Graduated 7 months ago FL- still no job!

[Agriffin2]

I graduated with an FNP summa cum laude in May 2015. I have applied for every job I can find. The only one I've landed is one for home assessments for insurance. Which I'm grateful for but there is zero clinical work and experience gained. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in the Tampa Florida area and having a really hard time. I'm afraid I'm going to forget how to be a nurse practitioner!!

[phosphorus]

I left Florida for similar reasons, but it's worth noting anyone in major urban areas in general tend to spent 6mo-1.5yr unemployed out of school. It took me 9 months to find a job in Miami, which ended up exploiting me and using me in largely a bureaucratic + RN duties only. Most of my colleagues ended up working essentially on call with 12hr days 6 days a week for private MDs for 85k/yr. Florida definitely is the worst practice environment in the country as it is the only state where NPs can't write for controlled substances at all, and the lack of medicaid expansion has kept demand low relative to many other places. Pay is abysmal for the cost of living in the cities, and work load is much higher than other parts of the country where unionization and demand has kept working conditions safer. I ended up leaving for California just to get experience though I had two offers around Vero beach for 80k per year in primary care. I decided the extra 40k or so plus reasonable load and hours justified the sacrifice... but if I had an offer that was even half way decent I'd go back to Miami in a second. If you have to stay, you'll find something eventually. Expect to make big personal sacrifices the first two years and then move on. Generally I see places like rehab, home health, and private docs doing the hiring of new grads there.

[Goldenfox]

Florida is a 'special' place. I too was offered very low salary and terrible workloads when I was a new grad there. There are a few NPs over there who do ok pay-wise, but very few. The Fort Lauderdale/Miami area is one the most expensive parts of the country to live yet wages there overall are pathetic. The practices that hire NPs can do a whole lot better because the physicians are certainly getting theirs. A friend of mine in Miami says she has been looking for a position for a while now without any luck. Today she sent me a link to an ad for a full time NP position that she saw advertised in Miami, and she's asking if I think that she should apply for it:

This is a specialty practice that requires the NP to be bilingual, you get paid holidays and paid vacation and sick days, but no other benefits. They MAY contribute towards the cost of your malpractice insurance. Of course, the very generous salary mitigates for everything else. Check it out:

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant

These are the amazing opportunities available to new grads in southeast Florida now.

[TamTamRN-RRT]

Oh no. $65,000. Very depressing.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Wow!!!!

[Hi2Jenn]

Tampa is definitely a very saturated market. I can't say that I'm surprised. It took me 7 months. Can't say that I am thrilled with my job, but the salary is decent. Absolutely do not take a low ball offer. Even as a new grad here you should make 80K. I too understand the can't move thing. Really sucks. I've heard several people say Tampa Family Health is horrible and one say not bad. You might want to branch out to Pinellas or Pasco. Join the West Coast NP association and the Tampa one. It's like 30 a year. Network is the number one way. Also, check United Health. They are expanding.