Nursing graduates find tighter job market

...even the LTC's are requiring 1 year of experience... also, forget home health... they want 1 year of acute exp!

It isn't like I already have the job already... I am still waiting or a reply from the nurse manager. So in reality I really don't have the job and don't have money.... So that is why I'm not "crying out loud" so to speak!!! Nothing is definite until I have the interview and I am hired...

And it is true... if I love Tele/ICU then working with medically fragile children seems a little far fetch!!!

Does anyone knows how the situation is in Maryland, Massashussets, Virginia, and Washington DC?? (for new nurses that is).

thanks

EXAAAAACTLY

I'm an 30 YEAR experienced med/surg/tele nurse with sameday surgery and endoscopy experience also - this time last year Jan 2008- july 2008 I had applied EVERYWHERE around me in a 25 mile radius- and NOTHING!! I finally took the FIRST thing that came along- a perdeim position. I had used up all my savings- I am divorced- which means everything falls on me. My nurse friends could not get over the difficulty I was having in job hunting. Back in the 1985, the common phrase was "YOU'LL always have a job" if we wanted a nursing position in the hospital- all we had to do was go into the hospital, ask for and fill out an application, the head nurse would come RUNNING down, and ask if you could start the NEXT DAY!! The non traditional jobs- homecare where just comming into existance and some were not in existance- Nursing informatics, nurse recruiters. then in the late 80's early 90's( their came DRG's and then managed care, doctors were furious) there became ANOTHER time when new grads could not get jobs so they started to go to homecare, LTC- JUST TO GET A JOB/EXPERIENCE, not the one they wanted but A JOB- to put on their resume and they WATCHED the nursing market trend and WAITED for their chance, things picked up until 2002-2005 and kooks began going from state to state killing patients and things got tougher- BACKROUND CHECKS and FINGERPRINTS Now with all this and the healthcare/healthinsurance/ charitycare funding cuts/ cuts to medicare reimbusement/ the economy things are tough again. I still believe ther is no nursing shortage but a shortage of nursing jobs(especially in hospitals) I did not think with all my experience I would have months of unemployement- BUT I did. I still do the per deim- getting cancelled (5 out of 7 shifts)as this hospital is almost closed doors also, layed off ALL it's 15 year and above seniority experienced nurses, closed WINGS/BEDS, and I ALSO recently started with an agency(not so promising there but it adds up to 2-3 more shifts/MONTH and is in LTC-not my experience but I will do it- agency pay stinks now too, my friends are making more as staff) I get really angry with the agency for not being aggressive enough- a young non nursing backround clerk booking shifts but hold my tongue- I need this job. I have put out more applications- parttime, dialysis, ER, perdiem PCU- again not my thing but I will LEARN it and do it if I have to. EVERY DAY it check out the area hospitals websites, the nursing career lines- monster.com, career.com, ihire.com, nursingspectrum.com, advancefornurses.com, my state nursing association job site to see what I can apply for. I cannot afford to allow the present situation with nursing unemployment get me down and stop me. I know this is not cure for the problem but this is how I, a midlife experienced nurse it trying to muddle through the same/similar circumstance- this nursing unemployment is not only effecting the new grads- us older RN's are looked at like can they still do this and for how long?

Did I also mention- that I'm saving up extra money to apply for reciprocity licenses in my surrounding states- If I have to travel- then so be it- I give it a shot. I'm willing to drive 4-5 hours away from home if I have to - this ecomony/job situation will not go on forever. Nursing has done this before and it will do it again- according to one doctor I worked with ---he said nursing does this every 10 years!!

To be fair, this is a story about Iowa. Making $18 an hour is around what an RN would see around here. There's no shame in that pay here!

There is a tight job market for all nurses currently no question. I am an RN/BSN and have varied experience, but employers only seem to care about expirienced nurses in the particular job they have open. I have recent hospice experience, but no jobs in this market. They will not even listen to anyone with general experience (I have 15 yrs) unless it is in that specialty area. Its the same old story, they won't hire you if you don't have experience in an area, but how to get the experience if they won't give you the job (!!?!??!)

Flight Nursing, working for a Nursing Agency, working in the Middle East, Caribbean, the Yukon and Alberta (Canada) are still all areas one should consider when the going gets though for new grads. Check out a reputable recruiting firm and keep your skills and minds sharp.

And that's precisely the problem with all the advice we (new grads) hear about, "go to LTC and do a year then you can get hired into an acute care hospital." In looking through the postings I've seen just what you describe... employers don't just want experience, they demand SPECIFIC experience.

It's a quandry: Are you better off to wait as long as possible for that desirable acute-care job or just jump into anything you can get (if you can even get an LTC job) and potentially/likely find yourself pigeonholed and unable to ever move out of that position.

I'm thinking it was a huge mistake to invest the time and thousands of dollars to become a nurse... my family's on the edge financially; our budget was predicated upon me getting a typical (at the time) new-grad position within 3 months of graduation/licensing... when I hear continued talk about "shortage" or dumping more public money into expanding nursing schools I just want to scream.