Atlanta area nurses...I need to vent!!

[TeeTee,RN]

OK...

I graduated in Dec. 2008 with a BSN. I moved from Mississippi to Atlanta around the end of December. I took the NCLEX in April and got my license. It took four months for me to get my ATT. That was nerve wrecking, but anyway I have my license now. I have applied for every residency in the area (Grady, Emory, Dekalb Med, Atlanta Med, Gwinnett Med, Piedmont, Northside, Kennesaw.....& more) I have talked with the recruiters at all of these facilities and they tell me that they don't have many residency positions and they have an abundance of applicants. Most of the facilities only offer residencies twice a year! So if I don't get one this summer (Aug 2009) then I can apply for next Spring 2010. WHAT?!! I don't have a job. I need one badly. I even tried to get a cna job temporarily until I get a residency and I was told I need a cna license. Again, WHAT?!! I tried to get a medical assistant position but when I told them I have a BSN they were not interested because they knew I would leave as soon as I could get a nursing job.

I am so angry and frustrated. During nursing shcool all we heard was "there's a nursing shortage so you guys won't have any problems getting a job." Well, there doesn't seem to be a nurse shortage in the Atlanta area. I was in the clerical field before nursing school. I am tempted to get a clerical job until I can get a residency. But I feel so stupid working as a bank teller or secretary when I have a BSN that I worked very hard to get.

Please talk me down....I am so disillusioned. Was nursing the right choice?

TeeTee

[november17, ASN, RN]

Actually I know several nurses who are Piedmont and they are on a freeze as well,

That's funny you say that, I got hired into Piedmont in late May. Didn't really have any trouble actually they called me the day after I put my application in.

[stillwant2banurse]

that's funny you say that, i got hired into piedmont in late may. didn't really have any trouble actually they called me the day after i put my application in.

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join date: mar 2006

posts: 187 feb 19, 2009, 02:38 pm

re: hiring freeze in atlanta?

i have heard that northside and piedmont are having hiring freezes. wellstar kennestone still seems to be hiring.....at least some of my new grad friends are getting jobs there.

i am really happy that you was able to find something, the last checked the above was what i have gotten. what some hospitals will do is they will go off and on a hiring freeze they will have recruitement pools in the meanwhile so they will have a pool of applicants they can pool from other hospitals and out of state, but that is great you was able to catch them in the midst of this.

[tipsplease]

Just a thought.....if job security were the only reason a person went into nursing, he or she wouldn't last. You have to really love it to put up with all the stress and politics involved.

[phoenixAsclepius]

Same thing is happening in Phoenix, AZ. No one is hiring new grads. In fact, certain hospitals are importing nurses from india and the phillipines by claiming a nursing shortage while refusing to hire new grads (they're contracted for 3 years and have to stay at the hospital who hired them, I believe. Housing is included.) out of 22 or so graduates, 4 have been hired and the next class is fairly close to the finish. Those who were hired by hospitals are reporting PTNs of 7-8:1. So, there is a need for nurses, but due to the financial situation, greed, and short sightedness, I think hospitals are reluctant to hire what they need and the certainly don't want to spend money to train new people if they can get away with it.