Published
The Omaha area has so many nursing schools that there is a lot of competition for new grad nurses. I can think of 7 nursing schools off the top of my head in this area. And the Omaha metro doesn't really feel that big. This seems like a lot of nurses graduating every year and possibly twice a year.
Does this sound like a lot compared to other cities?
In my area it seems to depend on the hospital. New grads are having a harder time finding the jobs they want (there are plenty of med/surg type jobs). I know in my unit (PICU) they will only hire new grads with some type of hospital experience and I know they have turned away quite a few new grads. I feel very thankful to have the job I have.
There are some really good-to-nurses hospitals around here that just won't hire a new grad unless you have worked with them in a nurse tech or nurse extern type position--some are also hiring BSN over ADN...because they can. They are not hurting for nurses in any way, shape, or form.
So basically I have noticed that the magnet, and other nurse friendly hospitals known for providing good patient care in the community, are not having a nursing shortage, certain popular units such as ICUs, ER, heart hospital, etc are hard to come by as a new grad and even competitive for experienced nurses. The places that have tons of open positions are the hospitals that have a bad reputation for both patient care and they way they treat nurses.
Forget the Southern New Jersey/PA/Delaware area, many of my graduating classmates are unable to land a GN position. The GN's that do have jobs are the ones who worked at the same hospital prior to graduating. Jobs are plentiful for RN's with experience.
I second this about the South NJ/PA/DE area. I graduated this weekend and there were several guys and girls who had not found a job yet. It is very difficult to find a GN job around here - everyone wants experience!
Many areas in FL are readily hiring GN's and in some of the larger cities it's possible to get into a specialty area right out of school, we have a division of Florida Hospital here (Adventist Health Systems) and they will accept GN into specialty, a friend of mine is going to OB & I was offered ICU w/cross training to the ER at the main campus, however I chose med/surg nights at the smaller facility near me, I did my practicum in the ICU and we floated to ER a few times and while I LOVED it and want to work critical care eventually, I felt I would be better served in the long run with a solid base from med/surg to get a good handle on time management and to feel more confident about assessment, meds & basic skills that we might not have had alot of opportunity to do while in clinicals, Good Luck!!
I live in the Philly area and seem to be experiencing the same thing. Hospitals are either looking at internal candidates or someone with a year's worth of experience. I've been looking since December and still haven't been hired yet. How do new nurses get experience in a hospital setting if no one wants to hire them? :argue:
spudbunny
70 Posts
Hello,
I just wanted to ask those of you in the midst of job hunting whether you believe your area has a nursing shortage (meaning that new grads find hospital jobs easily) or a nursing glut area (new grads are struggling to get hospital or any jobs). Please name the area/state as some of us from nursing glut areas may be considering relocation. Thank you.
Spudbunny