I graduated from Northern VA Community College in May 2009, passed the NCLEX-RN in December 2009 (I waited so long to take it b/c I had that option) and now I am looking for a job and cannot find one. I live in the Manassas/Gainesville/Haymarket area so I have been looking at Prince William hospital, Fauquier Hospital, Potomac hospital and INOVA hospitals websites and cannot find anything for new graduates. I contacted the human resources offices for all the hospitals through email/calls and Potomac hospital says they are not hiring new grads, INOVA says to check the website, Prince William says to check their website and Fauquier says to check their website.
Everyone keeps saying you have to go to the human resource office in person but I do not have an appointment, so I am turned away every time. Home health care agencies say I do not have any experience b/c I was not a practicing LPN before so they will not hire me.
It is so disheartening when you worked so hard through nursing school and you graduate :), then you have to study for hard for the NCLEX and you pass :) and then you think the hardship is over and you look for a job and keep getting turned away! I feel so discouraged b/c I feel all the hard work, determination has lead me to this point and now I can not get a job! I mean, the reason why I went through all of that was to be a nurse and now I am a nurse, I can not find a job!
I need a job really bad; can anyone give me advice, point me in a direction, give me some encouraging words, any thing???? PLEASE!!!
I am also having a REALLY hard time finding a job. I have been looking for months and haven't been able to find anything. I graduate in May and it is not looking so good for me. I will be graduating with an ADN. A lot of hospitals won't even talk to me because I am an ADN! I am in nursing school in NC but will be moving to the northern VA/DC area due to husband having a job up there. It takes knowing people to get a job these days, and I don't know anyone! Any advice????? PLEASE!!!!
i actually work in winchester, and i must say i am happy...i know for a fact that my dept. hires new grads all the time....it's a nice floor to start out on. send me a message if you want more details.
2btraumarn2008
i would loooooooovvvvveeee some more information about this....please send me a message.
After having my classmates run around trying to see if their current employer hires new grads (which they don't; they have a job b/c they were a LPN before becoming a RN); classmates asking their friends if they know of any one hiring new grads; a kind fellow RN assisting me with my job search through this post; a friendly grad RN lending her support and sharing her personal job search experience; countless searches for jobs on every hospital website in the Northern VA, Maryland and DC area - I finally have a job!
One morning, I took the local newspaper off the curb looking to cut some coupons to save $$$$ and found an ad for a job fair, the same day! I dropped the children off with my nephew and with my cover letter and resume in hand - I landed a job at a LTC facility!!!! I am blessed that it is about 20 minutes commute for me!
I thank everyone for their support and assistance (you know who you are). I doubt I would have kept my sanity without these people.
My hopes is to learn so much and get my one year experience so I am not a new grad RN anymore.
For the upcoming RNs graduating next month with an ADN and no nursing experience: I hope you make contacts with the heads in your department that you are currently in clinical rotation with or that you did a Summer externship with. You have better chances getting into those departments. I hope that more positions open up for you all. I know the hospitals are taking the RNs with BSNs over the ADNs.
I know the search will be long and hard, but you will get through it! Send me a private message if I can help you in any way!
Im at one of the INOVA hospitals for clinicals and I know they are not hiring new grads until after you pass the boards. apparently they had a lot of trouble in the past with new grads not passing the boards.
JLFOREVER......I was wondering which LTC facility you work at. I am in the same boat. I have been applying to all hospitals in Richmond with no luck to get hired as a new RN. I want to take your advice on going to an LTC facility but I am a little weiry on applying to just any of them since I don't know any places personally. It sounds like you like where you work and want to know if they are hiring for a new RN now. If so please let me know asap! I am highly interested. Thanks in advance!
Have you tried SRMC in Petersburg? I was just mentioning in another thread that they hire new grads. There are some positions open there now. The only positions they won't hire new grads for are L&D and ICU. It's easy to get to as well. Just straight down 95.
Im at one of the INOVA hospitals for clinicals and I know they are not hiring new grads until after you pass the boards. apparently they had a lot of trouble in the past with new grads not passing the boards.
I heard that INOVA is not hiring any grads period at this time even if you have passed the boards. I have not seen any posts on any hospital website in VA for new grads. I have seen posts in Maryland and Virginia. Good luck to you on your search!
where I work, 1 of the RN's also works for HR at INOVA and last I chatted with her a few weeks back, she stated the hiring at INOVA was coming to an almost a complete halt! Believe she stated they were started to cut back on education stuff as well.
I turned down a job last yr at Inova that came open because a new grad that had been working there until she wrote NCLEX--which she failed! That manager told me that in the future they would only hire NCLEX successful applicants! In this market, they can do that!
Our manager told us last week during a staff meeting, that she had just visited (I think it was) George Mason, and she figured that 60% of those new graduates would be without jobs this yr, if they stayed in the DC area.
Does anyone know if the job outlook is any better for nurses who have their BSN? I've been looking into GMU's BSN second degree program since teaching is suffering cutbacks, but I guess it would be just as futile to go into nursing if hiring is terrible in that field too.
Does anyone know if the job outlook is any better for nurses who have their BSN? I've been looking into GMU's BSN second degree program since teaching is suffering cutbacks, but I guess it would be just as futile to go into nursing if hiring is terrible in that field too.
I have a Georgetown BSN and can not find a job. I can't even get an interview. You never know what things are going to be like in a year when you are done with your program, however, I would not recommend that you enter nursing for the job security.
There are a ton of recruiters for hospital systems at the AACN/NTI conference in DC today -- might be worth a visit. They may be looking for experienced critical care nurses, but it will be access to a recruiter, face-to-face. It's at the Washington Convention Center. Not sure how much it costs to get in, but you can swing by the allnurses booth there, too!
I contacted the human resources offices for all the hospitals through email/calls and Potomac hospital says they are not hiring new grads, INOVA says to check the website, Prince William says to check their website and Fauquier says to check their website.
Home health care agencies say I do not have any experience b/c I was not a practicing LPN before so they will not hire me. 
when you worked so hard through nursing school and you graduate :), then you have to study for hard for the NCLEX and you pass :) and then you think the hardship is over and you look for a job and keep getting turned away! I feel so discouraged b/c I feel all the hard work, determination has lead me to this point and now I can not get a job! I mean, the reason why I went through all of that was to be a nurse and now I am a nurse, I can not find a job! 
mar 19, 2010, 09:02 am 
cynlopez
17 Posts
I am also having a REALLY hard time finding a job. I have been looking for months and haven't been able to find anything. I graduate in May and it is not looking so good for me. I will be graduating with an ADN. A lot of hospitals won't even talk to me because I am an ADN! I am in nursing school in NC but will be moving to the northern VA/DC area due to husband having a job up there. It takes knowing people to get a job these days, and I don't know anyone! Any advice????? PLEASE!!!!