Colorado New Grads- Do you have jobs?

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I am graduating in May from UCD and I am curious how recent new grads are fairing in our great state. I am hearing horror stories of people not being able to get jobs and working in waitressing, grocery stores, etc. Who has found a job? Who hasn't? What has worked for you and what hasn't? I am not attached to any one hospital, but would like to stay in the Denver Metro area.

Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.
Most new grads in hospital settings have several weeks, if not months, of orientation. But even after you're off orientation, you're never alone. You still have your charge nurse and other staff nurses there to bounce questions off, and can check in on you to see how you're doing. Not the case with home health where you're on your own, and have to rely on new assessment skills that probably have not been fine-tuned yet. There is a new grad who posts here who does home health, and she's always here asking questions and asking for advice about her pts. If she was in a hospital setting, she would have the other staff nurses to ask questions. But instead, she has a bunch of strangers on the internet. I don't think that's a safe situation.

Oh really? When I 'oriented' in a hospital they were so short staffed and busy that I just pretty much hit the ground running. If you asked questions of the charge nurse she would just look at you like you were stupid, while the other nurses didn't really have time to 'help' that much either and many of them were new as well - also not asafe situation. I do understand that some hospitals have started 'new grad' programs but as we all know they are really competitive to get into right now. Everyone has to start somewhere and while acute care experience would be ideal, it is interesting that thisnew RN got 'hired on the spot' in home health. I hope it works out for her and that she gets adequate orientation.

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Does anyone know any hospitals in Colorado springs that are hiring New grads right now?? I've applied but no Luck....Just want to know if ANY new grads are getting hired right now

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Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.
The 'problem' is that there are so many nsg schools in CO, basically saturating the market for new graduates. CO is also a desirable location and nurses want to move there which increases the competition.

Indeed. In the Denver area alone there are NINE schools churning out new grad RNs:

University of Colorado Denver

Regis University

Metro State College

Front Range Community College

Community College of Denver

Arapahoe Community College

Denver School of Nursing

Platt Career College

Concorde Career College

Some of these schools are churning out new grads 2 or even 4 times a year!!!

People wonder why it is hard to get a job as a new grad in the front range of CO? Every year there's probably 2-3 times the number of grads made versus needed. Then there's the leftovers from last year.

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Wow..I didn't know that....No wonder I can't get a job as a new grad!!!..Something's Gotta change

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Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.
Something's Gotta change

Here's what happens. Some new grads get jobs. Others don't. Wages are depressed. Some new grads move away. Some stop looking for work.

Everyone complains. In a couple years, everyone realizes the market is oversaturated and the number of applicants goes way down. The higher rated programs cut their available slots. The quality of new grads from the lower rated programs goes way down. Those schools, which can barely place their grads now, can't place anyone. Their enrollment ceases. They go out of business. The number of new grads goes down. The market corrects itself. It will be a long and painful correction though.

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there is only one sure way to get a rn job in colorado......know someone at the hospital that can get you an interview with the nursing manager on the floor. sadly, it's not what you know; it's who you know. when i was a nursing student it was driven into us that the nursing school did not recommend us students working while in their program. i feel that nursing schools are so set on focusing on "their nclex scores" from their nursing students that they are not very helpful at all in helping "their students" find employment. sad isn't? i also feel that it should be the clinical placement person's job to be in touch and know which hospitals hire and which ones don't. why would you place us nursing students in hospitals that don't take on new grads? nursing schools need to be in touch with the real world. while you are in nursing school they should encourage you to take a cna job versus telling us not to work. just my opinion...

out of work nurse

:nurse:

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.
there is only one sure way to get a rn job in colorado......know someone at the hospital that can get you an interview with the nursing manager on the floor. sadly, it's not what you know; it's who you know. when i was a nursing student it was driven into us that the nursing school did not recommend us students working while in their program. i feel that nursing schools are so set on focusing on "their nclex scores" from their nursing students that they are not very helpful at all in helping "their students" find employment. sad isn't? i also feel that it should be the clinical placement person's job to be in touch and know which hospitals hire and which ones don't. why would you place us nursing students in hospitals that don't take on new grads? nursing schools need to be in touch with the real world. while you are in nursing school they should encourage you to take a cna job versus telling us not to work. just my opinion...

out of work nurse

:nurse:

i agree. i graduated acc and the 100% nclex pass rate was the only thing that mattered to the instructors. actually placement after graduation wasn't even on the radar. my cohorts from dec 09 still looking for work really don't care about the pass rate. i listened to them about not working, since they all but threatened us with failure. but it made a huge difference in where/if we got jobs once licensed.

as for clinical placement the person who does that is in a tough position. it's hard to even find a clinical placement in such an overcrowded market. they can't afford to be picky.

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Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.
out of work nurse

:nurse:

What program did you go to?

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I went to an Accredited Denver BSN program. Now I just want to pay back my loans.:)

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Sorry I don't know how to send a reply to private messages. I am not quite sure it matters what program you go to. They are all Very Good Schools. Unless perhaps, you are offering me a position? :) jk:nurse:

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there is only one sure way to get a rn job in colorado......know someone at the hospital that can get you an interview with the nursing manager on the floor. sadly, it's not what you know; it's who you know. when i was a nursing student it was driven into us that the nursing school did not recommend us students working while in their program. i feel that nursing schools are so set on focusing on "their nclex scores" from their nursing students that they are not very helpful at all in helping "their students" find employment. sad isn't? i also feel that it should be the clinical placement person's job to be in touch and know which hospitals hire and which ones don't. why would you place us nursing students in hospitals that don't take on new grads? nursing schools need to be in touch with the real world. while you are in nursing school they should encourage you to take a cna job versus telling us not to work. just my opinion...

out of work nurse

:nurse:

i would agree with you to the extent that the best way to get a job right now in any field is to use whatever connections you have. and for those still in school, try and build connections to use later. however, that is far from a "sure way" to get a job. i would also agree that trying to get a cna or tech job while in school would be helpful, but i also know cnas who are now rn's and still can't get rn jobs. so, it's not a sure thing either.

i don't really expect the schools to be responsible to get me a job. what i want from them is the education. with my bsn i now have two bs's. it never occured to me either time that it was the school's respnsibility to help me get a job. it's up to me to do the rest, including finding out what i need to know about the market before i start school and educating myself on how to land a job after. there are tons of resources for that. i am a new grad with a job (and very very thankful for it). if the school only took enough students that they could find jobs for, many of us, including myself, would still be trying to get into school.

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Specializes in Nonviolent physical intervention.

I just graduated from a BSN program on the Western Slope less than six months ago, and everyone person in my class of 30 found a job in/or close to their desired field already. :)

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