5 Months with my LVN license & still NO JOB

CFitzgerald · Nov 15, 2012

Can you contact your teacher and see if she/he knows of any places that would take you? The school I went to always had places sending her info that they were looking to hire either new LPNs or our class as soon as we graduated.

What about a temp agency? When I was applying and like you had got my license in Aug and here it is Oct & still not working, I had seen a MA position and contacted them to see if they would take a LPN & they said sure. (I ended up getting a job offer a day or two later for LPN)

Check craigslist too if you don't already. I've seen alot on there and have had a few interviews from there.

Something will come along, don't give up! Good luck!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 15, 2012

I completed a southern California LVN program back in 2005 and relocated out of state in order to land my first nursing job.

If you do not know anyone who can give you an inside connection in the local area, it is time to start making connections. Getting an LVN job in southern CA is less about what you know and more about who you know. Good luck to you.

lpn954 · Nov 18, 2012

Wow! That is hard. My heart goes out to you. I used to live in San Diego. I was in your exact same position. It is harder to find nursing jobs without experience for sure. I ended up working in two different what is called sub-acute units. (You can read my post on my first LPN job at one of them.) One of them was Sharp Coronado Hospital, they had a great teaching program for new nurses. I had no experience. That my be way to far for you depending where you live. Anything with a sub-acute unit that teaches is good, I learned so much! Also be willing to have a very flexible schedule and be willing to work the graveyard shift. I had never done that either but got used to it. Try local VA hospitals, even jails or psych units are hiring LPNs. Hospice is a good area to start with as well. BTW for those who do not know, sub-acute units hold patients that are basically in a permanent vegetative state. They are mainly kept alive with feeding tubes and vents. Many of the patients I have worked with were on both. I do not exactly agree with this practice, but you do learn a lot! Many nurses here in Florida do not know what that is. I do not think its that common.

Anyway best of luck! You will find something. Oh BTW check agencies they sometimes hire without experience, although you may not always get work every week.

sbearde7 · Nov 19, 2012

I had a hard time finding a job as well, I'm on the other side ofThe country in Tennessee, but all the same. I was determined to get a full time job bc I needed the benefits. I just accepted my first job as an LPN. It is not full time, but from what I have heard most places will not hire full time from outside the company. Good luck! Apply for anything and everything, even places that don't say they are hiring. The economy is awful so take what is offered!

MedChica · Nov 23, 2012

Seems like Ca is just a bad place to be a nurse...or new nurse, rather. I hear it as much from this site as I do in my real life. Lots of Californians in my state.

I honestly don't know how to advise. I don't know the climate in your area.

Just_Peachy · Nov 24, 2012

It took me at least 6 months to find a full time LVN after I got my license. During those 6 months I worked per diem positions, mostly doing flu shot clinics for staffing agencies. Do whatever you can to get any kind of experience

realmaninuniform · Nov 24, 2012

Alot of nurses, RN or LPN have trouble finding a full-time position after graduation. It occurs to me that those who have the most difficult time have the least amount of experience in the field. That is, they may have gotten their CNA/STNA license, but they never worked as one, which I think is a shame, and something that should be further implemented into nursing programs. It's one thing to go through the training and get licensed as a CNA/STNA, it's quite another to work as one, much is the same with becoming a nurse. Nursing school will only build a foundation, and all nurses are most certainly not created equal. I learned as much my first year in the field as I did in nursing school. It is a profession where you NEVER stop learning. At any rate, take anything and everything you can in the mean time. Part-time gigs will get you experience in the field, and that builds a resume.

nursepancake · Dec 9, 2012

OMG!......I know your pain! I had that same problem in Atlanta. I passed boards in December 2006 and did not land a real job until September 2009.....Davita Dialysis gave me my big break. Try applying with a clinic in person or online, Davita is willing to train and the pay is great for a new grad.