no experience? no job?

[CrammyCute11]

hi guys. i just passed my nclex. and its so hard to get a job, even in nursnig homes(for experience)! can anyone suggest me what to do or give me some advice. im an RN. pls help. thanks guys!

[socalpeach]

Crammy,

It seems like you found a job way faster than average. Do you mind sharing where you were hired and what degree you have? (ADN, BSN or MSN). And i guess anything else that you think got you hired over the next person.. Thanks so much and CONGRATS on your new job! I'm sure you're going to do well!

[Buran09]

You JUST passed your NCLEX and you are complaining that you can't find a job?:hhmth:

It's really funny how new grads assume that they will go to work on the day 2 after passing NCLEX!

Another wrong assumption most new grads make is that they have to work in the big teaching hospitals only.

[Testa Rosa, RN]

Buran: I graduated Dec '09 and passed NCLEX early Feb '10 and have yet to find a job--anywhere, SNF's, county and regional hospitals included. Most of the unemployed new grads I run into in the expensive certification classes I've been taking to keep my skills up have been out of school since May '09. A fair number even longer. Soon we will be joined by the new grads coming out in a couple weeks.

I've cast my net two hours driving distance from my home. I've spent hours filling out poorly designed computer applications to no avail. I can't leave the Bay Area due to my mortgage and children, otherwise I would leave for a year or two to another state (which I highly recommend to anyone who is single, portable and without a California mortgage that is more than their home could rent out for).

When I hear of hospitals that have a huge contingent of travelers or who actually hired a new grad out of state It just makes me feel so much more discouraged. We are getting desperate out here--especially when most jobs for RN's that are not in acute care require at least one year acute care experience. I would do anything at this point--volunteer for anything to keep my skills current till the employment situation in the Bay Area improves. I am lucky in that I have a spouse who is working--even if he's been furloughed every other Friday.

I'm now in a 10 week externship program and really don't feel I need the hand holding of a new grad RN program after doing a preceptorship and an externship in acute care, but can't explain that to a computerized application can I.

I put my family thru financial and emotional duress to pursue this dream I had of becoming a nurse; I am a very good nurse now eager to work anywhere. One of many who worked hard, got good grades and good letters of recommendations. This is not a laughing matter.

Keep the faith everyone. Hoping for good things to happen for us all.

[Music in My Heart]

I graduated Dec '09 and passed NCLEX early Feb '10 and have yet to find a job...

I've cast my net two hours driving distance from my home. I've spent hours filling out poorly designed computer applications to no avail...

I was a summer '09 grad and it took me four months to find a job... over 200 miles from home.

Things really suck for new grads...

I am very concerned for the folks from last year who are competing with the new wave of graduates. If I had any hiring authority, I would screen for those folks simply out of a sense of... I don't know... compassion, I guess.

[Music in My Heart]

hi. i got a job now. my very 1st 1. whew. the paper works are hard. and the nurse:patient ratio is 1:17 is that FAIR???? :c

Do all the other nurses at your job have the same ratio? If so, then it is fair. It's not particularly kind - to the nurses nor the patients - but it is fair.

[Music in My Heart]

After reading this... oh boy... Do males have this problem too or just females?

Yep, dudes, too, so far as I can tell.

[Buran09]

Buran: I graduated Dec '09 and passed NCLEX early Feb '10 and have yet to find a job--anywhere, SNF's, county and regional hospitals included.

I know a person from the Bay Area who graduated last year. She got a job at Mercy Medical Center in Merced. It seems like they have a lot of open positions in the ER.

[OB6658]

try looking at the hospital websites in this link. if they have new grad programs, most will list as such or as a "versant" program. i know fountain valley regional had a listing for a versant rn about a week ago. alot of the big hospitals will have "new grad" programs at least twice a year.

http://www.theagapecenter.com/hospitals/california.htm

good luck

[Testa Rosa, RN]

Thanks for your thoughtful replies--I have followed up with any hospital that has a VERSANT or new grad RN position available within a two hour commute radius--including Merced. Researching openings and filling out poorly designed computer apps has virtually been my full time job since graduation (lucky I have understanding kids/DH). No calls only rejection emails. It's as if you need to win some sort of computerized lottery or have precepted there or know someone from the inside that will champion you.

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I am really worried from what I'm reading I really want to move to California. I have 3 years experience and I am getting mixed messages. Are there jobs in central valley area san Diego area or even LA. Or should I just focus on Texas?

I would suggest that you move to where your heart desires. The job will follow.

[caliotter3]

Two weeks, three weeks? Don't start to get discouraged until you have been without a job for two or more years.

[sunbeach]

I graduated in a ADN program in Dec 2007 took boards in March 2008 passed and have been looking for a job since. So I decided to go back to school to get my BSN have a year left and still applying for jobs but without experience they don't even look at your application. It's very upsetting to finish this dream I had and now going back to get my BSN, plus have gotten my ACLS. I have applied to over 500 jobs and had only two interviews. I'm hoping things change.