Any new grads having a hard time finding a job??

People are sensitive about this issue because it's not as black and white as you state. The current economy is having a major impact on people of all faiths. With regard to the statement that discussing certain things about God could be tantamount to "casting pearls before swine" (I assume you mean non-believers as well as those of different faiths such as Buddhism, Muslim, etc) is extremely inflammatory. They are not swine. They are people, just like you and I. Suffering and prospering. Laughing and hurting. Being sick and in good health. A person does not merit being referred to as "swine" because they differ in your belief structure. Please consider your sense of tolerance when dealing with patients of different faiths. In nursing, accepting patients as they are is of utmost importance regardless of how they worship or what they believe.

You responded to my previous post and reiterated your stance that those who follow the Bible to its fullest and have an abundance of faith are not in a recession. If you are not experiencing financial difficulties, I am happy for you. I happen to know way too many people with just as much faith and adherence to the Bible and their duties to mankind that you do who are jobless despite networking/applying for ANY job even outside of the nursing field. Do you say to them that they lack faith or that somehow their commitment to God is in question?

Nursing is a holistic field. We do need to bear in mind that some patients will seek spiritual guidance during their hospitalization/illness. It would be foolish to outright ignore this need. However, it is a very touchy topic because you don't know where they are at on the continuum of belief or non belief. My mother-in-law is Wiccan and even though she may need spiritual guidance during a time of crisis (or non-crisis), it is NOT our place to insert our own personal beliefs. Care is centered around the patient and our feelings are irrelevant.

My personal belief in God has not wavered and yet I am unable to secure employment. My husband who is an atheist has a very stable job as an ICU nurse. Go figure. My mother-in-law (who is Wiccan) is also very happily employed. LOGIC dictates that a persons religious preference has no bearing on their employment/financial status. Of course you can point to all the people you know personally and say that because of their faith they are prospering....but I gaurantee you that if you took a National poll you would find that the recession is an equal opportunity scourge. One example is the state of Mississippi (since we're on the MS board afterall)...only 25% of people have quality health insurance. Compare that to less religious states (like Washington where I currently reside)...75% of our population has quality health insurance. Another statistic is that in the Bible Belt, there is more poverty, more infant mortality, and lower quality education. I realize that you shy away from such concepts as logic and prefer to revert to mere faith...but ignoring the facts does not make them go away.

I am retiring from this thread because it's taken a different direction than the original purpose and because no constructive/intelligent debate can occur when anectdotal evidence and insisting that issues of religion will ensure prosperity.

For your sake (and the sake of your loved ones) I wish you the best.

Apply at the Gulf South Surgical Center on in down town Gulfport, MS. They should be hiring for O.R. circulators...pay maybe 19 dollars/hr but at least you will be working

I work at memorial and 90% of our departments are not hiring right now. We may not have any jobs for our students in the intern program. You can probably call that a "hiring freeze", however, our patients are slowly returning back to fill beds so check back with Memorial often. Nurses leave floor positions all the time at memorial. I would call some manangers personally and ask them if they are hiring because our job recruitment office is horrible with matching employees with employers. I have a friend who applied never heard back and asked the manager of the unit personally if she got her application/information. Turned out she DIDN"T! She called the job recruitment office and it turned out they were sitting on 8 potential applications for weeks...very poorly managed down there.

I am definitely having a hard time!! I graduated in May 09 and I am still searching. I have put in a application everywhere. I never thought it would be so hard to find a job. ;-(

Thanks for the info re Memorial. I applied for a mental health job there, but heard nothing back.

I wasn't sure whether it is OK to contact nurse managers personally. It's what I have done in the past, but then I read somewhere it was a no-no. If it's OK, I will start harrassing nurse managers all over the place!!!!

I am not a new grad, but I did just pass NCLEX in October. I am an Australian trained RN, mostly experienced in OR nursing. I haven't worked in a few years, though. I am considering asking the Nurse Recruiter at OS Hospital if they would consider me doing an unpaid clinical for 6 weeks or so in lieu of a formal refresher. (I figure since I passed the boards that my theory is just fine. It's my clinical skills that need work.) Anyone think that will work? Although experience is in OR, I have always wanted to do OBGYN, and want to be a NP eventually. So I did apply for the L&D PRN position, but have heard nothing.

Good luck, y'all.

I graduated in May and passed state boards in June. I am still looking for a job. I have had absolutely no luck finding a job. Whatever happened to the nursing shortage!!