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 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:

Here's another thing:

Hospitals already *know* what happens when vast numbers of senior experienced nurses are laid off and replaced with new grads and or those who are inexperienced, in short a whole lotta problems!

Back when managed care ravaged healthcare the bean counters convinced hospitals to get rid of the experienced nurses because they were the ones pulling big money (if you could call it that). Then they brought in lots of new grads or those with fresh licenses but not allot of experience. What happened? Error rates often shot through the roof resulting in not only poor patient care but lots of adverse reactions.

What the bean counters didn't think through is that a seasoned nurse is a walking and breathing body of knowledge that can often run circles around new grads. Without experienced nurses and or enough of them there weren't nearly enough to precept/orientate new grads and teach them what they need to know in order to transition from former student to competent professional.

So yes, that experience nurse may be 50 or even older but whilst you were doing something else she was nursing and probably has forgotten more than most new grads know.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I have 2 full time and 4 part time positions I can't fill. Not to generalize but since I'm one of the old nurses you want to retire.....the new grads I interview are ill prepared to actually work. They've never had to carry a full load of patients and most of them have no critical thinking skills. I'd love to be able to hire some new grads but, frankly, I'm not sure I have the time to train them.

What is it going to get to the point that you have a nurse coming into a patients room in a damn wheelchair with a magnifying glass to read the labels on the meds they are about to dispense?
So you're suggesting that people who need accommodations have no place in nursing?

Funny thing is, I carry a magnifying glass to read vials on occasion. And yet, I'm willing to be that every patient would far rather have me start lines on them than you.

Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.
That is a good point you made about the older RNs who can't retire. But wouldn't it be smarter for the hospitals to lay off or offer early retirement to the older RNs and hire new RNs who I am sure will get paid a lot less than what RNs who have been working for 30+ years make, plus all their sick/vacation time they have accrued? Whoever is running the hospitals doesn't seem to be too intelligent. The hospital my mom used to work at is in shambles and half of the units are closed down. It is such a mess

Seriously?! This is your solution? Lay off someone who most certainly NEEDS their nursing job (or else they'd probably not be working it) so that jobs are available for totally inexperienced nurses to fill? Now that'd be an intelligent decision made by management.....

I'm in the boat with you! I graduated in May and am taking the NCLEX in 2 weeks.....same thing...there are hundreds of Nursing Jobs in Colorado but you have to have experience! I don't get it! How can you get experience if you can't get hired without experience? Does anyone have any suggestions about where to start?

Solution here is to suck up as much as possible to the powers that be before graduation. If you do not like the term "suck up", feel free to use the more acceptable phrase of "network".
Networking is not sucking up.

Networking is about making sure that the people you know know that you're looking for work. Sure, you need to market yourself when opportunities arise but if you think of networking simple as 'sucking up,' you're missing out on a valuable tool.

Specializes in Psychiatry.
So you're suggesting that people who need accommodations have no place in nursing?

Funny thing is, I carry a magnifying glass to read vials on occasion. And yet, I'm willing to be that every patient would far rather have me start lines on them than you.

This!!!

Specializes in Critical Care.

I'm starting an ADN program in a few months... have a BS in Biology. Its a tough job market here... hoping pharmacy tech exp + volunteering + getting a job as a student at hospital I want a job as RN + getting enrolled in RN-BSN program pending passing NCLEX will give me an edge. People (not in health care) tell me I will get a job since I am a guy. I laugh it off, and then start to worry and think of what else I can do to make myself the most competitive job applicant possible. No one can expect to be handed a job, my generation (20 somethings) needs to realize the situation of our country.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
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 have good news for you! It wont matter. You hardly learned anything in nursing school about nursing. Forgetting half of it won't matter at all.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

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

See, that's the odd thing about nursing school. It doesn't really teach you to be a nurse. That's why hospitals are requiring experience- those new grads need a lot of orientation to learn how to be nurses. Many places offer 12 weeks, some offer more depending on the specialty. And that orientation is incredibly expensive in terms of manpower- you are paying 2 nurses to do the work of one. That's why many new grad programs are so limited in openings.

Greetings Vab...

I would recommend that you set your sights higher than that of a hospital based position. While applying for acute care positions, don't overlook the opportunity to work in other settings including rehab, long term care, home health etc. The practice analysis associated with new graduates performed by the National Council for State Boards of Nursing shows that nursing has become bigger than the hospital setting, however, since most of our clinicals are scheduled in these settings....that is where new nurses think they are needed most. We need you in schools, home health...etc.

Reach out through social media like this to your colleagues who are willing to give a protégé' an opportunity. I have watched another new nurses get a jobs right before my eyes while interacting on the ANA website. I am sure a similar situ exists here. They had all kinds of responses from other experienced nurses about a new nurses plight and it paid off. So don't give up..we need you to be experienced and able to replace us older nurses when we ARE able to retire.

Good luck Vab...

Ok you guys don't have to jump on me. But I know for a fact that a local hospital has nurses that are so old working there that they can barely walk up and down the hallways.

What is it going to get to the point that you have a nurse coming into a patients room in a damn wheelchair with a magnifying glass to read the labels on the meds they are about to dispense?

It is also terrible to promote nursing as career path that will have a steady need for employees and a promising job outlook. Don't you think it sucks that there are lets say 700 new grads and none of them can get a job anywhere? So what does that mean? That I am going to be stuck living at home with my mom supporting me (my mom who is an older nurse) and so then she won't ever be able to retire because I will be the monkey on her back for the next 5 years while I sit around waiting for a job? It seems like a viscous and kind of downright stupid circle.

So basically this generation is screwed because nobody can/will retire. Then everyone wonders why there are so many people on the take.

If I had to do it over again I wouldn't have even bothered. The whole scenario seems absolutely asinine.

At least you have your mother to fall back on! I almost lost my house (My fault...bad choice in partner I bought it with, I know) because I was unable to find an RN job for 2 years after graduating. (I'm still on the edge of losing it....hoping time finally goes in my favor) I just kept applying and applying. Be persistent, something will come up! I was able to find a part time job (but with way lower pay than I should receive-better than NO job...I was over qualified for jobs I had worked before my degree and no experience for a position with my degree) and a per diem job (that isn't stable money, so not able to use it to refinance my home).

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