Nursing graduates find tighter job market

With my 30 years of experience, I would love to go back to school-I need a BSN-MSN program but I have no money to do so. 3 weeks into a new parttime job ( after MONTHS of looking) and a per deim hospital position-VERY UNSTABLE hours, getting cancelled most of the time,and signed up with an agency- same cancellation story there (I took all because it was a job), in bankruptcy- to save a house to live in verse live on the street- due to this RECESSION proof professsion of ours and past due federal student loans for my daughter( not a nursing major-thank the Lord) I would love to go back to school( NP/Clinical Spec/ nursing instructor) but I don't think financial aid is in my near future. For me it's just dreaming. Just my 2 cents

To Karenchad:

My sympathy with you. I had to go to a LTC for a stopgap job after losing mine in June. I start Monday on a med surg job that I am very happy to have got. There is still hope out there!

I geuss I need to clarify. I do not feel the LTC is sunstandard or undesirable. Quaility long term time can have great impact on the lives of residents and families. Unfortunately, acute care in the standard by which career advncement is based. Many graduate programs require acute care experience as does the travel nurse programs. I give those who work in long term care great. It must ttough when the resident if a patient ling enough to get attached. I know my mom hwen she was dying had some great nurses in LTC. My kudos to all of you.

I don't denigrate LTC's for the personnel, I don't like them because they are often mismanaged and chaotic. Lots of staff turmoil. I like geriatric patients. And I don't mind the work. I don't like the small amount of pay and the hassles!

Eeyore - You are a new nurse - plain and simple. I am right there with you with the frustration level! I am also starting to do the flu shot clinics in my region. I figure any job is added experience and will all add up in the end. I am back at school for an MBA which is keeping me busy as well. Once the flu shot clinics have run their course, I plan to look into getting some CEU credits. In the meantime I just keep praying and know that when it is supposed to happen for me- it will happen. In the mean time, I just keep meeting great people and building my network!

Best of Luck!

Lisa

Hi ,

Im planning to do a graduate entry -Nursing in flinders, adelaide is it really worth doing a course and how will be the placements after completing since i have a family depending on me. Please do reply for better planning.

The problem is not Obama healthcare plans it is the insurance companies which make not millions a year but billions.. with a "B" they have plenty of money to pay nurses salaries...

This is unbelievable!!! I can understand why new-grads can't find a job, but 30 years experience? Wow, scary, where do you live?

