So, after 20 months of looking for work as a nurse, i've officially given up. Im putting the mistake of going to school to become a nurse behind me and moving fwd as a receptionist. If i knew wasting all that time, and money going to school was only going to give me $60,000 of debt i would have done something more productive. Do you know what a 60,000 vacation could be like. But i'm just stuck with debt and a BSN that will never get used cause no one wants to hire me!!!!
If one more person tells me to apply to North Shore, I'm gonna smack them. Does everyone really think I never heard of them and i didnt apply there.
I hate what not having a job has done to me. Ive become an ANGRY, BITTER person that HATES PEOPLE. I cant say I hate nursing cause no one has ever given me a chance to work. SO, I HATE THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A NURSE and looking for a job as a nurse. I HATE all the people I tutored in school for them to pass their classes, my so called "friends", who ive never heard from again since they got jobs!!!
This is an article about the precarious state of NY hospitals. Here is a clip from the article:
"Unlike St. Vincent's shuttering, most of these closures took place in neighborhoods with little political clout or public visibility, and few people outside the affected communities appeared to notice. That is unlikely to remain the case. The financial distress of New York hospitals is not evenly distributed, but it is nearly universal. Even the largest and most prestigious institutions--New York-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai, and the like--get by with thin margins and significant piles of debt. Some presumed high-quality hospitals, like Beth Israel and Roosevelt, operated by the Continuum Health Partners consortium, have a legacy of steep losses and indebtedness, and are considered precarious. In New York's many community hospitals, which provide an essential first line of defense in the effort to safeguard public health, the danger of failure is particularly acute. Combine growing costs, decreasing revenues, and high debt loads, and you can't dig out. Then what happens? "If you've accumulated any reserve over time," an executive at a major local hospital says, "the first thing you do is eat it up. Then you cut costs on staffing and support services, sometimes below levels you know are safe. Then you stop spending money to keep your physical plant and equipment up to date. The condition of the physical plants of many New York City hospitals is staggering. Then, when there's nothing else you can do, you declare bankruptcy. That's the life cycle of a New York hospital."
"Indeed, it may turn out that profound problems with the ways health care is paid for, combined with the inherent disadvantages of doing business in New York, will make it virtually impossible for all but a small number of the city's hospitals to stay afloat. If that's the case, the health of low-income and minority residents will be most affected, but even New Yorkers who currently have access to high-quality care will feel the impact. Remaining hospitals, struggling to cope with the costs imposed by an influx of new, mostly poor patients left behind by the places that shut down, will increasingly be overcrowded and understaffed. Services will be curtailed. Facilities will be degraded. Long waits and uneven care could become the norm."
"We've got a lot of hospitals in trouble," says Kenneth Raske, the president and CEO of the Greater New York Hospital Association. "More closures will undoubtedly take place. I've been doing this job since 1984, and people used to say I was crying wolf when I warned about a crisis. No one says that anymore. In some communities, we're one epidemic away from a disaster."
So, what will happen to the poor when many if not all community hospitals are shut down and only places like Mt. Sinai remain? Just remember what the rules are: a patient can be brought to the E.R. and the E.R. is only required to stabilize that person and discharge them, that's all. They may hold them on a gurney in the hallway (that happened to me once back in the 1990's with a case of food poisoning and I laid there for 24 hours because there were no beds) but if there are no beds, then there are none and the patient will have to be discharged. Hospitals do not have to expand their facilities and hire more nurses, even if the patient population becomes overwhelming for any one institution. And besides, expansion takes time and money. Most of the influx of patients will be the poor who either have Medicaid or no insurance at all. That is not conducive to adding more beds or building another wing for millions of dollars.
We have all been lead to believe all these years that we must do anything and everything to help a patient. Patients must all get top flight treatment, no matter the cost or even the futility sometimes. That is nonsense and we are about to hit the economic wall that proves it. Top flight medical care, just like top flight anything, is all about the money. And if the money is not there, people who do not have private resources will be minimally treated and sent home to die. This is what has been happening in Sub-Saharan Africa for years. And it is not as if they don't count because they are "only Africans"; their lives are just as precious as anyone's here. In the USA, we are used to getting access to care and having no idea how much it costs because someone else is always paying for it, whether private insurance or the government.
