. In two years, take another look at the Hawai'i economy and consider moving here.


I am a new grad, just got my LPN license 6 months ago. In Phoenix, no one wanted to hire me and train me because it costs the company too much money to hire and train. Hence, I have only 2 weeks of experience back home.

I have been in Maui for the last 2 weeks with my husband. He is working. I'm checking out the job market. I'm finding the same thing here in Hawaii. Companies DO NOT WANT TO SPEND MONEY TRAINING NEW GRADS!!!

My honey and I have decided to move here. As I mentioned, I have an LPN license in both Arizona and Hawai'i. I have already applied at Maui Memorial Hospital as a nurses aid. I hope to get a job within the next 3 months working as a nurses aid, per diem (PRN), working 2-3 shift a week. I might not be hired for 6 months. After working as a nurses aid for 6-12 months, I hope to get an LPN job at the same hospital. I hope. I plan to go back to school for my RN classes 1 year after moving here.

While the market is slow, and it's hard to find a job as an LPN or RN, I will spend my time going back to school for my RN or BSN.

My husband will be paid well. We did not move here and then he found the job. He has already been offered the job. He has spent the last 2 weeks working for the company. He's thrilled. We will move here in the next 1-2 months.

I do not plan to work for the first year here. Let me repeat that... we will be living on his salary, paying all the bills on his salary. I plan to do volunteer work to keep myself busy. If I don't make a dime in the next 12 months, we will be able to give 5%, save 5%, and live on the rest.

The cost of living is unreal. It's un - insert curse word here - believable!
$ 7.50 for a gallon of milk. $ 1400 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment, plus utilities. Need I say more???

I hope I have helped give you info to make an informed decision. When in doubt, pray about it. God bless you!

Lisa ;-)

Thank you, Lisa, for giving us a newcomer's point of view regarding the job market and the economic realities of living in Hawaii.
I don't know why people find it so hard to believe. And no, the "oh who cares---we'll be in HAWAII!!!!" stuff wears thin very quickly once you are living and working here. Living in Hawaii may be a dream for some but it is definitely not fantasy-land here. It's real life with all that entails.
It's true---facilities are not offering the new grad programs they offered a few short years ago. The truth is that we are saturated with nurses. Nursing was always viewed as a "sure ticket" to a good job and with the past shortages it certainly was. People went to nursing schools in droves secure in the knowledge that they would have a guaranteed job upon graduation and as a result we have a massive glut of new grads with more being churned out with every graduating class. I truly feel sorry for these new nurses who have worked so hard to get their licenses and are met with the prospect of movng to the mainland for a job or having no job.
Lisa, you have a nice safety net but many people who come here do not and they end up heading back to the mainland after much grief. Best of luck to you!

I agrew with what Windward Oahu RN wrote... I pretty much agree with all of it.

I will quote what a local store owner told me a few days ago:
"If you have a suitcase, Hawai'i is paradise. If you can afford to buy a $1,000,000 house, live in it 2 weeks out of the year, and let it sit empty 50 weeks out of the year, Hawai'i is paradise. If you're working class, Hawai'i is ****. You can never catch up with your bills."

It seems that everyone who has to work for a living here pretty much says the same thing. Financially, it's EXTREEEEEMELY DIFFICULT to make ends meet. You've got to work 2 jobs just to pay your basic bills.

Pray about it! Mahalo!
Lisa ;-)

I just graduated in Spring 2008, and I'm planning on moving to the mainland to look for new grad positions. Like many others born and raised in Hawaii, I was hoping to find a position in Hawaii as soon as I graduated. I guess its just the timing with the depleting economy and the financial troubles with HMC. As much as I want to stay in Hawaii, where all my friends and family are, there is more opportunities in the mainland.

For those who do not want to leave Hawaii, think of it as the out of state college experience you never had (this is my approach on it). Get your 2-3 years of experience, then check out for any positions that open up at home (hopefully once the economy start to pick up). Give yourself a year, and if things don't work out, you can always comeback home.

So I just wanted to say is good luck to all you new grads and to all future new grads. HANG in there..HANG tough...n...HANG LOOSE!!