New reality for nurses: Not easy to find a job - Page 4
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Apr 11, '12 by ProArizonaQuote from lumbarpainI do not understand why every news paper, journal article, and nursing book states we have a nursing shortage? Not to mention the fact that every large hospital organiation in the U.S. is bring in nurses from overseas to fill the so called empty spots. While American nurses are not being hired, Why? Are we not good enough?Its a darn shame after you bust your hump getting your degree/diploma, get out there in the workforce all nerved up and green, finally get something but then the job gets so stressful and you get burned out and leave.... THEN you THINK you can get out there again and find something nicer, something with more pay, something closer to home, something maybe part time instead of full.....NOPE!!!!! I despise wasting my time traveling to places that all you do is get stresss out more wondering if you are answering the questions right, and do I look ok, do I have the right amount of hairgel in,, do my feet stink and breath smell!!!!!!! UGH......then they either have these slipshod interviews, where they walk you around telling you where the kitchen is and out to the back of the building to show you where the last patient jumpled over the fence, you come back in, and finally sit down and YOU are the one asked to ask questions... I mean make up your minds people!!!.....Should I be prepared to be loaded up in my head to ask you the questions or is it half and half, or are you going to come at me with a full clip of questions????? Could you just ask me these questions when I come?? Are you an experienced Nurse and do you want this job? Are you a terrorist? and How much pay to you want? Thats it, sign the formss and come back the net day, you are hired!!!! What happened to that type of job seeking. Simplicity sadly doesnt exist anymore.Not_A_Hat_Person likes this. -
- Apr 15, '12 by DoGoodThenGoQuote from Lauryen828While things seem slighlty better in parts of upstate NY, will tend to agree NY as a whole does not seem to be a good place ATM for nurses looking for work.Im in New York State and jobs are scarce
It does not help that almost every other week a hospital or facility is closing or downsizing.
Yet there are still almost the same number of nursing programs state wide cranking out new grads every six or twelve months.KeyMaster and Not_A_Hat_Person like this. - Apr 15, '12 by DoGoodThenGoQuote from ProArizonaFrom what one has read, or recalls the only nurses being imported today are those whose paperwork began and thus the hospital was under contract/obligation to bring them on. New visas for nurses aren't happening. Well there may be the cases of rural or hospitals/facilites that simply cannot get American nurses for various reasons.I do not understand why every news paper, journal article, and nursing book states we have a nursing shortage? Not to mention the fact that every large hospital organiation in the U.S. is bring in nurses from overseas to fill the so called empty spots. While American nurses are not being hired, Why? Are we not good enough?
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Jun 7, '12 by Reese0608I specifically remember just before graduation my director of the nursing program at my college wishing us good luck on finding jobs. Sarcastically. then she told us how when she graduated they were begging for nurses. she said all of us would get jobs eventually. that's when reality and fear hit me. I already kne at that point the nursing shortage was a hoax.
I am so very grateful I only had to diligently job search for a few solid months before getting a job offer. networking is EVERYTHING. also I think my timing helped too. I passed my boards feb and knew I HAD to beat all those nursing students who would be graduating in May and searching for jobs. thus, increasing my competition even more.
I was unemployed for over a year so I had alot of pressure as bills kept adding up! Especially those student loans!
I went into forebearance on a couple to buy me some more time before repaying (not my first choice) but you do what you gotta do. It was hard explaining to the banks why as a nurse I was unemployed. They ask, "are you actively looking for a job?" Ugh YEAHHH!
While searching I had to keep saying to myself, God has a plan for me and in his plan he has a job lined up. I just had to be proactive and persistent in my job search. and PRAY!
I truly wish everyone the BEST of luck in finding a nursing job! If you are a new grad make sure to point out you are a good learner and pick up on things quick. They will like the idea of not having to spend even more resources and time on training you.lindarn and ScrubRNwannabe like this. - Jun 9, '12 by pinkfluffybunnyI have a theory that on paper it looks like there is a nursing shortage. For example, a friend of mine worked in a severly under staffed ICU. They would advertise for positions but, not ever actually hire anyone. There are jobs, I look at the wanted ads, but the jobs are almost impossible to get because hodpitals are asking for more and more to qualify for them. So when these people are doing their research it looks like a no brainer. Then they factor in the number of nurses that they believe that the increasingly aging population will need, combined with the nurses that in theory should be retiring, and come up with the numbers. However, they arent factoring in all of the other things like, hospitals arent staffing like they should be, and nurses are not retiring.DizzyLizzyNurse likes this.
