Help! I can't find a job.

[Cmb82]

Hi all. I graduated in May 2016. I decided to take a few months off and spend time with my three boys since I had been in school for 4 years. Once I was done with the break I was going to join a residency program and be on my Joyful Way. But while I was on that break I was hospitalized three times had two emergency surgeries and was diagnosed with pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism in my left lung. To make a very long story short they had me on Xarelto for 7 months which made me very sick, I was weak, my lung capacity was not up to par and my doctors advised me to stay at home and rest until I was off all medications and would be at 100%. Now that I'm at 100% And I'm so eager to find a job and spread my wings as a new nurse nobody will give me the time of day. I'm not considered a new grad anymore so I don't qualify for most residencies and when I apply outside of an Residency program most places require you to have a year experience, in which case i have none. I have applied at about 70 different places and I've heard nothing back. Now mind you I've only been looking for a job for about 2 weeks and hurricane Harvey came through the same time I was applying so that might have something to do with why I haven't heard anything back yet but I'm just so discouraged. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep applying to the positions that I really want which are NICU, Nursery, labor and delivery, postpartum, Women's Services.

Thank you guys for listening. I'll keep pushing forward until i reach my dream!

-CMB82

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Your DREAM may not be attainable as an old new grad.

Apply for ANYTHING as a new grad. Be grateful for anyone who is open to your application. You have many issues weighing against you and need to take any oppportunity that is offered

[shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP]

2 weeks is nothing. It may take a few months to find a job.

[Cmb82]

Good to know! I won't get so discouraged. Thanks.

[CelticGoddess, BSN, RN]

You might be able to be too choosy as an unexperienced nurse. Expand your search and get some experience. It took me a bit of time to find a new job after I was able to go back to work after medical leave and I had 6 years of experience. Keep trying, take a deep breathe and when you have some experience, try to get jobs on the units you want.

BTW You might need to work LTC until you can get into acute care. From acute you might be able to transfer to one your desired units

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

First off, I'm glad you're doing better! If anyone has justification for "old grad" status, it's you. For what it's worth, even if you hadn't taken those months off, your health wouldn't have allowed you to work -- at a time where you wouldn't qualify for FMLA yet.

It can take much longer than two weeks to hear anything, BUT your dream is shared with many many people. Those units are notoriously difficult to get into, because everyone and their sister wants to get into L&D or NICU. You really should be open to other types of nursing, including subacute or LTC. Any nursing experience is better than drawing your unemployed status further.

[Calalilynurse]

You should able for any and everything to get experience quick and your foot in the door not hild out for where you want to work. Most hospitals allow internal transfers within 6 months.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Good advice you are getting already. I also suggest you be willing to look outside your "dream" units for that first job. Landing a job in those areas will be difficult at best for somebody in your position. If you are determined to try to get there right away though, if you can afford to take a month or two to look go ahead and keep trying. You say you've only been looking for 2 weeks, that's not much time. If after 2 months you still have no offer I would suggest you expand your job search to different units, or different settings altogether. You can always apply to openings in your dream units after you have some experience, it'll be much easier to get a job there with some solid nursing experience behind you. I'm glad you are feeling better now and good luck on the job search!