New RN trying to find 1st nursing job

Nurses Job Hunt

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Hello everyone! I am a new RN and am just starting my Job Search. It seems as though every job that is posted requires 2 years experience. Just wondering if anyone has any advice for new nurses trying to find a job when all it seems like there is a need for is experienced nurses. I want so badly to get lucky and have someone hire me to give me that needed experience. Any advice for interviews/ what type of jobs to look for ect? Thank you!

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

Expand your search to Nursing Homes and Home Health.

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yup. look into nursing homes/LTC. look into private practice offices too. whatever you can to get that experience. dont be picky.

in terms of hospitals...apply to listings that say "1 year experience preferred".

find out how far you're willing to travel, and search all the hospitals in the area. apply to alllllllllllll of them. wherever you can.

luckily most are online-based now, so the pain is setting up your account and putting in all your information. but once that's done, you can pretty much apply to any job listing at that hospital with ease.

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There's tons of advice and tips on this site- do a board search and skim the forums for new nurses.

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Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

Moved to Nursing First Job Hunt Assistance forum where hopefully you will get more helpful responses.

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Hey not sure if anyone has any advice for me. I graduated w a bachelors in 2003. The whole time I was in school I worked for a primarcy care pediatric office. After grad I went to a hospital residency program but after 6wks I needed to resign and stick w my doc office job bc my father became sick w CA n I could take care of him n work while at the officebc they were flexible. My father passed and my life moved forward (house, marriage, kids) n I stayed at the office. Nvr retested bc I wasn't required to. I worked there as a nurse and had the same responsibilities as the licensed staff. In 2010 I was laid off due to financial troubles. I enrolled in a Kaplan review and took nclex on 1/12/2012 and passed. Since pa Bon posted my license number on 1/17/2012, I've been applying for jobs but havent heard anything. Has anyone ever been in a similar situation or know someone who has? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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I'm in the same situation. The things I've learned is to network, network, network and keep looking and applying! Apply if you meet the minimum qualifications... and be sure to look into home health and hospice as well as long term care and rehab centers.

I've also been applying for PRN, part time, and full time positions. Although I'd prefer a full time position I'd appreciate the chance to get my foot in the door any way I can. Also on future job applications they don't usually ask if you worked PRN or full time, just that you have one year of work experience.

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When looking for my first job I applied absolutely everywhere. I started out with just hospitals hoping for that one small chance I would get something, I had a couple phone interviews but no offers. I was offered 2 nursing home jobs on the same day so I took one. I quickly found out that nursing home life was not for me. I never stopped applying at hospitals though. One day I saw an ad for a job fair at a major local hospital. They asked for 1 year of experience and I had about 1 month, but I went anyways because it never hurts to network and make connections. I talked to everyone and sold myself as hard as I could, but I made a really strong connection with one unit manager, she took me to the floor and showed me around and gave me her card and said she may give me a call. She called the next day to offer a chance to shadow and I jumped on it and I had a job a couple of days later. My advice is to get out there, don't just send in online applications, go to job fairs and apply in person as much as possible, find a connection somewhere and sell yourself like there's no tomorrow. Take a job that is offered even if it is not your dream job because it will lead to bigger and better things. I'm happy where I am but it is far from where I want to be, but I got a foot in the door and it will hopefully take me to what I really want to do, but in the mean time I'm having a great opportunity to learn from some really experienced nurses.

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I went to a job fair here, and they told me that unless you had 6 months or more experience, you could not enter. Then they referred me back to their site to apply online. I was pretty shocked that they would not even let you in. I have 3 months experience, but as an LPN.

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fmxkrazyone - did you feel bad about leaving the nursing home position you had only held for a month. i'm confident i could get a job, but i'd prefer to get a job that i would really enjoy! is it okay to accept a position knowing that you will still be actively searching for employment and giving your two weeks notice as soon as something better comes along?
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Specializes in Psychiatric, Med-Surg, Operating Room.

Apply, apply, and network is the best advice. Also, if you are open to relocation there are a lot of new graduate programs out there to apply to. And whatever you do don't give up. I passed boards in Oct '11 and just this week received my very first job offer so it took a little while.

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The situation at the nursing home was not ideal, 3 days training for a new grad, 50 patients every night, many with sundowners and dementia, it was very tough. As a new grad, I had no experience and no knowledge of what working in a nursing home would be like. My plan was to work there for 1 year to get the magical 1 year experience and reapply to hospitals. The place broke me down mentally and physically. I couldn't handle the patient load or the amount of death that was occurring. We lost 6 residents in that 1 month alone and it's like losing a grandparent every week because you can't help but get attached to them.

Yes I felt bad about leaving a position after such a short time, but I knew I couldn't handle it and it was making me an awful nurse so I kept on applying to hospitals hoping for a chance which I eventually got. I received a 10 week orientation, I have the support of many other nurses and I'm so much happier and I'm a better nurse for it.

I could have stayed at the nursing home, but I would be miserable and hate it every day. I would much rather leave a situation that makes me feel that way because those residents deserve someone who can handle it and I admit I couldn't it.

If I could do it all again I likely would not have taken the nursing home and just played the waiting game, but when your pockets are empty and your family is hungry, you do what you have to do.

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