Best states for new grads?ca, or, wa, nm, az..?

Nurses New Nurse

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Hi all, I will be a new grad in San Diego CA pretty soon and I'm pretty worried about the job market. My hubby will be out of work on August 31 of this year so I'm trying to prepare now. Can anybody tell me which states are the most new grad friendly right now? Obviously, CA is horrible. I'd love to stay in the Pacific Northwest/Southwest. Any advice? Thanks so much!

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Specializes in Trauma | Surgical ICU.

California, to be honest, is not that bad. Most new grads do find work (eventually) after half a year or so.

There's no such thing as best state for new grads. It all depends on the hospital. Hiring season comes in summer and winter time. Right now, for example, lots of hospitals have their new grad applications out. Most big hospitals will have another one in the fall/winter season.

Bigger hospitals have more budget. Places like Cleveland Clinic, USC, UCLA, John Hopkins, have more flexibility in their budget and tend to hire more nurses. Be warned though, competition is tough.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

AZ is horrible for new grads. The AZ BON published a survey showing a significant percentage of new grad RNs being unemployed 6-12 months post graduation/licensure. NM is much better. The nursing shortage still exists in NM.

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Sorry but, CA is brutal. Some hospitals receive 600+ applications for a position.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

If you want to get an idea of what new grads are facing in CA, go to the CA forum here and look at the New Grad Support Thread (I can't remember the exact name of it). Someone in the thread took 2.5 years to land a job.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.
California, to be honest, is not that bad. Most new grads do find work (eventually) after half a year or so.

There's no such thing as best state for new grads. It all depends on the hospital. Hiring season comes in summer and winter time. Right now, for example, lots of hospitals have their new grad applications out. Most big hospitals will have another one in the fall/winter season.

Bigger hospitals have more budget. Places like Cleveland Clinic, USC, UCLA, John Hopkins, have more flexibility in their budget and tend to hire more nurses. Be warned though, competition is tough.

I assume your statements are purely anecdotal. However,

"A survey by the National Student Nurse's Association showed 36% of newly licensed RNs graduating in 2011 were not working as registered nurses four months after graduation.

In California, the problem looks even worse. About 43% of newly licensed RNs there still did not have jobs within 18 months after graduation, according to a separate 2011 survey conducted by the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care"

Taken from: For nursing jobs, new grads need not apply - Jan. 14, 2013

So, no, "most" new grads do NOT find work (eventually) after "half a year or so". It is more like "half" of new grads find work (eventually) after "a year and a half" or so.

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