Why are there no nursing jobs available for new grads? What is going on??

[vab229]

I just graduated from an ASN program in May and I am about to take the NCLEX next week. I do currently have a temporary new grad license...

But I just want to know why are there no jobs available? I live in Rhode Island and the employment here is horrible. Almost every single hospital that does have positions available wants at least 1-2 years of med-surg experience. How are we ever supposed to get experience if we can't get a job?? Even the few and far between positions for nurses at clinics and doctor's offices want 3-5 years experience, plus specialty experience. It is downright depressing.

One of the reasons I chose the health care field was because "there would always be jobs available." That is such a lie. Whenever I tell people that I just graduated and will be an RN they always say, at least you will never be without a job! That is so false.

When I spoke with the nurses at the hospitals where I did my clinical rotations, they said they felt so bad for us and how back in the 80's hospitals were begging them to take positions and even offering sign on bonuses.

I just feel like it will be so long before I ever find a job that I won't remember half of the stuff I learned

[Destiny'skid]

This post is a little scary to someone in nursing school. Seriously no jobs? It took me 6 months to get my current cna/ma job and I plan on working here once I graduate.

I know a few people asked but what about ltc? It seems since they hire a lot of lpns an rn would have a significant advantage. I don't see a big difference in a rehab unit to the ortho unit I used to work in. I thought if all else fails I could do rehab and transition to ortho hopefully.

I have one last question is it harder to find a job as an rn than another profession? I mean its hard but harder than landing a teaching job for example? How overhyped is this whole nursing shortage?

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I was in your shoes when I graduated in 2008. Unlike you, I had a spouse, and we both had seriously ill parents, so we couldn't just pick up and move. There actually was a nursing shortage when I started school, and people who graduated a semester before I did had multiple job offers before graduation. The complete lack of jobs when I graduated was a nasty shock. One-star nursing homes turned me down. I volunteered in a hospital for 2 years, but it didn't help me get a job there. After 10 months of searching, a cancelled job, and a lot of coaxing my spouse to consider moving away from his seriously ill father, I found a position in an ALF 250 miles from home. Our ill parents were now a 4-hour bus ride away. Things were very rocky for a while, but we survived.

Since you're unattached, why not move for your first job? A few hospitals in North Dakota are looking for nurses. Yes, housing is very hard to find, but you can work in a hospital. Perhaps you could buy a camper and find space in a trailer park. You could even commute from Minneapolis (9 hours away).

What about looking beyond the hospital? Have you considered home health? Some agencies will hire new grads. Flu shot vendors hire new grads; they were begging for nurses in my area last fall. Some people recommend SNFs, but they can be very dangerous places for new grads, especially if they're owned by corporate chains.

Good luck!

[nursesunrise]

I also graduated in May. Passed my NCLEX three weeks later. Applied for over 300 jobs. Got an offer last week, which was three weeks after I passed the NCLEX. I live in Florida and hospitals here won't even consider a candidate until they pass the NCLEX. I suggest that once you pass the NCLEX, apply to any position that says "experience preferred" and be willing to work any shift and relocate for the right position. I'm thankful for the experienced nurses that will be training me for the next 12 weeks and I'm excited to be working with them.

Seriously no jobs?

Insufficient jobs...

I have one last question is it harder to find a job as an rn than another profession?

Well, it depends... both on the profession and location as well as the level at which one chooses to work. That is, public-school jobs in the inner cities may not be so hard to find as those in the nice, well-funded suburban ones... same with nursing... L-1 trauma center may be a whole lot harder to come by than a tiny, rural hospital.

[Ticklelicious]

I graduated in May 2012. It took me a year and one month until i got a job offer on a med/surg unit. I was getting extremely frustrated.

[Katie71275]

There are plenty of jobs where I'm at. At least half my class had a job secured before graduation. I turned down several and accepted a job about 3 weeks after graduation but I also wanted to work L&D and that's where I am.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

"I have one last question is it harder to find a job as an rn than another profession?"

Yes, yes it has been since the last half of 2007. You must remember, a nursing degree is only good for a nursing job and nothing else. So, your options are extremely limited with a nursing degree, well actually, nil for positions outside of nursing. If you have another degree, and nursing fails you, at least you have the option of deleting nursing from your resume to be considered for other jobs out there. Nursing is a killer on a resume when applying to non-nursing positions. Now do you understand?

[silkysteph]

where do you live?

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Solution: Ask your mom to retire. Go get her job. Or is it only old nurses you do NOT know who should be forced to retire?

[RNwannabeCNM]

One thing that nobody seems to learn is that history repeats itself. I was just reading an article the other day that was talking about nursing layoffs - it was written in 1996. Then, several years ago, there was a shortage and anyone with a pulse and an RN degree (not even a license) could basically walk into any hospital and get a job on the floor of her choosing. Now, here we are again with the same scenario as 1996. So what will happen in the next 8-10 years?

I worked for the federal government for 8 years - 6 before becoming an RN. They have the same problem that the hospital industry does - when money gets tight, they stop hiring and training new people. When the economy gets better and employees start leaving for greener pastures or retirement, they start scrambling for people again and end up having to invest lots of time and money to get back up to speed. This pattern results in waste and inefficiency because you have a lot of people who have no idea what they are doing and no one experienced enough to help them figure it out.

I don't agree at all that older experienced nurses should get the boot. I think hospitals need to take advantage of their expertise while they are still around. Pretty soon, they will be gone and there be no one to help train all the new nurses that will be needed. Then they will fall into the same pattern of having to invest lots of time and money to get back up to speed. Who loses in the end? The patients Saving a little money now will not result in a good future for nursing. Hospitals should be looking toward the future and hiring and training new nurses now so that there are experienced nurses around when they are needed.

[Lareinamorena]

You're young, no kids, relatively unattached? Move to the middle of nowhere, get 2-3 years of experience, and then move back.

[Kimbsntobe]

Long term Care facilities is the place to start to gain experience...maybe outpatient clinic or relocate if needed but i would stick with nursing homes if i didn't want to move to another state