New Grads... Is Anyone Addressing The Issue?

U.S.A. Hawaii

Published

Does anyone know...

Are any of the universities, community colleges, or nursing departments

doing anything to help new grad nursing students get jobs here on the islands?

Is anyone addressing this issue?

Lisa ;-)

P.S. If you're new to this forum, and you don't know about the issues new grads face, please don't ask questions in this post. Read the dozen other threads that talk about how new grads can't find jobs. Please DO NOT repost the same questions here. Mahalo!

Specializes in Oncology, Med-Surg.
I just graduated from KCC this December and a lot of my classmates who took the NCLEX and passed it early already have interviews lined up for RN positions. No clue if they implemented working with hospitals but something seems to be getting done.

thats good for them. where did they apply it. so much job freeze seems like the only way to get in is if you already work in the hospital. i guess that the best thing since the manager already knows you and its better then some outsider. then again you can work somewhere as aide keep applying for a position and still not get a job. My classmate was an aide at HPH for a year and applied a new grad RN position but never got it. So she tried for Kaiser instead and just a got a new grad job at Kaiser after waiting 1 year after graduation. She was an outsider so I guess you can get lucky.

I had hoped since I left Oahu that the situation with the new grads would have resolved but apparently not. Having worked for a hospital on Oahu for 9 years (and having them pay for my education with tuition reimbursements) as a transporter, I was unable to find a job nearly 1 year after graduating from KCC. Local hospitals, even the hospital I worked for, didn't want to spend the money to train and I saw many travelers hired while my classmates and I, having done clinicals at those hospitals, were ignored. So I had a few choices- keep pounding on doors and hope that one would open while trying to pay bills and feed the family or move to the mainland and get some "experience" so I could come home.

Overall, I'm fairly bitter with the whole process. You would think it would be better to invest in people who actually live here, who are part of this community, rather than give jobs to those only wanting some fun in the sun and are gone after a few months...

So new grads, it basically comes down to this: do what you need to do because no one, not the HNA or Center of Nursing or the state, is looking out for you. Sad to say....

this is lisa, the lady who started the thread. thank you, everyone, for replying to this thread. thank you for sharing your experience & your perspective. mahalo for helping me realize that it's not just me, that other people are in the same boat.

ap3x6 wrote: ... my classmates... already have interviews lined up for rn positions. no clue if they implemented working with hospitals but something seems to be getting done.

lisa writes... i'm curious if any of your classmates actually got hired. human resources might be telling the nurse managers to interview experienced nurses and new grads. the new grads might never get hired, but at least the hospital can say they interviewed them. many years ago i was friends with george, a gentleman who worked as upper management at a large, 1000+ person company. george told me a story that i still remember...

george wanted to hire samuel, someone he already knew. george said, "hey sam, fax me your resume!" george went into his computer, and created a position, a job, that exactly matched sam's resume. george sent the job description to hr, who approved it. george interviewed six people, knowing full well that five interviews were a complete waste of time for him & for the applicants. none of the other applicants had a chance! at the end, george chose sam. he sent sam's resume to hr, and sent the job description to hr, and said, "look! sam is the perfect match for the job. he's got a 4 year degree in ___. sam has 1 year experience in ___ and two years experience in __. sam has special training in ___. he also speaks swahili, can play guitar, and knows morse code! amazing! that's exactly what i was looking for when i put out this job description for a computer programmer! is it okay to hire him?" the hr dept gave approval for george to hire sam.

my point: george made his decision to hire sam before the job was posted on the job board. the other five people got interviews so that if someone - anyone - got upset and wanted to sue, hr could say, "yes, but look! george interviewed three people from inside the company, and three people from outside the company. he interviewed 3 anglos, 1 african american, 1 hispanic, 1 indian (from india). he interviewed 4 men and 2 women. our company doesn't discriminate. we consider everyone equally." and that's how the 1000+ person company avoids lawsuits and problems.

so... ap3x6, just because new grads are getting interviewed, that doesn't mean the company or the managers plan to hire the new grads. sometimes there are hidden motives. i'm curious to know how many of your classmates actually got jobs as rns. or, if they got hired as nurse aids, or, if they never got hired.

