Any new grads having major employment problems?

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · Oct 13, 2012

If you are serious about getting started with your nursing carer you must look outside the major metropolitan areas. Look in remote rural areas and you'll see that some of these hospitals take new grads. Yes this is the new reality and you will have to get out of your comfort zone if you want a job. Yes there are new grad programs but every six months your chances are smaller. In the country they will appreciate you but the big city will make you feel like you are worthless.

Will this change? Yes but it could take years...best of luck

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2012

Here's an interesting-ish article from the Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2017720619_nurses11.html
It's a concise article, and if you read well, you'll discover part of the problem lies in what I call "nurse mills"...colleges that have received millions in taxpayer $$ through Federal and State funding to expand programs, begin programs and increase enrollment.
WorkSource (unemployment) is geared to shuttle displaced workers into "high demand" careers.
WorkSource can now pat itself on the back for a job well done in alleviating the nursing "shortage."
This has provided a glut of nurses on the market making it an employer's market. Supply and demand, supply and demand-- remains as true today as it ever did.
In my area, new grads and those with 1-3 years experience are flying in the door, and displacing nurses who have put in eight or more years are booted to the curb. Why keep the expensive, tenured nurses when you have a cheaper "food source" beating down your doors?
I feel for new grads but not too much so. One of you has my job right now (I was laid off with a "thank you for your excellent service" letter) and I'm in the position of potentially losing everything I've worked for because the market here is incredibly tight.
A few years ago I interviewed in a remote, mountain town. I was offered a paltry wage because...that tiny town had been given a grant to have a local extension program from that state's university, for a nurse factory. To think, a town of 15,000 year round residents, was given a "college" for nursing. They now have a steady supply of cheap labor.
And shall we talk about insourcing??? Dirty little secret, that.

The market is abysmal right now. I too know of many seasoned nurses "let go" or fired after stellar careers that cannot find another position. I can't blame the new grads for the amoral behavior of the facilities. I can't blame the new grads for the greedy nursing mills.

Everyone is hurting. I blame big business and corporate greed.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Oct 14, 2012

Oh, you are so right (teenytinybabyRN). SNF and LTC and home care do have revolving doors of employment opportunities. Too bad nursing school doesn't reveal this little secret until students find out that not everyone
is going to get a hospital job.

But, to be fair, students should investigate local job markets

themselves *before* taking on such a debt/commitment. The big flashing cartoon dollar signs in the recuiter's eyes was my first clue they might not be 100% trustworthy.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2012

But, to be fair, students should investigate local job marketsthemselves *before* taking on such a debt/commitment. The big flashing cartoon dollar signs in the recuiter's eyes was my first clue they might not be 100% trustworthy.

Sure, but you could investigate nursing fairly well and still come up with tons of articles and advice from sources that seem pretty reputable that don't hint at all about the struggle new grads have finding jobs. Allnurses covers it a lot, but not everyone finds their way here. I think even the DOL website talks about job growth and positive job outlook for nurses. And when you're researching, which is supposed to be the more reliable source: aggovernment sponsored site with labor statistics, or a web forum? I can understand how nursing students get duped and it's not necessarily due to lack of research.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2012

volunteering don't pay the bills. Am just saying:sorry:

For real. I was 37 when I finished my BSN, and living on my own. I would never be able to afford to volunteer without full time income. I took the first job offer I received. I had a job before I wrote my RN exam, and relocated for the job. Best investment I could have made.

WanderingSagehen · Oct 14, 2012

Wow- thanks for sharing. I hadn't heard of the situation put in those terms. Yes, many (too many) new grads are out looking for jobs and we are willing to work for less because we know how slim the chances are that we will get employment. I work my tail off at my job with this same fear that I must work harder than ever. Hopefully the economy will improve and all of us nurses will be needed and we can all just get along and be one big happy family. :)

WanderingSagehen · Oct 14, 2012

We had no recruiters from LTC or SNF's. Wonder how much the hospitals get from the government, for their "new grad residency" programs?

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2012

For real. I was 37 when I finished my BSN, and living on my own. I would never be able to afford to volunteer without full time income. I took the first job offer I received. I had a job before I wrote my RN exam, and relocated for the job. Best investment I could have made.

I took the first job offer I got, too. But it took 3 months to get. I worked as a tutor for pay in the meantime and volunteered along with that. The time commitment was pretty minimal for the volunteering but it definitely paid off.

multi10 · Oct 14, 2012

Funny, I was a nurse for many years, took time off to travel, and then took a refresher course. I did my refresher course clinical at a major teaching hospital. (It's really not a hospital, it's more like a city unto itself.) I got a 92% from my preceptor. This was on a unit that called itself med-surg, but was really a step-down telemetry.

The only job I could get after that was in a long term care facility on the skilled nursing wing. The ratios were unsafe and we had to manually (paper) chart and then computer chart everything, all over again. Overtime was met with derision and complaints by management that we had poor time-management skills.

I hated the DON so much at that place. She hovered just so she could bust us for miniscule infractions.

Now I work with dogs and cats, some of which need meds (phenobarbital, steroids, anti-stress). It's astonishing the variety of pet food these days too. My clients are animals and I couldn't be happier. The pay is not so great though.

leckzieloo · Oct 16, 2012

Its all about the area you live in. I've heard the east coast is the best place to land a job in the nursing market. Well, for this year anyway.

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · Oct 16, 2012

I graduated in May 2012 with an ADN. I moved from Illinois to Texas for better job prospects. I've applied for 50 jobs and have heard nothing. Plus, I'm applying to other minimum wage jobs just to have an income. I keep getting the "overqualified" speech, and can't land a minimum wage job. I'm about to lose my mind. Anybody else having these employment issues?

The question should be which new grads are not having problems finding work?

The vast majority of them are having problems.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Oct 17, 2012

Sure, but you could investigate nursing fairly well and still come up with tons of articles and advice from sources that seem pretty reputable that don't hint at all about the struggle new grads have finding jobs. Allnurses covers it a lot, but not everyone finds their way here. I think even the DOL website talks about job growth and positive job outlook for nurses. And when you're researching, which is supposed to be the more reliable source: aggovernment sponsored site with labor statistics, or a web forum? I can understand how nursing students get duped and it's not necessarily due to lack of research.

You have a good point, but I guess this is where I differ from most people. I would most definitely trust a nurses' discussion forum over the dept. of labor's website. Who knows more about being a nurse then, well, nurses? Sometimes anecdotal information is worth WAY more than official or academic information.