Job Search Ideas for LPNs

[Liddle Noodnik]

this thread came out of a discussion i was having w/ my friend patty who posted the following article and is having a hard time finding a job. please help - what jobs might she apply for that she has not thought of? she does have iv certification too.

this was on the home page of comcast -- my internet service.

if it is true... why did i get my license in august and been job hunting all this time and i still can't get hired by anyone (i've applied everywhere!).

nursing industry desperate to find new hires

[color=#3459f5] [color=#3459f5]registered nurse pat boodoo reviews patient data during a shift last month a...

18 hours ago

loading... must read?thank youyes 420

milwaukee-please, please accept a high-paying job with us. in fact, just swing by for an interview and we'll give you a chance to win cash and prizes.

sounds too good to be true, especially in an economy riddled with job cuts in nearly every industry. but applicants for nursing jobs are still so scarce that recruiters have been forced to get increasingly inventive.

one michigan company literally rolled out a red carpet at a recent hiring event. residential home health, which provides in-home nursing for seniors on medicare, lavished registered nurses and other health care workers with free champagne and a trivia contest hosted by game-show veteran chuck woolery. prizes included a one-year lease for a 2009 suv, hotel stays and dinners.

"we're committed to finding ways to creatively engage with passive job seekers," said david curtis, president of the madison heights-based company.

recruiters like curtis may have little choice. the long-standing u.s. nurse shortage has led to chronic understaffing that can threaten patient care and nurses' job satisfaction, and the problem is expected to worsen.

the shortage has been operating since world war ii on an eight- to 10-year cycle, industry experts say. each time the number of nurses reaches a critical low, the government adds funding and hospitals upgrade working conditions. but as the deficit eases, those retention efforts fade and eventually the old conditions return, often driving nurses into other professions.

"we recently had a hiring event where, for experienced nurses to interview-just to interview-we gave them $50 gas cards," said tom zinda, the director of recruitment at wheaton franciscan healthcare in the milwaukee-area city of glendale. "we really try to get as creative as we can. it's a tough position to fill."

recruiters across the country have tried similar techniques, offering chair massages, lavish catering and contests for flat-screen tvs, gps devices and shopping sprees worth as much as $1,000.

even strong salaries aren't doing the trick. registered nurses made an average of $62,480 in 2007, ranging from a mean of $78,550 in california to $49,140 in iowa, according to government statistics. including overtime, usually abundantly available, the most experienced nurses can earn more than $100,000.

the u.s. bureau of labor statistics predicts about 233,000 additional jobs will open for registered nurses each year through 2016, on top of about 2.5 million existing positions. but only about 200,000 candidates passed the registered nurse licensing exam last year, and thousands of nurses leave the profession each year.

several factors are in play: a lack of qualified instructors to staff training programs, lack of funding for training programs, difficult working conditions and the need for expertise in many key nursing positions.

cheryl peterson, the director of nursing practice and policy for the american nurses association in silver spring, md., said employers must raise salaries and improve working conditions.

"the wages haven't kept up with the level of responsibility and accountability nurses have," said peterson, whose organization represents nurses' interests. chronic understaffing means nurses are overworked, she said, and as burned-out nurses leave the situation spirals for the colleagues they leave behind.

some hospital departments where experience is vital, such as the emergency room or intensive-care unit, simply cannot hire newly minted nurses. so managers in those areas have even fewer staffing choices.

nurses qualified to teach aspiring nurses are scarce chiefly because they can make at least 20 percent more working at a hospital, experts said.

"it can be hard to turn down that extra money," said robert rosseter, the associate executive director of the american association of colleges of nursing in washington, d.c.

many recruiters have looked for employees overseas, and about one-fourth of the nurses who earned their licenses in 2007 were educated internationally, most in the philippines and india.

some health organizations go out of their way to recruit as many nurses as possible even when they're overstaffed.

residential home health, the home-nursing company in michigan, is always looking to hire, curtis said. even with 375 clinical professionals on staff, his recruiters are eager to sign up as many as 50 more nurses and therapists, hence the chuck woolery event.

zinda, the milwaukee-area recruiter, said creative recruiting helps to introduce nurses to his hospital. besides offering interviewees $50 gas cards, he has provided $100 gift cards to the local mall, and created a facebook page to target younger nurses.

attracting good candidates is about offering good working conditions, he said, but creative recruiting goes a long way in generating a buzz.

"bottom line, you need to get people excited about what you're offering," he said. "if you don't, they can easily go elsewhere."