I know for sure at least two got hired. One at Queens and the other at Pali Momi. Edit: from what they tell me they're hired as RN positions but can't get paid the RN wage because their license didn't go through yet so until then they will be getting CNA pay.

Specializes in ICU.
I have seem an awful pattern of Hawaii medical facilities leaving their own kind behind to hire mainland or travelers first! ***? They should be hung! We need to keep our own and nurture our own, not pay out the #$@ for travelers and transients. Why the heck did we go to school here in Hawaii and get our licenses here for then? This trend is NOT cool

"HUNG" that is what is "NOT" cool...! I came back to my house on Oahu of 5 years from the mainland from ICU for a floor position and was NOT welcomed by local staff nurses...I returned to the mainland, and my hospital is now paying for CRNA school...

Take it or leave it...But, there are great hospitals on the mainland...In my option, it is better to experience other cultures to better serve pts. (that's what we went to school for)... And if HI grads have to travel...It will make them a more rounded nurse and not have the battle of finding a job...

Good luck to all...

Specializes in FNP-C.

Or go to grad school if you can and will and wait for the economy to get better in the meantime.

Specializes in Critical Care.
Its too difficult to address at the moment since there are so many cuts and furloughs. Its a tough time. I don't know if universities are doing anything of if they even have the power to influence hospitals or government to hire new grads who are residents of Hawaii. They should give priority to Hawaii residents. I worked around this issue by suffering another two years going to grad school and taking out a loan for the time being while having a part time job to have some income. Also, I live at home. ;p

It's a tough time everywhere. You want the hospitals in your state to be forced to hire only state residents so that you won't have to compete. We have to compete in Washington State, new grads are competing in California, Colorado, all over the country. We even compete with Canadian Nurses. Why should any employer hire you based on anything but your credentials, your skills and your capabilities?

Specializes in Critical Care.
I have seem an awful pattern of Hawaii medical facilities leaving their own kind behind to hire mainland or travelers first! ***? They should be hung! We need to keep our own and nurture our own, not pay out the #$@ for travelers and transients. Why the heck did we go to school here in Hawaii and get our licenses here for then? This trend is NOT cool

What is NOT COOL is your attitude. I realize that people tend to get very territorial and even hostile in desperate economical times. I too, feel the heat as I am preparing for nursing school. I wonder if I will get in to a solid school, if I will be well prepared, if I will have clinicals with good nurses who care and want to help me be better, I wonder how the job market is going to be when I get out.

The picture in Washington state looks like this: Every school has more applicants with perfect GPAs in all prerequisite classes than they can accommodate. 3.7-4.0 GPA in Chem 121, Chem 131, Anatomy, Physiology, Eng 101, and Microbiology. Some now require Statistics, Lifespan Psych, Intercultural Communications, Nutrition, and Medical Terminology before you can apply, some require Certified Nursing Assistant Licensing and 200 hours of work or volunteer work. Beyond that some still have 1-2 year waiting lists. It's COMPETITIVE. You have to be the best.

Guess what? I am going to have to move if I can't find a job in Washington State when I get out. I'm competing with Nurses from Canada who can come to the US and make twice as much as they made in Canada. But I would never expect that hospitals in Washington State should only hire "residents" the way you seem to think Hawaii should. That's ridiculous and just demonstrates how ethnocentric and threatened you are.