I live in the NJ/Phila area. There are NO real jobs I'm qualified for. The jobs posted on TooBusyWorking.com are -Home Care, mental Health,(none of which I have any experience in),BSN's with the following experience- for Managers- of hospital units, LTC, home health agencies, 3-5 year experience and certified case managers and utilization review. Cath lab of you have 2-3 years cath lab or ICU?CCU experience, 2 year experience for ER, CVICU and OR ( again I have no experience in those areas and they are not willing to train an experienced nurse in tele/stepdown- go figure) It's a great time for APN's- alot of postings for MSN's-assisant clinical instructors, NP's- on specialty hospital units, doctor's offices, Alot of dialysis- so their posted- I have applied for those- but no response. Coordinator of Transplant unit (Hahnaman University Hospital !!)- "must have transplant experience" but no education requirement. It's very discouraging because some of us are somewhat young enough with a lot of experience- The problem also arises- they do not want to pay us for our YEARS of experience. Alot of my working nurse friends are capped at the top of the wage scale, some have been nabbed by the "by out disease" in these hospitals and have been forced to take what ever earning considerable less- wages we made back in the late 1990's/2000- $28,00/hr, $30.00?hr. I spoke to a young RN ( 3 years experience) I work with at my per deim job she makes $26/hr. They started a fulltime new grad(who worked there as a nursing assist.) at $22/hr. This ecomony and situation in nursing with the hiring freezes etc. IS setting nursing salaries back 10 years. I feel a great portion of this situation is designed by hospitals to do just that- Historically, no one has ever realized or felt the NURSE is the fundamental life blood of the healthcare industry, probably because we were at one time a "WOMAN's" exclusive profession. Nurses started to fight hot and heavy in the 1980's, 1990's with the help of some unions and gained political clout for higher wages and hospitals were on their knees because with out nurses they were out of business. In the 1980's were we still giving up our chairs for male Physicians and wearing caps and all white. We didn't speak up, we didn;t question DR's reguarding orders, labs etc. Doctors created the facade to the patients and had nurses brainwashed that THEY did all the work. I remember Doctors even having a say into Nursing salaries and made no bones about voiceing it ( A un-named Surgeon to one of my co-workers "You should be gratful to me because I put bread and butter on YOUR table", and an un named GI doc said to me "Nursing created it's own nursing shortages it happens every 7 years" what a pleasant speech at 07:30 to start my 12 hour day.) The Doc.s got nabbed during this time (1980's)with DRG's and having to JUSTIFY why certain testing and proceedures were being done- Patient's couldn't come in for an ear ache and end up with a colonoscopy unquestioned. The docs started to loose money, they could no longer rape the system. Many had to do proceedures/treatments in their offices- colons, chemo, out patient -Barium Enema's ( we use to admit people for BE's) Then the more clever docs would come up to us nurses and say what's the pulse ox, did you chart it because if it's not charted the hospital eats the cost for the day- enter case management and Utilization review- "the Chart police" when hospital's started to eat more costs they started to slash nursing positions- now instead of having 12 patient on a M/S team with an LPN and an aide, the RN was all by their lonesome, and LPN had her own team and you 2 RN's had to COVER their patients (so the RN ended up with 18 patients) Lpn's were given more responsibilities- IV starts, monitor blood, assessments with an RN co-signer. The poor nurses aide had all 36 patients. Nurses clammored for more money and we got it, salaries rose- I remember my salary was increased to $16.50/hr back then- I thought I was rich! It steadily rose to $28.50/hr to 2003. Then salaries took off and nurses averaged $32,34, 36/hr with experience, hospital allover were giving Sign-On bonuses-$10,000,$15,000 for full time /1 year commitments. Nurses took advantage and would jobhop just for the bonuses. then there were overtime bonuses -time and one half plus $10.00/hr. I knew one nurse who worked 9 12hr shifts in a row and TAKE HOME was $11,000 for one paycheck in Aug 2002! In 2007 with my hourly rate of 38.50/hr,plus overtime plus the $10.00 for the OT my end of year was $104,000- A STAFF/ little old bedside bedpan med/surg/tele RN. Wehad big speads for all 3 shifts for holiday dinners, nurses appreciation- that was shrimpw/ sauce platter!! That was the upscale/preppy days. Hospital's stopped all that, then started slashing positions and now they can't slash anymore SAFELY so they have a new tactic HIRING FREEZES, get rid of the senior nurses making the top of the pay scale and decrease the hourly rate. so if WE are hungry and financially strapped enough at home we will take the lower starting rate in a new place of employment. We are working harder for less money and they want more educated/degrees. How are WE supposed to pay for these degrees. I don't think colleges are giving away free tuition. The CEO's and insurance execs. aren't working for less money and they will shoot you before they will let us cut in on their profits. The motivation of this hiring situation is very subtle, and quiet. It has to be because Nurses are more savy and mouthy now. We at the bedside, on the front lines, speak up. Those managers and Nursing Directors have been away from the bedside so long they are clueless and swallow the business bull hook,line and sinker. They were bedside nurses either not for very long and/ or back when we were woking for $16.50/hr. They look at you like you have 2 heads- clueless. Because of this distance and time laspe of theirs- the money people have been able to cloud their nursing judgement, brainwash, intimidate and threaten them with their jobs if they run over the almighty budget. You have to have watched this EVOLVE over the years. That's my observation. Just putting it out there.

I was working float pool, getting cancelled to I took a Baylor position. I've had it less than a month & have been sent home & cancelled due to low census. Plus, my first check as baylor was shorted $300 & I'm still waiting for that to be corrected. As much as I do NOT want a Mon-Fri. nursing job it looks like I just might have to go that route. The thing is - there are other units in the hospital that could possibly work cancelled nurses but they don't pull us for some reason. I am very upset that I commited to every weekend, gave up flexibiliy & am now worse off:angryfire