As an example of costs, I recall in nursing school when we were talking about a burn patient (a firefighter and hence a "worthy individual") who had burns over 60% of his body. He underwent multiple skin grafts and spent months on a burn unit and was eventually discharged in relatively good shape. I watched the video of all the procedures and then I asked our teacher "what about the cost" and she said it had run into the millions. I thought to myself, "Millions of dollars to save this one human being? Why are millions not spent to save, say, a Sub-Saharan African who has had a massive burn injury? Are they worth any less as human beings?" I asked the teacher if we as a society can afford investing so much resources into one person and my colleagues looked horrified and I asked who was going to pay this bill. One of my colleagues raised his hand and scoffed and said, no worry, the insurance company will pay. I remember laughing. The insurance company is us. We all pay and this is why premiums are so high and rising and why health care costs are rising: to help cover such expenses and for those who have no insurance.
Point is, we have had a long history of taking extreme measures for each individual person. None of us are used to getting no for an answer re: health care. We all think that hospitals will just have to expand and hire to accomodate the masses of the very poor when they have nowhere else to go re: the article I referenced in the link above.
Wrong. That will not happen. These people, including children and the elderly, will die and there will be many of them and there will be nothing anyone can do about it.
As far as being hired in hospitals, there is a good reason hospitals want only experienced nurses. I hear over and over that even new grads are being saddled with 7-10 acutely ill patients per shift. This would never have been done previously but it is being done now because of the influx of unemployed and uninsured patients that hospitals are grappling with. So few people, having been laid off, have private insurance any more. And it was private insurance that paid better and helped keep hospitals afloat. It is a domino effect.
I believe that we cannot expect to see an upsurge in nurse hiring in hospitals. They have learned that they can ride the razor's edge re: staffing and will continue to do so as a business model. We will probably be stuck with this for at least a generation, if not permanently.
As far as being hired by other institutions, it is difficult. Many of the nursing homes where I live now want nurses with 1-2 years acute care experience before they will hire. Home care wants 3-5 years, because you have to operate on your own without supervision. Medicaid will only pay for one nurse at a time, they will not pay for two nurses on a case so one can be trained. I have recently begun to see hiring bonues being offered for nurses, but only for experienced nurses. I saw one for a case manager (they wanted someone with 10 years experience, plus other specifics) and they were offering a $10,000 sign on bonus. But that, of course, is not for new grads.
Many of us will fall by the wayside in nursing and will wind up doing something else. It is not what we want but it does not matter what we want. We are at the mercy of the capitalist health care system.
And, by the way, Do Good and Then Go is correct. I did some research and found that, in NYS alone, there are about 25 schools of nursing (counting Associates and Bachelors programs). If you figure they each have 2 graduations per year, May and December, and that the average graduating class size is 50 new nurses, then 100 new nurses per year per school times 25 schools equals 2,500 new nurses being pumped out by NYS alone every year. Most institutions who hire nurses, from what I have been able to figure from friends, online postings, etc. hire anywhere from 7 to 18 at the most per year. What will happen to the rest? Schools dont care about this and do not even provide job placement, as they know they cannot. They are well aware that they are graduating more than what the market can bear, so how can they get involved in job placement when there are insufficient jobs? In my area, the local community college has a 4-5 year wait list for the nursing program as the prospective students are still in Never Never Land about nursing being a recession proof profession and the fact that you can "work anywhere as a nurse", which is not true for new grads.
Just wanted to say it hought this was a great post. also something not many people want to acknowledge. i would like to see the kind of answers this post would get in a more visualized area of all nurses instead of the ny state board.
I would like to know who said that there is a nursing shortage? I have been an lpn for 25 years..Most of the hospitals that are hiring are hiring nurses that have at least 2-3 years experience to start. even most nursing agencies won't hire most people without 1 years experience. Yes, nurses do retire but because of hard times right now more of them are holding on to their jobs..Listen to the radio, read the newspapers..Even the NYSA is out there marching and protesting about vast changes in their contracts. Hospitals and clinics are closing or are on the verge of closing..Patients will move on to another hospital . Hospital management have been thought to do more with less staff. Even the facility where i am employed ,when they do hire someone wants someone who has some experience. then there are places where other title staff can do the job that nurses use to only do back in the day..MSTs' PCAs' management hires these staff members so they can free up the nurse for other duties, but when you look at the whole scope of things they may need you the nurse less. even nursing supervisor titles in some places are being dropped down to head nurse or even down to staff nurse..they have to accept this if they want to keep their jobs..LOOK at the amount of people graduating from ADN schools and passing their state broads..I heard one of my supervisors say that she has so many applications for employment that she doesn't know what to do.ITs"very hard out there rite now..I would never thought that it would be so hard for a nurse to get a job. GOOD LUCK to all of those out there.