People who weren't born in Hawaii still have every right to move there and compete for jobs there and the people in Hawaii who can't get jobs are no different than people in any other state who can't get jobs. They may have to relocate just like the rest of us.

jessicadawn, let me make sure i understand where you're coming from... you haven't started nursing school yet. you haven't been through nursing school. you haven't tried to find a job as an lpn or rn - in any state.

you wrote: i would never expect that hospitals in washington state should only hire "residents" the way you seem to think hawaii should. that's ridiculous and just demonstrates how ethnocentric and threatened you are.

it sounds like you're very quick to judge us as ridiculous, ethnocentric and threatened. i'm guessing that you may have vacationed in hawai'i, but you have never lived in hawai'i, for more than a year. guessing you don't understand the culture, or the reality, of living on the islands. guessing that you can't really understand where we are coming from.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Lisa From Maui:

Yes, I think that I made myself clear that I'm a resident in Washington State and that I am currently competing with literally thousands of students for the coveted few spots open at nursing schools across the state. As a matter of fact my husband and I have already made the decision in advance that we will move if necessary to allow me to attend the first school that accepts me. I intend to apply at every school that has a high NCLEX pass rate.

My local community college is where I currently own a home and my husband owns a business. It is going to be difficult and disruptive to pick up and move if I am not accepted into the local program. That is one of the challenges I will face and overcome one way or another. Feeling bitter because programs on "the islands" or employers on "the islands" pick the top performers, the most qualified candidates, well that just suggests that you don't understand the reality of competition, and maybe you aren't willing to do what it takes but would rather project a sense of helplessness, or resentment towards your competition.

I have visited Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island. I love it there! Just because I wasn't born there doesn't mean that I should not have the same right to move there and enjoy it too. But unlike some on your thread, I will not sit back in my state complaining that others are taking up all the jobs, etc. I will go where ever I have to (even if that means Canada for less pay) and pay my dues.

Lisa From Maui:

Yes, I think that I made myself clear that I'm a resident in Washington State and that I am currently competing with literally thousands of students for the coveted few spots open at nursing schools across the state. As a matter of fact my husband and I have already made the decision in advance that we will move if necessary to allow me to attend the first school that accepts me. I intend to apply at every school that has a high NCLEX pass rate.

My local community college is where I currently own a home and my husband owns a business. It is going to be difficult and disruptive to pick up and move if I am not accepted into the local program. That is one of the challenges I will face and overcome one way or another. Feeling bitter because programs on "the islands" or employers on "the islands" pick the top performers, the most qualified candidates, well that just suggests that you don't understand the reality of competition, and maybe you aren't willing to do what it takes but would rather project a sense of helplessness, or resentment towards your competition.

I have visited Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island. I love it there! Just because I wasn't born there doesn't mean that I should not have the same right to move there and enjoy it too. But unlike some on your thread, I will not sit back in my state complaining that others are taking up all the jobs, etc. I will go where ever I have to (even if that means Canada for less pay) and pay my dues.

I'm born and raised in Hawaii, and I think you're attacking people for all the wrong reasons. It is very different here in Hawaii. I mean, as you kept repeating, we do live on a small island in the middle of the ocean. And for us "locals" who live here, there is a great sense of pride in that. There is something warm and kind about the islands, and it's called aloha. Anyone can get a sense of belonging here. I have been to the mainland, and it's completely different. In some sense, it's a culture shock. All the anger and disappointment about having to move to find a job that we could do here is about more than just a sense of entitlement. I am also native Hawaiian. This is my land, and I have every right to stay here and make a living, just as my ancestors did before, you know, the "travelers" arrived. It does make me a little angry that people are coming in and taking jobs away from people who have really paid their dues- in ways that you do not understand. You say you love it here. Do some research and maybe you'll find out what had to happen so that you could eventually have the privilege to visit. If you are native Hawaiian, then I apologize, but then you should understand where I'm coming from. If you can get a job in Hawaii eventually, more power to you, but I just wanted you to get a glimpse of the reason behind the anger.

Petunia, please clarify. Was your last post from Petunia to Lisa, OR from Petunia to Jessica Dawn? Or both? Thank you for being clear. Lisa ;-)

+ Add a Comment