California's 2009 New Grad RN Program- Who's hiring right now?

[piscesmama]

Greetings.

This is my story- I graduated from Nursing School in May 2008 (ADN) and passed my boards in October 2008.

I live north of San Fran and have yet to find a New Grad Program. I've been on Allnurses since last summer when I started studying to pass the boards. I used Allnurses especially the "random facts" thread which helped me pass the boards with flying colors. My family is ready to move out of the area because there is no new grad program avail out here.

I have spent hours online looking for New Grad positions in Washington State, Southern Ca, New Mexico, and Ashville NC. These are the areas, along with the Bay Area that I am interested in. I am looking to see if someone would like to buddy up or we can all help continue this thread and we can help search together for all the possible positions in the areas mentioned above or just in California. I have found that the work done alone is not enough or that I have just missed an application date, or I didn't know that blank blank just hired for the season.

The random facts thread was so hot because it was encompassing info about one main event with up to the minute info. Maybe a thread like "California's 2009 New Grad RN Program- Who's hiring right now?"- and it would include SNF's and whatever we can think of that a new nurse can do in the community, would be like the "random facts" thread. I'm sure I will hear from an Allnurses thread monitor about if this is OK or not.

At this point I am just trying to be creative and use the best resource online, which to me has been this sight.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Piscesmama

[Tristar]

Here's an article about the RN grad job shortage:

http://nursing.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?cc=208034&CP=2

[proudtobeRN777]

waiting for my first job:o ....thanks to all posters

[xNurse415X]

waiting for my first job:o ....thanks to all posters

Don't worry....the right job will find is even though it seems to be so discouraging!!!! Gotta keep our heads up!!!!!!

[starzburst]

northbayhealthcare.jobscience.com/ for Clinical Nurse I - (Re-entry/New Grad Program)-NBMC Med/Surg for Feb 2010.

Found this before I went into work last night so haven't had a chance to post details, but I try to post on Twitter as soon as I find listings. *crosses fingers for everyone*

[xNurse415X]

northbayhealthcare.jobscience.com/ for Clinical Nurse I - (Re-entry/New Grad Program)-NBMC Med/Surg for Feb 2010.

Found this before I went into work last night so haven't had a chance to post details, but I try to post on Twitter as soon as I find listings. *crosses fingers for everyone*

Thanks so much Starzburst!!!! R u a current employee there?

[xNurse415X]

northbayhealthcare.jobscience.com/ for Clinical Nurse I - (Re-entry/New Grad Program)-NBMC Med/Surg for Feb 2010.

Found this before I went into work last night so haven't had a chance to post details, but I try to post on Twitter as soon as I find listings. *crosses fingers for everyone*

Hey starzburst,

What's your twitter so that I can keep track of your posts???? THANSK!!!!!

[starzburst]

Thanks so much Starzburst!!!! R u a current employee there?

No I'm not an employee there, but I have been searching job listings for new grads for the past few months. Haven't been able to update as much I have in the past cuz I just started working, but I'm getting a few Mondays free so I can do my more involved searching. Just been browsing websites as I can before I pass out

[ifyouwereme]

Congrats Star! You are the best! Most would have dropped the cause once they found their own! You will make an excellent nurse!

[lperkrn, MSN, RN]

Temporary job with Sutter Health in Santa Cruz area. NEW GRAD OK

Job # 0908591 RN I - Flu Clinics, Santa Cruz County PT Temporary

Qualifications REQUIRED: Graduate of an accredited school of nursing.

Valid California registered nursing license or interim permit.

Current CPR certification.

PREFERRED: 6 months related clinical experience

Primary Location: California-San Francisco South Bay/Santa Cruz-Santa Cruz

Organization: Santa Cruz Medical Foundation

Employee Status: Temporary

Accepted Applications: All Candidates Accepted

Minimum Salary: 33.75

Maximum Salary: 47.58

[Tristar]

I've written a letter to the LA Times about the RN grad job shortage. I think it would be a great idea to get letters posted in major newspapers about what is going on. If anything it will raise awareness and get people talking.

Here it is, I would love feedback or suggestions on things to add :

Tales of an out of work nurse

Yes, you read right, I am an out of work nurse in Los Angeles. Well , I’m an out of work RN graduate with no acute care experience. Now to some it may make sense that in this economic environment a RN fresh out of school may have a hard time finding work. I say no. This makes no sense, especially after all the talk from hospitals of the desperate need for nurses and not after spending over twenty- five thousand dollars on tuition and fees. I understand that no one could have foreseen the effect the recession would have on the job market, however it is disheartening to realize that we are at such a low point financially that hospitals are drastically cutting RN grad training leaving thousands of RNs are out of work nationally.

