PLEASE HELP ME! I thought there was a nursing shortage?

[scrubs2716]

I am graduating from a top 10 nursing school this May with a BSN in nursing. I am completing my capstone within the ED of a level II trauma center. I'm applying to hospitals in the Kansas City area and I am not getting any calls in to interview. My preceptor said that the ED doesn't have any openings or they would hire me. I thought nurses were in high demand?

I posted my resume on Monster and am getting a lot of calls for hospitals outside of KC. St. Louis, Arizona, and Oklahoma. DUKE in NC called me in but I can't afford a plane ticket to interview. However, after doing some research on these hospitals (Christian, Tucson Medical Center, and Hillcrest) I've seen a lot of "not so great" stuff. Also, the cost of living is higher and pay is lower than KC. The relocation is starting around 6-8K, except for STL which is 2K. Sign on bonus is around 7K average, and STL has loan forgiveness of 12K with a two-year committment.

I would ideally like to work somewhere were cost of living is low compared to salary as I'm graduating with 90+K in student loans.

My resume is professionally edited, I have a high GPA, excellent reference letters from my clinical instructors, and am on student government. I don't see why I'm being treated as an "undesirable candidate."

Can anyone give me some advice here? I'm starting to think I'm going to have to work at Applebees after graduation.

[queenjean]

I live in the KC area; believe me, there are jobs. Plenty of them.

First of all, you graduate in May. Employers are probably only now going to start being interested in you. The closer you get to taking NCLEX, the better. They might very well NOT be interested in you until you pass; I don't know how it is in Missouri, but in Kansas there is no longer a GN status, you can't work as an RN until you pass boards.

You might have to take a med-surg job -- in house employees get preferential treatment on transfers. Plus a lot of ER jobs require experience, something you don't have any of as a new grad. If you get some med-surg experience, you are more likely to be able to either transfer in house or get a job at another ER after a year or so.

You have to contact the directors of the floors you want to work on directly. Submit your application to HR, then call or send a note to the specific floor directors, letting them know that you are interested in a position and that your resume is on file. After a week or two, call again. Ask them to keep you in mind if any openings come up, if they don't have any. Ask them about the new grad hiring process--flat out ask if they hire new grads and start training them before they take the NCLEX. Try to nudge them without being a jerk--don't worry, you'll do just fine at this, they will see you as eager.

My experience with hospital human resource departments is that they SUCK. I work in Lawrence, and I submitted my resume for a job I KNEW was available, and heard nothing. Called, left a message, heard NOTHING for two weeks. Finally called the director of the floor, she got all excited, interviewed me the next day, scheduled my employee physcial for the day after, and then two days before I was supposed to start orientation, the Human Resources chick called me to schedule and interview! I was like, honey, I'm already hired, I got tired of waiting for you and took matters into my own hands. Seriously, sometimes that is what you have to do.

Good luck--you can get the hospital job, just stick with it and be persistent. If you really really want to work ER, don't take a nursing home job--some people find it hard to get into the hospital system if they've taken a nursing home job straight out of school. For the specialty floors--ER, ICU, etc--it doesn't really count as much experience, you know? While med-surg, preferrably within the hospital whose ER you want to work in, looks a lot better.

Jean

[RN1989]

Just because a job is advertised for does not mean that the hospital is actually planning to fill the job. This is SOP for many hospitals so they don't look bad while they try to keep costs contained with fewer nurses.

Many places already have too many new grads to be able to safely hire another one. It may be that there simply are too many nursing schools in the area.

I also am wondering if you have put down what salary you desire/expect. This is a no-no if you are desperate for a job or would like to get your foot in the door. Always state salary is "negotiable". Otherwise they will toss your app. if it is higher than their starting, higher than another applicant's, etc. Conversely, if you put a salary too low they may hire you in at a lower rate than normal because you are willing to work so low, or they may think you are desperate for any job and decide it is too risky to take a chance on you.

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

You can work in Missouri as a GN, and there seem to be plenty of jobs in Springfield. The pay is not as high as KC but I think the cost of living is lower.

[widi96]

A lot of places have already held there interviews for New Grads in May. I work at Liberty and they held interviews last month. I know when I graduated last year, most of the interviews were over by this time. The way the three hospitals I scheduled interviews with worked was they had one day where they had mass interviews to fill all of their grad nurse positions. I think for May grads Liberty, MO (right by KC) had 18 openings (I think). It is hard as a new grad to get into specialty areas such as the ER, ICU or OB. Most of the places that had openings for those areas are now full. You might want to call Liberty [phone] and ask though (if you're intereseted in Med Surg - I know the ER positions are full). I've worked there for 6 years and love it (most of the time). Worked as a tech for 5 years, and almost a year now as a RN. I received a good orientation, was able to take classes for tele and other educational opportunities. I am taking ACLS tomorrow. The pay is great and they are currently offering $250/$300 bonuses for picking up extra shifts (in addition to the OT you would receive). (Not by any means mandatory to pick up extra, just if you want).