Almost two years no RN Job in Hosptial

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So graduated from Nursing school 12/2012. Moved home to California and took boards three months later. Super stoked and excited to land a job..... and NOTHING. I do home health which is obviously not using your license in a hospital. Applied to hundreds of jobs; looked into going out of state but was not able to afford all the fees that you have to pay out of state and to the CA board at the time since loans started coming due. Cannot apply to "new grad" programs anymore because of the time I have been out of school. Most per diems want one or two years hospital experience. I still apply with nothing. Any suggestions on what to do? This is getting really frustrating and discouraging and I am about to go back to my prior career if I don't get a job soon. I can't afford my loans, and living in the bay area is tough with what I am making here.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

Since making money is the priority right now because of all the bills that have come due, take any nursing job you can get. You mentioned you work in home health, but what you're making right now isn't cutting it, so why not try a different agency? Try going into long-term care or, better yet, long-term acute. I know your ideal situation would be in acute, but paying the bills is far more important. There are several success stories on these forums from people who eventually landed acute jobs after working years in non-acute settings and hundreds of denied applications as well. They just remained persistent. I work in a long-term acute hospital now and several former co-workers got their first-year experience there before getting into traditional acute hospitals on med-surg and even ICU because of their familiarity with vents and drips.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

I would take a job out of state. You can probably even get a phone interview and get a job. Get a job, take out a loan to move and once you have an income pay it back. If you get a job out of state and get experience, that will open many doors for you. You may even decide to stay in the state where you get your job. You will be more marketable in Cali because of your experience out of state, since it might be more challenging having higher ratios and such. That's what I would do. I waited like you, 2 years and actually did a refresher course, then took a job out of state. I had to move back due to family and was surprised at how much interest I got, several interviews, and now have a job. I would actually apply and get calls back. I probably applied to 30 places and got about 10 calls back and several interviews.

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Specializes in Hematology/Oncology.
I would take a job out of state. You can probably even get a phone interview and get a job. Get a job, take out a loan to move and once you have an income pay it back. If you get a job out of state and get experience, that will open many doors for you. You may even decide to stay in the state where you get your job. You will be more marketable in Cali because of your experience out of state, since it might be more challenging having higher ratios and such. That's what I would do. I waited like you, 2 years and actually did a refresher course, then took a job out of state. I had to move back due to family and was surprised at how much interest I got, several interviews, and now have a job. I would actually apply and get calls back. I probably applied to 30 places and got about 10 calls back and several interviews.

OP This....

https://allnurses.com/nursing-first-job/reflection-accepting-job-922705.html

My review of out of state

https://www.st.alexius.org/employment/careers-st-alexius

This, I have friends from SF and SD over here. We are in North Dakota Homie, How badly do you want to be a nurse?

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

IMO, it's time to get off the "hospital nursing or bust!" wagon and apply for anything and everything that you can. New grads can't afford to be too picky...as you have found out the hard way. Also--and this is really important to remember--not working in a hospital doesn't make you any less of a nurse. You became a nurse the moment the BON conferred the license; where you work doesn't define you as being a "real" nurse or not.

You may also want to consider the advice given by other posters and search out of state for that first job; if you don't want to leave California, then start looking at the less desirable areas inland.

Best of luck.

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Specializes in Hematology/Oncology.
IMO, it's time to get off the "hospital nursing or bust!" wagon and apply for anything and everything that you can. New grads can't afford to be too picky...as you have found out the hard way. Also--and this is really important to remember--not working in a hospital doesn't make you any less of a nurse. You became a nurse the moment the BON conferred the license; where you work doesn't define you as being a "real" nurse or not.

You may also want to consider the advice given by other posters and search out of state for that first job; if you don't want to leave California, then start looking at the less desirable areas inland.

Best of luck.

I would rather relocate than work in a non hospital setting. BUT THAT IS ME. My friends who work in LTACs do the same thing as medsurge imo, but I wanted to get into oncology ASAP.

It is all about what is important to you.

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Pretty damn bad. I helped a friend get a job in va my hubby is ready to move anywhere with me so I can get experience

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I've applied to acute care, snfs, been told need expeRirnce

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Specializes in Hematology/Oncology.
Pretty damn bad. I helped a friend get a job in va my hubby is ready to move anywhere with me so I can get experience

North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico are places that are easier to get jobs. My hospital is hiring...

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

The Bay Area has the worst market for nurses in the US. Did you do any research before moving here?

I would highly suggest moving out of state if you can to gain experience. The longer you've been out of school, the harder it will be to get into a hospital. Even places like Bakersfield may be a better bet for you. I know I got a call for an interview down there this week. The Bay Area doesn't take nurses without experience because there are plenty of nurses with experience available. Even the crappy hospitals are this way. Right now, I have a contact trying to "strong arm" her manager into hiring me.

I graduated in May, and I've applied to over 1000 jobs. I know the market is tough. You have to take what you can get here, or you have to move elsewhere to gain experience. Those are pretty much your options at this point. By being an out-of-towner, you probably don't have a lot of connections, and those really are the only way to get anything in CA.

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Dat Murse where is your hospital?

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I finally got a job at a SNF that I have to commute to 50 minuts each way. Worth it in long run since I plan on being there a year and applying closer to my house. It is NOC shift and I have to leave my 3 month old at night but have to sacrifice somewhere. Thx for the encouragement on this site

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