Anyone starting non-hospital jobs in this bad job enviroment?

Nurses New Nurse

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Hi new grads! I, too, am a new grad-disheartened by our job opportunities. I was wanting to know how many new grads are taking rn jobs elsewhere-not in the hospitals??

I think that I might have the opportunity to do private duty nursing-my excitment is overwhelming-I have been looking for a job since december.

I know that many people say to do "a yr in med/surg" before doing anything else. I think that that is very wise advice and that was the goal-however, for many of us, we have to be honest to ourselves and realize that that isn't going to happen.

I, personally, need a job asap-as we are bad off financially. And I know that we didn't have clinicals in private duty and that I have a lot of learning to do ahead of me-but I am grateful and excited for the opportunity just to be considered for employment.

Well, how many more are out there and where are you going, or what are you trying to get into besides hospitals??? Good luck to everyone!!

Specializes in Peds.

Ohhhh ok thanks! I dreaded my two rotations in a nursing home, but at this point, I may have to suck it up. One I take and pass my exam, then I will keep trying at hospitals, and if I can't find anything then, either, then I'll look into LTC.

Specializes in Psych.

I hope I run into a lot of nurses like you! Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Specializes in Women's Health /Ob-Gyn /NICU.

To all the New Grad RN's,

Please don't be disheartened, our profession is a cyclical one. Although many would say it is recession proof it is not, especially when you are new to it & trying to get a foot in the door. Many nurses can attest to the fact that at some point in time they may have experienced this same thing. I did in 1995! At that time also there were some economic issues. I can only speak for New York City as that is where I lived at the time but it was nearly impossible to get a hospital position as a new grad back then. That was actually to my benefit as I always despised Med surg and was only seeking such a position on the advice of Instructors who said to me that you just "CAN'T" be a new graduate and get into the area of specialty that you desire without that 1st year of Med Surg. My program was Rigourous with 3 full 8 hour shifts a week of Med surg, so I feel I got enough med surg experience in my final year. It was a blessing that hospitals were not hiring as I was able to go directly into outpatient OB/GYN as I wanted and it's been a great ride. My outpatient experience after 5 years opened the door to my my last 8 years of Inpatient Antepartum, Postpartum, Newborn Nursery and ultimately NICU experience. To all of those who love Med Surg, do think outside the box to adjust for the state of the economy at this moment in time & seek employment in other unconventional nursing settings. But for those of you who are solely on this inpatient med surg quest because we have been taught that we cannot specialize without it, take a leap of faith and seek out those positions, areas and specialties that you desire. If that does not pan out find the lesser of the evils right now and beleive me "this time too, shall pass". Then before you know it there will be plenty of positions to choose from again. Trust & beleive, I have lived it!! Stay focused, don't give up, don't settle for less than what you are (you are Registered Professional Nurses NOW). Just change or adjust the aproach to the BEGINNING of your new career. This is just that "only the beginning". Good luck to all. :nurse::redbeathe

I am an LPN and got a job at a doctor's office right away. It is a great job. I tried LTC for a few months but didn't want to stay in that environment. I got the job by applying for a Medical Assistant position at an upstart office. I know that title sounds bad, but I'm the only clinical staff. I do a lot of administrative stuff-like run our vaccine program, as well as the typical Nursing Jobs of educating patients, assisting with procedures, etc. If I had my RN and the same position, I would just be able to accomplish that much more. I absolutely love my job!! You couldn't pay me twice as much money to switch positions. I get to learn a lot from the doctor and I really enjoy speaking with the patients. I get to do things like diabetic education and connect people with resources that can prevent problems rather than just fix what's broken. We also mix in some excitement and have called the squad twice this week. (Which means two IV starts and a little ACLS action.) Anyway, good luck finding a job. I hope you find one you like!

Specializes in Oncology.

