hiring freezes,layoffs,oh my

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Things have been bad here but now they've gotten REALLY bad.One local hospital just laid off a ton of people and now has a hiring freeze.The other has a hiring freeze.There is literally nobody hiring nurses.Sometimes a nursing home job will pop up but its literally swarmed with applicants.Then some are for nursing homes with really bad reputations/staff to pt ratios/who are being closely watched by the state they've been in trouble so much.

I dont know what I am going to do :bluecry1: I will commute up to an hour and there is still nothing.No new places are opening and nobody is giving up their job in this economy.

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Specializes in cardiac, ortho, med surg, oncology.

How about that nursing shortage we keep hearing about?!!!!!

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Ha.Its been my opinion for a long time that there is no shortage of nurses,only a shortage of ones willing to work in sub standard conditions.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Yeah there are multiple threads regarding the shortage and what the shortage really is. I agree that there is no shortage per say, just a shortage of nurses willing to put up with the crap that we put up with on a daily basis. But I think its the wrong way to go about garnering respect for our profession. One day someone needs to be p#ssed off enough to say "We will not put up with this any longer".

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But the reason for the hiring freeze is that pts are forgoing healthcare due to not being able to afford it due to loosing their jobs,just a vicious cycle.:crying2:

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.
But the reason for the hiring freeze is that pts are forgoing healthcare due to not being able to afford it due to loosing their jobs,just a vicious cycle.:crying2:

Where do you live?

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I just walked away from a well-paying assisted living management job that was sapping the life out of me. I want to work in hospice, but there's a hiring freeze on there too. I was nervous about quitting because so many nursing jobs have dried up in this poor economy, but I knew I couldn't do that job anymore. Fortunately, being willing to come down a couple of notches professionally and trade ambition for a sane schedule won me an LTC job that actually pays decently, gives me the four-day-work week I wanted, and provides first-day health insurance. Not bad for a 50-year-old starting out all over again.

The jobs are out there.......you just have to look beyond the want ads, and perhaps take a position that wouldn't be your first choice. I say, as long as you can stand it and it pays the bills, you're far better off than a lot of people.

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

We are in a hiring freeze here too. Empty jobs are not being filled and we are doing more with less. Personally, I have never seen the economy like this before. Sure I've seen recessions, but I've never seen so many people that have been layed off (in all kinds of professions) in only a month's time.

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

What state are you in? Or rather what region of the US? Is there a chance you could relocate to another city within your state or to another state? I realize that moving costs money too--just trying to throw out some ideas....I truly feel for you; our local paper doesn't seem to carry a lot of jobs either.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

This happened in 1993 and lasted for several years. This too shall pass.

I also quit my job and went to agency nursing, VivaViejas. I share your concern, but I am soooo much happier now!

We are trying to be very conservative with money this winter in preparation for what might lie ahead.

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Specializes in ED.

Wow! Where do you live? There is a nursing shortage here in Central New York. We have 5 hospitals in the city of Syracuse and every one of them is hiring. A few years ago, my hospital went through a restructering and there were a few layoffs. Many took the voluntary layoff/severance and then went on to find new jobs quite quickly. In the surrounding areas of Syracuse there are also hospitals constantly hiring. Not to mention nursing homes, home care agencies and MD offices. The average starting wage in the area (hospitals) is 22/hr for a new grad. The cost of living is relatively cheap (compared to other places in the country). A 3 bdrm house can be had for about 150k, a 3bdm apt for about 600-700/month. The cost of gas in my area is currently 2.54/gal. The winters suck but overall a really nice place to live.

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I have read all the responses and I think the geograhic issues as well as the economic ones are the critical areas affecting hiring at this time. In my area, there are fewer jobs being filled with full-time employees, but we have hired agency nurses to assure we are meeting our minimum staffing numbers (along with mandatory overtime on our days/weekends off). The agencies are calling and sending e-mails every day to try to get enough nurses to meet the demand. Would you consider travel work for a time until things improve in your area? Also, don't forget the public arenas- county/state/local agencies- prisons, jails, long term care, psychiatry, MR/DD (especially forensics). These places can't close and the "consumers" can't choose not to recieve healthcare because of the economy. I hope these ideas help. Good luck!

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