- Jun 9, '12 by DoGoodThenGoQuote from pinkfluffybunnyMethinks *they* (whomever they are, *LOL*) look at the number of beds serving a population and have some sort of number used for staffing thus arrive at a number of nurses required.I have a theory that on paper it looks like there is a nursing shortage. For example, a friend of mine worked in a severly under staffed ICU. They would advertise for positions but, not ever actually hire anyone. There are jobs, I look at the wanted ads, but the jobs are almost impossible to get because hodpitals are asking for more and more to qualify for them. So when these people are doing their research it looks like a no brainer. Then they factor in the number of nurses that they believe that the increasingly aging population will need, combined with the nurses that in theory should be retiring, and come up with the numbers. However, they arent factoring in all of the other things like, hospitals arent staffing like they should be, and nurses are not retiring.
There hasn't ever been a true shortage of nurses in this country aside from times of war. What exsisted was a supply of nurses willing to work bedside or wherever due to conditions versus opportunites elsewhere. Best example of this was how fast the recent "shortage" dried up as retired and otherwise nurses with experience who had left bedside flooded back to work when the financial/credit crisis hit.
If you knew the names anyone could go up and down any state's online listing of active licenses and find plenty of nurses who hadn't been near a patient much less bed since Bush I or even Regan had been in office.
The problem is outside of CA staffing is purely a facility made decision. With no set rules as to the number of nurses required it varies from facility to facility. Thus Hospital "A" can claim they are fully staffed while Hospital "B" is short when a quick look at the census data shows they pretty much are equal. - Jun 9, '12 by DoGoodThenGoQuote from Reese0608What the powers that be didn't factor in is just how many persons for various reasons answered the call and enrolled in nursing programs. Then the whammy of the financial crisis sending the economy off a cliff caught everyone including healthcare systems by surprise.I specifically remember just before graduation my director of the nursing program at my college wishing us good luck on finding jobs. Sarcastically. then she told us how when she graduated they were begging for nurses. she said all of us would get jobs eventually. that's when reality and fear hit me. I already kne at that point the nursing shortage was a hoax.
I am so very grateful I only had to diligently job search for a few solid months before getting a job offer. networking is EVERYTHING. also I think my timing helped too. I passed my boards feb and knew I HAD to beat all those nursing students who would be graduating in May and searching for jobs. thus, increasing my competition even more.
I was unemployed for over a year so I had alot of pressure as bills kept adding up! Especially those student loans! I went into forebearance on a couple to buy me some more time before repaying (not my first choice) but you do what you gotta do. It was hard explaining to the banks why as a nurse I was unemployed. They ask, "are you actively looking for a job?" Ugh YEAHHH!
While searching I had to keep saying to myself, God has a plan for me and in his plan he has a job lined up. I just had to be proactive and persistent in my job search. and PRAY!
I truly wish everyone the BEST of luck in finding a nursing job! If you are a new grad make sure to point out you are a good learner and pick up on things quick. They will like the idea of not having to spend even more resources and time on training you.
Those who were lucky enough to graduate during the early "Henny Penny" years (the sky is falling we're running out of nurses) were lucky. They go jobs and by the time the recession hit most at least were past the dreaded new grad/no experience phase. - Jun 9, '12 by DoGoodThenGoIf you look closely at the monthly healthcare hiring numbers you see while everyone says it is a great sector experiencing growth, who is being hired tells why nurses aren't feeling the rebound so quickly.
The fastest growing segment of healthcare IIRC are UAPs. Techs of all manner and sort are replacing nurses which by extension means less of the latter may needed in future. Why pay an RN to monitor EKG's when you can create a tele-tech that sits in a room somewhere and monitors large numbers of patients, and costs less?
Word on the street is that many healthcare systems look to such techs to kill many birds with one stone. For instance with the push to find work for the vast numbers of vets returning home, various tech positions suit quite well. The military prepares many with healthcare skills that have no direct transfer in civilian life unless they attend say nursing or another school. Techs however can be trained in <12 or <six months. - Guide
Jun 11, '12 by GitanoRNQuote from dogoodthengoneedless to say, you have a point, a minor point but none the less a point to ponder on. however, let's not forget that tech's can only work under their limited scope of practice by law and a doctor or a rn must supervise their work, therefore, there will always be one of us taking the responsibility at the end of the day...just sayingthe fastest growing segment of healthcare iirc are uaps. techs of all manner and sort are replacing nurses which by extension means less of the latter may needed in future. why pay an rn to monitor ekg's when you can create a tele-tech that sits in a room somewhere and monitors large numbers of patients, and costs less?