I will graduate August 6th of this year. I have already accepted a job at a LTC facility for children. I did a clinical roatation through this facility and fell in love with the children. They offered me a job and I didn't even apply at hospitals. I was concerned about the fact that I would not get my 1 year of med-surg experience that we are so strongly encouraged to get. I was worried that I would be behind my peers in terms of clinical skills, etc. We had a guest speaker in one or our classes and she was as a nurse as well as a HR expert. I asked her if she thought that I was making a mistake by going to LTC and not getting the clinical skills experience I would get at a hospital. She told me that she felt the opposite was true. That I would learn much more at a LTC facility because they do not have all of the specialized departments that a hospital has. She said that if a patient needs respiratory services.... the nurse does it. If the patient needs PT services...... the nurse does it. When the patient needs something, you can't just call someone and have it done. You must get in there and do it yourself. She said that your assessment skills will be highly developed because you do not have a physician making rounds on your patients every day. You will use your assessment skills to detect a problem and your problem solving skills to figure out what is going on. She also said that is helpful to work with the same patients for an extended period of time because you learn what subtle changes in patients look like and will be able to detect those subtle changes throughout your career.

I thought that was an interesting perspective. She also said that when you leave that facility and apply for other positions, you can use that dynamic to your advantage. She told us that every position that you take is unique to others and that you will learn something from every experience that you would not have learned elsewhere. Just because it isn't experience in starting IVs, and inserting caths does not mean that it is not a valued experience.

She made me feel much better about my decision to work with the population that I love rather than in a hospital job that I was dreading. Some nurses work their entire careers and never work in a hospital. I think we need to stop beating ourselves up for not getting or taking that hospital job and just learn where we are and figure out where we want to go! Every experience is a learning experience and has value!

I also graduate in December 2008. Passed boards in March and accepted an LTC position on a sub-acute floor in June. In this economy, I am ecstatic to have any position. I would love to get med- surg experience. I like my LTC position, but hate not having the equipment that is needed- simple things like working dynamaps, manual cuffs that work. Then all of the paperwork is frustrating- you are doing more paperwork than spending time with the patients. It can be frustrating and some of my new nurse shine is beginning to wear off with the high patient loads (20) and we are not staffed by acuity. So I can have patients with trachs, some needing IV's, some with horrendous dressing changes that can eat up your time, some having respiratory issues and needing to be monitored more closely and then if a patient falls or if you have to call someone out...the list goes on and on. Then to top it off, I never get enough sleep. Oh well, enough of my griping- I had a bad week this week. Good thread. Wish the best for everyone.

Specializes in PEDS.

i had to take a $10/hr job in a doctors office. i'm not working as an RN though, just an aid. i need some sort of income while still looking for a RN job.

It is very frustrating. I graduated May 2009. No job, no hint that I even exist. Pretty soon I'll have to take a job totally out of nursing. What a waste of money and time.

I'm in the same boat too, I just moved from Seattle, Wa to Los Angeles hoping there were more RN grad opportunities, no such luck. Most hospitals won't hire till next year. I've also been hearing about hospitals beefing up their application exams to weed out people.

If anyone has any suggestions as to the best way to prepare for the exams it would be much appreciated.

Also I am looking around for unconventional nurse settings, (home health care, sub acute) would love any other suggestions as where to apply?

Thanks

so how did that work out for ya? I just started at a nursing home and cant stand it because of how grossly understaffed it is.

Specializes in LTC, Medical, Rehab, Psych.

I've been working in home care for about 3-4 weeks now (Seattle). You know, honestly, it's just fine. I work the hours and days that I want to. It's low stress. I'm not tired when I come home. I was oriented to each case by one of the nurses who also works on that case and then get help from family when needed. The families all seem to understand the care pretty well (this is peds). I've actually stopped worrying about needing a hospital job. I feel like I can ride this out for awhile and try something else later when I'm able to. But I'm working now, which is the important thing. And I like the work. I get paid about $3 less an hour than the starting hospital wage and I don't get differentials. But I work days. They do pay about $2.50 for nights; it's $4.50 at the hospitals.

Did I mention that when my patient is napping, I get to read a book? Imagine that! Sorry but after getting through nursing school with a toddler, house remodeling and financial stress, I'll take the reading time! It's been more of a blessing than anything. I always wanted to do clinic work anyway. Gal I talked to in the neighborhood clinic said she's never worked in a hospital. Went from pediatric homecare. I think we should all breathe and start looking for alternatives. One older nurse reminded me that there are RN refresher courses should times change.

Specializes in LTC.

I'm a LPN that started out in Assisted Living Part time. I'm also going to be giving flu shots and working through in agency for LTC PRN. In assisted living I can't say I use all my skills learned in school however it was my first job offer and I decided to take it. The pay is excellent and at least I'm getting some experience. I also look forward to working with the agency working in LTC, where I'll learn even more. We'll see. I suggest not being picky and sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward.

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