Advice?

The job market is horrible anywhere you go. I am a new graduate as well and my ideal job would be mother/baby or NICU. Right now I'm doing float pool at my hospital. I would suggest just trying to do anything you can to find a job. It might not be my ideal job at first, but it's a good way to gain experience and get your foot in the door.

I would look into ICU or critical care, because most EDs here look for that when you apply. Just keep trying! Good luck!

Thanks Lizzie. I'm actually surprised you got hired in a float pool, as the hospitals around here don't hire new grads to float, or even part-time or PRN. I'm willing to do anything besides LTC (I refuse to start my career with a 1:38 Rn:PT ratio), but unfortunately this entire region is VERY over-saturated with new grads. Some have been looking over a year now (for ANYTHING). Congrats on finding the job, that's awesome! And I hope you can make it to the area you want soon :)

Thanks love! I know LTC isn't ideal, but remember you wouldn't be there forever. keep looking and trying. if you know any connections at any hospitals or if you call any of your old clinical instructors could really help you getting your foot in the door.

Plenty of ER jobs in New Mexico and West Texas, new grads, lots even use EMT B, I, P's.

In many areas the market is cyclical, and currently many are not hiring. Good luck.

Plenty of ER jobs in New Mexico and West Texas, new grads, lots even use EMT B, I, P's.

In many areas the market is cyclical, and currently many are not hiring. Good luck.

Thanks, New Mexico would be my first choice if I had the luxury of moving, but I'm kind of stuck here And I don't even want to start in the ER, but I can't find a job willing to hire new grads in any dept or physician's office in this state! I was thinking I could possible get my EMT and at least find a job doing that in the meantime, but If those jobs are also scarce for new grads there's really no point Sorry to sound negative, I think the job hunting is starting to depress me. I wish I could move.

If you have the opportunity to continue your education now you might consider this. The job market may also improve during that time. I don't see the market continuing to be depressed for much longer. The experienced RNs who came back into the profession or picked up FT status during the recession for economic reasons in their family will eventually return back to PRN status or whatever they were doing before. Retirements that were put off due to the uncertainty of the economy will also increase. Hang in there.

As for EMT opportunities, my hospital gets between 200 - 300 applications for every ER Tech position which are also rare. EMT is an entry level job which requires very little training and it can often be completed in 3 - 8 weeks. There are many private tech programs that have been cashing in on the unemployment rate from other industries and have been running "easy entry job training" programs churning out 100s of EMTs every few weeks. Even for Paramedic there are not that many job openings especially if the area is largely Fire Based EMS.

Wow, thanks for the insight GreyGull. And I do appreciate your positive outlook.

Isn't Paramedic school 2 years? And EMT's really do not make very much money. Going back for your BSN/MSN is a good idea while you job hunt.

Don't be too quick to judge LTC's. Many have sub-acute care where you will take care of only 8-10 pts, much like med-surg! I did subacute for a while and it was very good experience in giving meds via G-tube, suctioning trachs and even in assessing the pts.

Isn't Paramedic school 2 years?

No. I believe at this time there is only one state, Oregon, that requires a 2 year degree and it may not even need to be in health care. The other states require between 600 and 1100 hours of training. Texas is 600 and there may still be a couple of states that require less hours. This is how FDs can make everyone of their FFs become Paramedics. In fact there are few to no prerequisites except for having the 110 hour EMT certification for entry in most places. Each state is different and not all take the same certifying exam.

There will be changes in a couple of years but not necessarily to the length of the programs. The change will come with programs required to be accredited by CAHEEP/CoAEMSP in order for students to take the National Registry exam. However, not all states use this exam and their unaccredited schools may still be safe. The unaccredited programs generally include the backroom programs at FDs, ambulance services and the private votech programs commonly called "medic mills" which can churn out many Paramedics in a very short time.

Where are you looking? DC has many jobs available at many hospitals. We are almost recession proof in terms of available positions. Limited number for new nurses - but they are out there.

Where are you looking? DC has many jobs available at many hospitals. We are almost recession proof in terms of available positions. Limited number for new nurses - but they are out there.

The limited number of positions for new grads is the problem. I am not competitive because I have no healthcare experience. If I could go back in time, I would have become a tech first, then went to nursing school. Now I can't find a job doing either because I"m either over qualified or under qualifed. I can't move to DC either. So I'm trying to find anything I can do to gain some experience in health care. I'm even volunteering in the meantime. I applied to the the Mollen flu clinic but they did not respond to me (that was weeks ago). I'm in the Charlottesville, Virginia area. I would be willing to move as far as 1 hour away (Lynchburg, Richmond, Staunton, Culpepper) but I still can't find anything to apply to in any of those areas. Now that I understand more about how EMT works, I am planning on going back to school to get my BSN. Also, I will look into more LTC's around here and find out what the staffing ratios are, I was put off by the ones I looked at so far. I would love to work in the ER one day, but I can see from other posts that working in the ER as a new grad is not the safest way to go. Thanks for all your help :)