I have attended RN open houses and job fairs and have heard the same rhetoric from administrators telling grads that they best thing they can do is to get into BSN or MSN program and pay hundreds in certifications usually paid for by hospitals. I’m sure this is good advice, but I can’t even pay my credit card bills and students loans , there is no way I can afford to go back to school. We need concrete options on the kind of work available to us. Most of us have sacrificed so much to get our license, draining savings and 401Ks because we were told that nurses were in high demand. I know for myself I can’t wait too long for hospitals to open back their doors. RN grads are going to have to find other work outside of health care soon unless they are able to at least make a decent wage to survive through the recession. This job shortage is not just in the hospitals. I have been making calls to nursing homes, sub acute care facilities and dialysis centers in Los Angeles. They all have shut down training programs for grads.

A consolatory statement I constantly seem to get from recruiters is that this situation is cyclical; they have seen it happen many times. If they know this continues to occur, why haven’t measures been put in place to safeguard us from this problem? There must be some kind of grant funding that could support this. What the deeper issue here is, is that nurses are undervalued, we are just another line on a hospital budget that can be phased out until adequate funds are available, like supplies. This puts the stability of our nation’s health care at risk, keeping RN grads out until money slowly filters down to our line on that long list of expenditures. I have been to online forums hearing tales of RN grads contemplating going on welfare, others pleading for advice going on eighteen months of searching. What is even more bizarre is that all we need is six months to one year of training to then go out and get the hundreds of jobs that are available to RNs at this very moment. That is all it takes, just up to one year of experience .Why stick us in this hole for god knows how long because no one wants to allot money to train us? I would work for no pay for six months just to get the training as I’m sure many of my cohorts would do as well. The California Institute for Nursing & Health Care has been holding meetings across the state addressing this issue. The meetings were used to gather information in order to write grant proposals to fund RN grad training. I have contacted the institution, these grant proposals are geared towards grads just coming out of school, not for us already struggling in the job market. Coming from a novice viewpoint, I don’t see it taking too much money for a group of professionals to network together and begin brainstorming ideas. Especially in a city like Los Angeles which has an elaborate network of hospitals, long term care and sub acute care facilities. Here’s one for you; what about a program where RN grads are hired into nursing support roles with additional training being given to start them on attaining nursing clinical experience? I would also love to start a website or a forum providing information to RN grads on residency programs, employment options and just keeping us in touch with each other. Anyone else out there thinking about a solution?

[waggykeeper]

Tristar, thank you for writing about this frustrating problem that new grads face. The only thing that I would not agree with is working for no pay for six moths (or whatever period of time). Let's say I have no family to support me, I can't live on the street and beg for food while working hard for no pay. It's not like new grads in training just go to the hospital and observe, they work extremely hard and deserve to be payed appropriately.

Again, thank you for voicing it out, I hope the paper will shine some light on the problem we face.

[elprup, BSN, RN]

I just posted this link under the "News" section of Allnurses but thought you might want it here as there are soo many pages to this thread.

http://www.cinhc.org/documents/RNJobpresAllRegionsed0809.pdf

This is the California survey that was talked about earlier in this thread. It states that 2008 was the worst year yet for new grads and that 2009 is still bad. Out of a couple hundred of New Grads hospitals will hire maybe 1/3 of them. Look through it, it's pretty on target to what I have experienced. They have a few ideas how to help us, we just have to wait and see. And yes, some of their idea are for us to get the RN training at no wage. But, in the survey they stated they are aware of 2008 students who have not found jobs. It appeared to me that all of us would be eligible for whatever they come up with.

I also wanted to post this because I feel like FINALLY somebody is recognizing this as a problem! Earlier this year I wrote a few letters to authors who wrote about "our nursing shortage" and all they could say was basically, "Wow, I have never heard of a new grad not being able to find a job". So, I am glad that we have been validated that we are not crazy and not dumb!

I agree that we need to send letters regarding our situations. Maybe between all of us we can figure out a list of who should get these letters...then we type them up and send them out....and they get a ton of personalized New Grad can't find a job letters.

Remaining vigilant,

elp