Difficult job market in Austin. Wanting Mon-Fri hours.

[calichandra]

I'm wondering if other people are finding Austin to be a difficult job market? I've been a nurse here for 2 years, full-time nights, on a Neurology unit- and am find myself ready to move on but unable to find new opportunities.

I am being selective in that I want to get off of nights and work daytime Mon-Fri hours, so I was thinking same day surgery/PACU would be a great place for me to go- but I've found that every single place I've applied wants you to already have 1 yr of experience in that area- they are not willing to train.

I thought when I became a nurse that part of its appeal was that you could transition between specialties and learn new areas- but I am quickly finding this is not the case. I applied at an urgent care center- and they wanted a year of ER experience, I applied at a cath lab- you have to have 1 yr cath lab experience, etc. etc. I suddenly feel stuck being a floor nurse.

I've been applying for jobs for 6 months and feel like I'm beating my head against a wall, even clinic jobs seem few and far between.

I am not willing to work home health (heard to many horror stories), but does anyone have any suggestions for good Mon-Fri daytime opportunities? I keep checking the hospital and clinic websites and find very few new jobs posted each week. I feel like there must be more out there that I'm missing. I'm starting to consider agency- but hate the idea of losing health insurance.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I know that LTC doesn't appeal to many nurses, but the nice part is that they tend to staff with 8 hour shifts and offer Monday through Friday schedules.

Many nursing homes would love to have an RN on day shift (7-3pm or 6-2pm).

[abbabask]

Have you thought of office nursing? I worked for an OBGYN group for a while and worked M-F hours.. but the way it was set up, we always ended up getting one day off a week when our doctor was post-call, so I worked MTWF 7:30 to 5pm. No weekends, no holidays.