Nursing Shortage= Thousands of Unemployed New Grads?

Nurses New Nurse

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  1. Have You Been Able to Get a Job within Six Months Post-Graduation?

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Hi Everyone,

I'm starting nursing school in April. On this site, I've seen many of you complain about not being able to find work after having graduated. This scares me, especially since I live in CA. I know that there's a significant shortage of nurses all around the nation, so one would think that employers would be begging YOU to work for them. As we all know, that's not the case. It doesn't make sense unless employers simply can't afford to have as many nurses as they need. I'm wondering if you all can enlighten me as to why many are having a more than difficult time finding a job given the shortage. Maybe give me some facts or statistics of where it's easiest to find a nursing job. I already know I live in the worst nursing economy. Would it be easier to find a job in the lesser populated states? I am willing to move after nursing school, but only to Washington (state), Arizona, Florida, or North Carolina. Do any of you know what the competition level is to get a job in those states? Just curious, what is New York's nursing economy like specifically near Manhattan area?

I'm really excited to go through nursing school, but I'm worried because many of you grads are unemployed!

I could have googled it, but I think you guys are a better source.

Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I agree that location and prior experience make a big difference. Looking for a rural hospital job in Boron or Visalia will look very different than trying to get a job at Cedars Sinai.

If you do pursue this, network network network. When the nurses I worked with complimented my work, I would jokingly say, "Be sure to tell your manager!" Word DID get to the manager. I'm currently precepting where that manager is, because SHE got me that preceptorship, noting, "I'm known for hiring new grads!" She's hugged me the last two times I saw her. I'm not graduating until May, but I feel like if I can show her what I can bring to her unit and get a good report from my preceptor, I have a good chance at a per diem job (and unlike many new grads, in the area of nursing I plan to spend my career!).

Which leads me to the next point- if you're looking for some cushy full-time benefited day shift position, you're looking in the wrong field. I plan to look for at least two jobs, because new grads are at the top of the chopping block, and are working per diem and likely nights. I'm also looking at commuting if it means a good job.

Get some experience under your belt. Get a CNA job asap, and start nailing those skills. Being comfortable touching and cleaning patients and talking to them in such an intimate setting is a HUGE hump that many new nursing students struggle with, and you'd have a HUGE advantage in clinicals if you had that part down. Plus, it DOES look good on a resume, and you can start making those connections that can come in handy when you're looking for RN work.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I agree that location and prior experience make a big difference. Looking for a rural hospital job in Boron or Visalia will look very different than trying to get a job at Cedars Sinai.
CA is my home state. I applied for and interviewed at a community hospital in Visalia in 2012, and even with my experience, was rejected. Even the 'undesirable' parts of CA have difficult nursing job markets. I was also rejected in places like Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford and Corcoran.

So for now, I will remain in Texas where I have been blessed with steady employment for the length of my 8-year nursing career.

It took me a little over 2 years to get a RN job at a home health agency... and now 3.5 years out of school I finally got a hospital RN position. Oh and I live in Los Angeles, CA. Just FYI.

There is no nursing shortage, if only I have researched this before going into nursing. I have graduated and its been a yr and still unemployed. If nursing shortage mean having 200 applicants applying for 1 position than I guess there is a nursing shortage.

Specializes in LTC.

Very true. Nurses back then had a lot more bedside experience as a result of how nursing programs were structured back then Most hospitals had their own schools of nursing. But then it became too expensive and hospitals shut down their schools of nursing and handed education over to colleges and universities to get it off their balance sheet. Now they complain we aren't properly trained, can't hit ground running. But in all of this, I have yet to hear of even 1 hospital who sat down with a nursing program to be an active partner in structuring curriculums to produce the kind of nurses th r u want. Communication is so heavily emphasized in nursing school. Where is the communication between schools and future nursing employers?

Just to be clear, yes many hospitals were reluctant to get on board but the push to move nursing education out to colleges and universities came from within the profession. The powers that be then and still largely believe that the profession is better served by students receiving the well rounded education that came from attending college or university as opposed to a diploma school.

To be fair a bulk of this push was coming to replacing diploma graduates with ADN graduates. Begun in the 1940's as a faster method to produce nurses (about 2 and 1/2 years as opposed to the three for most standard diploma programs) associate degree nurses could be produced faster and thus reduce the shortage caused by WWII and other reasons.

Many hospitals initially resisted the push to abandon their nursing programs. Why should they? The programs produced nurses specifically trained and orientated to their associated institution. Mind you by the 1960's or so all states had put in place curriculum mandates and changes to laws mean the old apprenticeship system of using students as unpaid labour was gone or fading fast. However it was still felt better to have an "in house" trained nursing staff than a bunch of college educated nurses.

A few things changed that thought process. First hospitals discovered whatever their prior reservations ADN nurses could perform as well as diploma graduates. They may have required a bit more orientation/seasoning but still they got to where they needed to be.

The other shot over the bow of hospital diploma programs yes, was in a way the expense. Insurance companies along with federal government stopped funding care provided by students. Medicare still provides some funding for hospital based nursing programs, it is not nearly enough and the bar is set very high. Running a nursing program is very expensive and became more so as the bar on nursing education was constantly being raised.

Many hospitals simply spun off their nursing programs (Saint Vincent's of Manhattan, Queens and Richmond is an example) to they were affiliated and or under the same corporate umbrella as a healthcare network. Others just closed down such as the excellent New York Hospital/Cornell program.

Finally it must be said that while diploma programs are and or great many hospitals preferred college prepared nurses over such graduates. I once asked someone who now works with the College of Mount Saint Vincent's nursing program who had worked at the Saint Vinny's school in Manhattan why that excellent program shut down. Her response was clear; " no one would hire them".

One of the oldest and most famous nursing programs in the United States, the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing saw the handwriting on the wall early and merged with Hunter College. This despite wails of tears, protests and anger from Bellevue alumni. They were able to secure that the famous cap (the Bellevue fluff) was not part of the deal nor was the school's pin and student uniform.

By the 1970's and into the 1980's enrollment in all nursing programs plummeted. While many that were part of colleges and universities did close, hospital based programs were in a very particular bind. Places simply couldn't afford to keep the schools open in the face of declining numbers as it presented drain on already bad financial situations.

Philadelphia seems to be lone in the United States for having large numbers of hospital diploma programs. Here in NY only one remains for years now and it is way upstate somewhere.

Hi metal_m0nk, Where do you live? Interesting...........

Wow, this new grad unemployment thing is so scary to those already in school and to us planing to start school soon. Almost changing my mind.....smh

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