Anyone NOT have trouble getting a job?

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I tend to dwell on doom and gloom...have any of you not had any trouble?

As a new grad, after months of job seeking, I've finally been able to get my foot in the door with low-end types of nursing (i.e. giving flu shots; home care). It's a terrible time to be new! The way I see it is I'll just have to keep inching my way up until I can someday squeeze into a hospital. It's so frustrating, so I wholeheartedly understand your doom and gloom!

Could you elaborate about what "low end" means as far as nursing is concerned?

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.
Well, that depends. I went out on medical leave last February(09) and just started looking in September. I didn't look at nursing jobs from Sept-Dec because I really thought I wanted to leave the field. Got nary a single bite. Then I found out through a friend about a new listing for a school nurse. I faxed over my resume, they called and made a date for an interview, I aced the interview and they offered me the job. I'm working as a school nurse. :nurse:

So you see, it really just depends on your being the right person in the right place at the right time. Best of luck to you. Something will open up, I'm sure.

That is really cool. Congratulations. So how do you like it? I'd love to hear more about your job.

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.

"CNA is always a good option, and it will teach you about real, Crocs-on-the-ground nursing that will enable you to run rings around your straight-A classmates in clinicals."

That is SO TRUE. I had never spent a day on a hospital floor (besides being a doula for a friend) before starting nursing school. The women who had worked as CNAs had it ALL over those of us who hadn't. I became friends with one woman who'd worked as a CNA for years and I can't tell you how much she helped me just figure basic things out. It was invaluable. Our nursing school now requires its applicants to have their CNA. I think it will save the instructors from having to teach the basics and will set them ahead in their clinical instruction. I wish I'd had mine!

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Specializes in LTC.
What do you think of it? Are you days or nights? How is it going so far? Will you work there awhile or do you plan to move on to something else soon? (sorry for so many q's)

I am on 3-11 shift. I have been doing a med pass solo to half of the unit for the past two times I have worked. It took me all shift to do. The first day was easier.. I should have managed my time more effectively and it wouldn't have taken me all shift. The second day was brutal.. The other nurses are very supportive and willing to help me if i need help. I want to go back to school in the fall to start prerequisites for RN. I dont see myself moving on to something else soon but I don't see myself in LTC forever

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Specializes in Long-term Care.

As a new grad in those hard-to-get areas, you may have to accept relocation or travel a ways. Try applying a rural hospitals, they provide excellent opportunities for new grads to get their fingers in everything and tend to be very open to new grads. For me, I just landed a job 3 hours from my home. I'll be working 3 on and 5 off. They have boarding rooms I can rent for $12 a night, so I'll drive up the day of my first shift and come back home after my last shift. Just be persistent and show confidence at interviews. Also, keep your education activities up, take some continuing education courses and let them know at your interviews that you're doing so. It shows you've not stopped learning.

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