Specializes in OB/GYN, Critical Care, LTC, Home care..
Skny I know how you feel. I have been out of work since May. My last job was a "Non" clinical job. So no one will hire me because of that. I have 25 years experience as an LPN which I'm proud to say. I live in the Albany NY area. I have tried every hospital, Nursing home, Dr's offices and home care agencies. Still no luck. I am looking to change careers. I may end up losing my house as a result of my not getting hired. SO a career change maybe the best thing for you.
I would like to share my story and hope it help someone out there! I took classes in Washington and got my RN license. I graduated in 2010 and was sooo excited! I thought "Wow what hospital do I WANT to work at, what area do I WANT to go into, it was soo exciting. I quickly realized the reality when I applied over probably 300 times for hospital residencies and to date have only had ONE interview. Since graduation I decided to go back and get my BSN hoping that would help my chances. I have learned that SNF and Home Health are always hiring new grads, if you need work you can go there, however I tried both and did not feel comfortable being a NEW NURSE and working pretty much on my own. I really want a residency because it makes sense to have someone checking your work, getting training, etc. especially since I have been out of RN school for sooo long now!! My current predicament is I have a possible offer at a psychiatric hospital, or I can wait for a residency and move to another state in June after I graduate with my BSN.
If I take the psych job I may be disqualified from some residencies out of state. I am just wondering from anyone who has perhaps taken this path should I just wait and try for the residencies or take this full-time position? SOOO confused? I just don't want to take another job that I am not sure about because I have already tried SNF and Home Health. Any advice would be great!!!
Also, to all the other new grads out there. Keep trying, don't give up, nursing school was very hard and that hard work will get rewarded, but you can't give up. I know for me I have pretty much lost alot of the initial excitement I had when I graduated but I pray that one day I will wake up and have a feeling that all that work was not in vain! That I wake up and say, "I love my job, I finally found where I belong" It is just hard to know what to do when I am unsure of what area I want to work in as well. Hope this helps someone else who hasnt had the easiest road since graduating and has contemplated giving up!
Based on what you have posted, I would wait and look at the new grad residencies with a move. You don't want to go to a specialty and be disappointed a third time in a row.
Specializes in Utilization management, psychiatric-mental health.
Not to offend anyone but to some of the ppl who are getting jobs, it's easier for you to say "keep trying". It's really hard. I don't know what I am going to do. Honestly, I have it in mind that I am going to find a non-nursing job in the meantime to pay my 50K debt and have to help to take care of my family. To really get a job in the hospital, it depends on your connections. Everyone that I know that got a job in the hospital as an RN, new someone in the hospital who had a connection to HR. That's the ulitmate truth. I know everyone keep saying "don't give up" but it's like I said it's easier said then done. I have an ADN and not sure if I want to waste my mone to get a BSN if the I don't get a job. I haven't been working for almost a year. It's not fair...
I don't understand re: North Shore. Many new grads from my school were hired there last year (not sure if having done a capstone there helped). You DID say networking does help. You need to do more of it, you can never do enough!
I HATE all the people I tutored in school for them to pass their classes, my so called "friends", who ive never heard from again since they got jobs!!!
Ahhhh Amen to that.
I tried to get in contact with a girl who I helped like CRAZY in nursing school. She did her pre-grad clinical rotation at a nursing home and got hired as casual shortly after graduating. I had an interview there... tried to contact her for pointers... to put in a good word- she didn't even bother returning the call email or anything (she obviously got them)
Pathetic
Well Karma is a ******. what comes around goes around.
Amen, I am in the same position, 20 months no jobs, I am working in a bank now, making just barely minimum wage, and people I went to school with who I helped through school got jobs, I am so depressed.
anotherone, BSN, RN
1,735 Posts
Just wanted to say it hought this was a great post. also something not many people want to acknowledge. i would like to see the kind of answers this post would get in a more visualized area of all nurses instead of the ny state board.