Applying to 'no experience necessary' jobs and being rejected for lack of experience?

Nurses Job Hunt

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I've been a nurse for 4 years and have not worked in the hospital setting but am trying to get back in so I've been applying for positions like internships and positions at certain hospitals that are listed as having no experience required. Then I'm getting rejection notifications saying that my background and experience don't meet any positions they have available. What does that even mean?! I spent hours last night filling out 13 different applications for positions and in one email they dismissed me.

So disillusioned and frustrated. How can I apply for an internship and be rejected based on lack of experience?!

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Specializes in Pedi.
I've been a nurse for 4 years and have not worked in the hospital setting but am trying to get back in so I've been applying for positions like internships and positions at certain hospitals that are listed as having no experience required. Then I'm getting rejection notifications saying that my background and experience don't meet any positions they have available. What does that even mean?! I spent hours last night filling out 13 different applications for positions and in one email they dismissed me.

So disillusioned and frustrated. How can I apply for an internship and be rejected based on lack of experience?!

You say you haven't worked in the hospital setting but you don't say you haven't worked at all. Presumably in 4 years you HAVE worked as a nurse and so your background and experience don't meet the positions because you are NOT a new grad. That's how I read it... not that they're rejecting you for lack of experience but because you do have experience.

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I've worked doing flu shot clinics. No one will hire me in non-intern positions because I don't have any hospital based experience. And now they might be rejecting me because I have some out of hospital experience? I don't know what I'll do if I can't get someone to hire me soon. I feel like I pretty much 'ruined' my degree by not getting a hospital job immediately. :(

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Internships are just for new grads, aren't they? Most facilities require that you have been a nurse for less than a year in order to qualify for an internship.

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In my area I've been told repeatedly that they are for new grads and for nursing looking to transition back into the hospital or from one unit to another. I'm taking a refresher course currently and my instructor said I should apply for internships. I'm getting so confused.

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
I've been a nurse for 4 years and have not worked in the hospital setting but am trying to get back in so I've been applying for positions like internships and positions at certain hospitals that are listed as having no experience required. Then I'm getting rejection notifications saying that my background and experience don't meet any positions they have available. What does that even mean?! I spent hours last night filling out 13 different applications for positions and in one email they dismissed me.

So disillusioned and frustrated. How can I apply for an internship and be rejected based on lack of experience?!

A lot of times you will get a canned rejection response even if it doesn't make sense. I have gotten insufficient experience and insufficient education on jobs I am qualified for but I do not take it personal.

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Are you only applying for hospital jobs?

Have you tried nursing homes? Also, jails, prisons, rehab centers, dialysis clinics, home health care agencies, methadone clinics and psych hospitals? All these places hire nurses, and are generally less competitive than acute care hospital jobs.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Hmm - this may be a regional problem. Not all hospitals can afford to have formal internship programs but they may be open to hiring a an inexperienced nurse. OP may want to check into smaller community hospitals or even rural facilities if possible.

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Are you only applying for hospital jobs?

Have you tried nursing homes? Also, jails, prisons, rehab centers, dialysis clinics, home health care agencies, methadone clinics and psych hospitals? All these places hire nurses, and are generally less competitive than acute care hospital jobs.

Yes. Only applying for hospital positions. I have no desire to work in an office, clinic, home health or nursing homes. If that is the only kind of work I can get as a nurse I'll drop working on my BSN and pursue a different bachelor's and switch fields. I also can't pursue my masters in nursing without hospital

based experience. I have applied to so many different hospitals at this point. Many in my area are only hiring BSNs now, too. :/

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Oh, well then good luck. A lot of nurses, both new grad and old, are in the same boat, and are taking any nursing opportunity they can. Sometimes any amount of experience will pave the way for different opportunities. I think it's unrealistic, in this job market, to limit oneself to JUST acute care hospital.

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I think you would have a much better chance of getting a "hospital job" if you had 1 year of nursing home experience. Don't let the fact that you have "no desire" to work in a nursing home stop you. I have no desire to work in a "nursing home" either lol. But bills still have to be paid and that is where I found steady work.

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Heck, I would do part time LTC and part time something else while getting my BSN and then try back into med-surg/hospital nursing. I wish you the best though.

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