[systoly]

Did fellow students have a hard time getting jobs? I cannot stress enough how important networking is. Most of the best jobs I've had did not come from the newspaper, but from referrals from other healthcare workers. There are lots of things one can do. Invite former classmates (who have a job) to a party, or just call them. Find out what others put on apps. Call facilities you've applied with and tactfuly ask why they didn't consider you. Is there any free career counseling in your area? The first step is to diagnose (anybody who says nurses shouldn't diagnose is from another planet, we do it, unofficially, every day) the problem. Is it the job market? Is it how you market yourself? Can you talk to your instructors at the school you went to (you paid them well)? I hope this helps a little.

[Liddle Noodnik]

Did fellow students have a hard time getting jobs? I cannot stress enough how important networking is. Most of the best jobs I've had did not come from the newspaper, but from referrals from other healthcare workers. There are lots of things one can do. Invite former classmates (who have a job) to a party, or just call them. Find out what others put on apps. Call facilities you've applied with and tactfuly ask why they didn't consider you. Is there any free career counseling in your area? The first step is to diagnose (anybody who says nurses shouldn't diagnose is from another planet, we do it, unofficially, every day) the problem. Is it the job market? Is it how you market yourself? Can you talk to your instructors at the school you went to (you paid them well)? I hope this helps a little.

Great advice, thank you for writing! :)

[zuzi]

Patty my darling, let me to give you a hug, first! So you don't have job, yeah? Patty I am new here so hard for me to tell you where to go, but from as much I see... good LPN open positions are not too many in hospital, that's one point. After that, LPN positions are A LOT in nursing homes, generally they use LPN because they could be..." more cheap". Find a list with all nursing homes on your area and start from there. Send them your resume, call them, go direct there! I am SURE that is an open position somewhere. Like advice..night shift if is a opening position (most of them they have one) is not soo "scary" for a new grad, much more as much as i worked night on different places... night crews are most of them AWESOME and you can hung up there! Try it for beginning, is a first step. You could change after. Much more could help you to go from LPN to RN program if you want. Or if they have any other open positions try it! Good positions ALWAYS are networked! I HATE THAT, but is a reality...oh my oh my need to live in reality, looooool! I am not a good person to advice you on this path, loooooool, a flying with the wind Zuzi, loool! I worked in nursing home...if me, ZUzi did it and i am still alive, loool..... all others LPN, RN could do it! Try this first! :heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat Love, love, love like always!

And even like that you can't find a job there.... theeeeeeen.... COME HERE! LOL hugs!

[pattylpn54, LPN]

systole and zuzi,

thank you so much for your helpful advice. i will take it and do as you've shared with me. i appreciate you very much. i was the oldest in my class (54 yrs) and the only one from my town. the rest were in their 20s & from other areas, nowhere near where i live. i will call & gently inquire if they can tell me what i'm lacking (besides experience!). i do keep in touch w/one classmate, but it's more of a "grandmotherly" relationship. you both had great ideas & i am grateful for your sharing.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

A former acquaintance of mine, also an LPN with difficulty finding work, drove around town aimlessly during bankers' hours (9am to 5pm). He would stop and apply in person at every single facility he spotted, and eventually found a job by doing this. He remained at this workplace for 5 years.

[caliotter3]

My daughter got a job and other job prospects from her fellow students in nursing school. Many of them were already working in healthcare and gave each other job leads while they were in school. Nobody had to tell them to network (we discussed professional networking in class), they just did it on their own. Fellow students can be a good source for job leads and may become career-long friends.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

systole and zuzi,

i was the oldest in my class (54 yrs) and the only one from my town.

i posed a question to my former unit manager last year. keep in mind that she is also middle-aged, well into her forties. i asked her, "why don't you guys like older nurses?"

her response: "older nurses are argumentative and hard to deal with. younger nurses are so much easier to work with."

i'm only writing this because ageism and unfair stereotypes do exist within the fabric of some facilities' hiring practices. my goal is certainly not to discourage you. in fact, i want to empower you. just be cognizant of the fact that you might have to fight harder for the same job than the youngish twenty-something. good luck to you, and i'll pray that you find work soon!

[pattylpn54, LPN]

commuter and caliotter,

thank you very much for taking the time to give me some greatly appreciated advice. i intend to take all the advice i receive and use it as it's given to me. i do understand what you mean commuter re:age. i wondered about that myself, but didn't know if i was being paranoid.thank you both for sharing your wisdom and experience with me.

[Liddle Noodnik]

commuter and caliotter,

thank you very much for taking the time to give me some greatly appreciated advice. i intend to take all the advice i receive and use it as it's given to me. i do understand what you mean commuter re:age. i wondered about that myself, but didn't know if i was being paranoid.thank you both for sharing your wisdom and experience with me.

dear child, i never said it would be easy. i said it would be worth it. heavenly father

(((((((smooch )))))))))

(wise guy ain't i)