Getting laid off
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I briefly mentioned this in another thread but wanted to focus more on actually getting laid off....
Well I haven't been laid off yet, but new grads at the hopital I work at are up on the chopping block. According to management, the hospital hired nurses in anticipation of increasing census during the winter months. Our census has not been increasing and due to the financial crisis our country is facing, they need to lay off about 20 nurses between 2 sister facilities to save money. This is just one month after getting our new union contract, which includes pay increases across the board for all nurses.
People will be getting laid off according to union seniority. This means if you were a lab tech for 5 years and just recently got your RN, you will have seniority over a nurse who has been a nurse for 3 years but has only been at the hospital for 1 (for example). I have been there since February; there have been a few new nurses hired since myself so I do have a chance at keeping my job, depending on how many they want to eliminate from my unit. They have promised not to lay off anyone until Feb. 9th..... my one year anniversary there is Feb. 11, how ironic is that?
The reason I'm posting this here is to tell everyone this: Never ever take for granted what you have. I always thought I'd have a job as long as I was punctual, safe, and followed all the policies. My patients love me, even the grouchy ones
So I can honestly say I never thought in a million years I might lose my job. I can tell you that nursing is NOT a recession proof profession. If acute care is downsizing, I can only imagine what this means for seemingly unneccessary types of care, such as home health, hospice, free clinics, and other forms of outpatient care. Since my hospital is pushing out 20 nurses, that's 20 nurses in my area competing with me for a new job, not to mention the new grads that will be looking for jobs in this area in a few weeks. In fact, I'm sure a lot of those new grads have already applied and maybe even gotten hired in a position that I could be a bit more qualified for 
Thanks to those of you that read this far. Most importantly, be thankful for what you have. You never know when you might lose it.