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

Nurses Job Hunt

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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 :no:

I think this is what people should expect indefinitely. Wouldn't suprise me one bit to one day in the future have mandatory arbitrary ages of retirement due to lack of jobs in all sectors. I moved to one of those places few dream of moving to for a job ( think wyoming, north dakota). well, I have noticed a ton of out of state license plates and the area is booming with people comming all over the country for jobs of all types. With that the rent prices have skyrocketed! It is bad out there in some places and has been for years. It is regional but lack of jobs has been a huge issue in many areas for years even for the educated. The glory days are gone for most fields. It is not just nursing. I know many unemployed/underemployed teachers. Even ones willing to work in inner city schools. The best thin I did was suck it up and relocate (yes it sucked alot and still does sometimes) but what's the alternative. The longer you are out of school the more difficult it will be to find a job.

I'm a fairly new ADN grad (last year). I am currently doing my BSN because most hospitals in my area have become Magnet, or are in the process of achieving it. When I do get a job at a hospital, I do not want to be around new grads with no experience. I want to be around "older" more experienced nurses that will know what they're doing. It is a sad economic reality that there are limited jobs for new grads. However, nursing is not the only profession that is suffering. I hope to see the economy turn around soon. In the meantime, get started on your BSN. You will have to do it sooner or later.

I HAVE NO ******* CLUE. Seriously. I've had my license since September and I have applied to every hospital in my area at least twice, I'm on a first-name basis with some recruiters, and I still can't get an interview. It also drives me insane when people tell me "I don't get it. What are you doing wrong? Isn't there a nursing shortage?" or when a recruiter or experienced nurse says "don't worry. The economy will turn around." Dude, I have over 100K in student loans and I have a full-time job in retail. It sucks.

Specializes in PCCN.
Yeah they might. Your asn might be worthless to them my bsn was for my min wage job. If your experience is going to be like mine ...... get any job you can....

That friend of mine works at wendy's with a masters in social work :-(

It's not just nursing!!!!

Katie71275 - Where do you live? I will move there in a second.

I will sell you my full-time job for 30k. I will give you 12wks orientation and be on-call via phone for any questions over the first year. Will need to be cash up front with a lawyer written contract. send PM if interested.

You could always try volunteering at a hospital. Once you are there, maybe you can network, meet other nurses, etc. Also, it is not just nursing, it is every field. Companies are just not hiring in the droves that they were before. I was laid off at the end of 2010 and was unable to find anything until Jan 2012 (a full year later). I found my job by networking. Additionally, I know several current college graduates who were unable to find work and instead, went back to graduate school. In this case, maybe start studying for a BSN?? Hang in there and it will get better! :)

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
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.

While I agree everything you say.......and having lived through the last surplus of nurses (caused by the dot.com crash) you have NEVER been able to practice nursing without an license. You do NOT graduate with a RN degree....you graduate with a SCIENCE degree that ALLOWS you to sit for the licensing exam.

There was a down turn of people wanting to be nurses with the BOOM of computer technology/jobs......if you could make $60-80,000.00 a year with a 2 year degree....have weekends and holidays off, not have puke in your pocket and pee down your leg...be sleep deprived from working shifts (everyone rotated to nights....the only "straight shift" was nights and MAYBE EVENINGS) and be exposed to a new diseases that WILL kill you but you weren't allowed to test for......EVERYONE CHOOSE TO BE A COMPUTER TECH. Nursing then saw a deficit of nursing enrollment to schools and a deficit of working nurses for they could now stay home with their kids. There was, what I call, a bubble shortage.

Then the next economic downturn....the DOT.com crash. Massive unemployment of these computer wizgeeks caused an influx of nursing applicants because nursing was once again "the promised job" for a 2 year degree....even though the salary still remained technically low (as a nurse with 10 years experience I made $19.90. without shift diff) but OT was abundant. DRG's had just started and cuts were made across the board......result new grads without jobs.

But hospitals believed nursing to be an asset instead of the burden nurses are considered today. We had non contributory pensions...with insurance benefits. We had professional courtesy where hospitals forgave the 20% balance if we went to our hospital.....we got our prescriptions filled for pennies on the dollar in the pharmacy.....doctors accepted what the insurance paid and "forgave the rest" as a professional courtesy. We had sick time that you could accrue and be paid when you leave you facility OR.....take a "buyout" as a bonus at Christmas for not calling out sick....it was called an incentive.

We were given turkey's at thanksgiving for our families and we were thanked regularly and reminded that we were valued......with gifts like stethoscopes, beach blankets(hospital logo of course), coolers lunch box coolers...extremely discounted tickets to amusement parks. I once got a $20,000.00 "sign on bonus" to work the nights I already worked for a ONE year commitment to nights...then a $15,000.00 bonus to switch to evenings.

Slowly.....bit by bit it all disappeared.......so when the stock market crashed it took my 401K (all I had) with it....because that is where I was forced to place my retirement money that the hospital "bought me out of" when they liquidated the pensions.

While I believe the need for nurses will return.....you are right this surplus/deficit is cyclical..... nurses around my age will eventually have no choice but retire....even without pensions....it will never be what it once was.....a warm body with a pulse and you have a job

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Dude, I have over 100K in student loans and I have a full-time job in retail. It sucks.

*** How is that possible? Why would you choose to barrow that much money?

OP...why didn't you do your research prior to pursuing nursing? I'm sorry but I don't think you can lay the blame on employers. Before making an investment, one should always investigate before pouring thousands of dollars for a degree that will only put them in debt they cannot pay off.[/quote']

I agree with this statement 100%.

OP good luck to you and that attitude needs to change especially if you want to find work. Humble yourself and network. You may have to move across the country. There are BSN new grads competing for the same jobs as you. So you may want to think about getting your BSN while you busy looking for a job.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I'm seriously starting to smell troll. To make such comments that anyone with half a brain would know are offensive and ignorant, then not come back to respond to the understandable outrage. Troll-ey, troll-ey, troll-ey!!!

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Ok so I just went and looked at OP's post history. On top of the normal expected difficulty of finding a job as a new grad, OP is also second trimester of pregnancy. Please understand that while this is definitely unfair, you are even MORE of a liability. Think. They spend all this money to train a new grad, only for you to have a child in a very short time. You have to take time off to deliver and recover. If you have PP complications, even longer recovery. Add to that restrictions during your pregnancy ie no chemo, no heavy lifting etc that will continue in PP. And what if you plan to BF? They might have policies for special accommodations for nursing moms.

I know your previous posts say this was a surprise pregnancy, but you have to realize that this makes you even more of a liability to potential employers. I am sorry because I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it is unfortunately reality.

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