first job as nurse seems impossible

[frankie1220]

After a long period of reviewing, taking the exam, and failing quite a few times. I became a Missouri RN. and that was great but here's the deal... graduated in 2009, became a RN February 2011, reciprocated to Michigan that same year, am a resident of Illinois (and always was during the whole time), was a nurse assistant at a nursing home 10/2009-06/2011 in Illinois and been unemployed ever since.

Now, what job can I possibly take to enhance my chances to actually work as a nurse? Oh, and I renewed my license and I haven't even used it. Help!

I find myself pretty skilled with computers so something involving the 2 might be very beneficial.

[fabiusgile]

I'm sorry to hear. I graduated in 2009 also this market is very bad. I took anything I could get and worked in nursing homes for 15 months. Then relocated accross the country from massachusetts to arkansas. You may have to go where the jobs are. Thats just the way things are and once you get experiences doors start to open. I wish you the best of luck and am sending prayers and kind thoughts your way. Apply for anything. Remember its easier to get a job when you ahve a job.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

welcome to an! the largest online nursing community

i just answered this for someone else.......

the job market in the us is horrible. there is no nursing shortage. hospitals are not hiring new grads. hospitals are not really hiring in general. there are new grads that cannot find work and have been looking for more than 18 months. it has noting whatsoever to do with whether or not they are foreign on visas or were born here.........there is a financial jobless crisis here and there are no jobs.

think about relocating to anywhere in the us some areas are more effected than others. long term care may have more open positions or will be more likely to hire an inexperienced rn.

has the nursing shortage disappeared?

it's that time of year again. graduating nursing students are preparing to take the nclex and are looking for their first jobs. this year, many are finding those first jobs in short supply.

reports are rampant of new graduates being unable to find open positions in their specialty of choice, and even more shockingly, many are finding it tough to find any openings at all.

these new rns entered school with the promise that nursing is a recession-proof career. they were told the nursing shortage would guarantee them employment whenever and wherever they wanted.

so what happened? has the nursing shortage—that we've heard about incessantly for years—suddenly gone away?

the short term answer is clearly yes, although in the long term, unfortunately, the shortage will still be there.

the recession has brought a temporary reprieve to the shortage. nurses who were close to retirement have seen their 401(k) portfolios plummet and their potential retirement income decline. they are postponing retirement a few more years until the economy—and their portfolios—pick up.

many nurses have seen their spouses and partners lose their jobs and have increased their hours to make ends meet for their families. some who left the profession to care for children or for other reasons have rejoined the workforce for similar reasons.

in addition, many hospitals are not hiring. the recession brought hiring freezes to healthcare facilities across the country, and many are still in effect. help wanted ads for healthcare professionals dropped by 18,400 listings in july, even as the overall economy saw a modest increase of 139,200 in online job listings.

has the nursing shortage disappeared?

the big lie?

without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."in other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a bsn later on. who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. the jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

for the complete article..........medscape: medscape access requires registration but it is free.

this site may help you find where there are more jobs available in the country.

nurses schools, salaries, and job data

i wish you the best.