Age Bias for New Grad/Versant-type programs

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Is it just my imagination, or is there a definite bias against older new grads for New Grad Residency and Versant-type programs?

I am a second-career RN and have been working at an LTAC for less than a year, so I have been applying to lots of new grad jobs that I am qualified for. At different times I met the criteria: no paid RN experience, 6 months or less, less than a year, etc. I am at the end of qualifying for new grad jobs and wonder if ageism played a role.

I graduated with several friends who also were older, second-career RNs. We all got good grades, honor roll, letters of rec. from clinical instructors, plus super stable work history and degrees in other fields. We are all strong interviews. The career center at school vetted our materials. One of my friends was a fireman! None of us got new grad jobs.

At the same time, I know lots of students in their 20's who got snapped up right away with lesser qualifications. I know one student who was on academic probation twice and cried during her interview due to stress and she got snapped up by my dream hospital because they felt sorry for her. (She said that the recruiter actually joked about this to her.)

I guess the hospitals think that I am only going to work there for 20 years, I am not worth the investment of new grad training? I think I am mostly venting as I will be soon be out of range for these new grad jobs that I really wanted. I am grateful for the job I have and am working hard to be appealing and marketing when I hit the one year mark.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Based on my own exposure to hiring practices in many organizations, I know that ageism is alive and well - but good luck proving it. This type of discrimination is just about impossible to prove because offenders will always be able to show that 'other' criteria were used to make the selection decision. Case law on terminations indicates that it must be easier to prove in those cases.

IMHO, this is one of those issues that is deliberately ignored by the people painting a rosy picture encouraging second career & older students to enter nursing programs. Maybe the bias is related to the fact that the young ones are more likely to be compliant and less likely to make a fuss about working conditions. . . rather than simply age.

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New (cheap) grads are a dime a dozen. So, the question is what kind of new grad RN is any given hospital wanting to hire? Why would they want a young dummy over someone with multiple bona fides?

This is my cynical side at play here, but in my opinion new grads with previous degrees and proven track records might be less desirable, simply by virtue of the fact that they probably will not be as malleable and naive. In other words, they do not make good "plug-in's."

Even age itself might be perceived as an over-qualification. You know too much.

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Specializes in Emergency, Tele, Med Surg, DOU, ICU.

I too noticed at my hospitals, 100% of the new grads in the new grad programs are in their 20's. What you can do is apply as clinical nurse II since you already have experience. My hospital hired me as clinical nurse II even though my "experience" was 4 months in my old job. My orientation was 6 weeks and I was pretty much treated like a new grad, just not officially. Overall the 6 weeks was not too bad, I actually couldn't wait to get off orientation because my preceptor had mood swings.

I now have 1 year acute care experience and what a difference in being "hire-able" to other employers. I have had to turn down interviews from other hospitals that snubbed me when I had zero acute care experience.

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I just put in a job application that required me to list my date of birth. I'm sensitive about it because I'm 32 and not your typical "20 year old new grad nurse". The application claimed my age wouldn't be held against me...but yeah right. Why even have that question on there?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

I was able to get into a new grad program at the age of 31, in a highly-saturated market; my classmates all had jobs right after graduation, mostly in hospitals and had varying ages; some had their jobs outside of the hospitals where they wanted to be.

OP, at this point you have "acute care" experience working at a LTAC; market that experience and go from there is acute care is what you seek-tweak the resume and go from there.

Best wishes.

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IMHO, this is one of those issues that is deliberately ignored by the people painting a rosy picture encouraging second career & older students to enter nursing programs.

That's for certain. Pretty much everything I thought I knew about new grad Job Search and hiring was overly optimistic.

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I now have 1 year acute care experience and what a difference in being "hire-able" to other employers. I have had to turn down interviews from other hospitals that snubbed me when I had zero acute care experience.

Me too! I left the LTAC after 2 years and have had no trouble getting interviews and am very happy with my current acute care job.

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