How hard is it to find a job after ADN/BSN degree?

[HawkFanDan]

I hear that new grads are having a hard time finding a job after getting their degree in nursing especially those who have an assosciates degree instead of a bachelors. is this even true?

http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/new-nurses-fight-find-work

My aunt and older cousin just got their assosciate degrees and found a job right away. i plan on getting my ADN in a community college and work part time as an RN while finishing up mys BSN at a university. is this doable? is it hard to find a job depending on the state you live in or is the "saturation" in nursing an actual national thing?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

The ease of finding employment after graduation depends on your local employment market, as well as the applicant's flexibility.

States such as California have a 43 percent unemployment rate for new RNs during the first 18 months after graduation. In addition, metro areas such as NYC, Philadelphia, Denver, Boston, Chicago and multiple others are glutted with more new nurses than the local market can reasonably absorb.

Some hospital systems have started preferring or outright demanding the BSN degree as a mechanism to limit the number of new grad employment applications that are submitted.

In addition, characteristics of the new grad determine how quickly (s)he'll secure employment. The new grad who rejects the notion of working outside the acute care hospital setting because "it is their dream" to work in trauma ICU might be unemployed for a long time. Your dream job might not be available for a long time, if ever, so the flexible new grad will accept any nursing job and build up one's experiential level to make oneself a competitive applicant.

[RunBabyRN]

It really is market-dependent. Depending on where you are in WA, you may be fine, or you may struggle. This is where you need to look at job postings in your area. If everything says, "BSN preferred", you may have trouble finding work. I know even here in CA, ADN nurses can generally find work in a SNF, but hospitals are almost impossible without a BSN, unless you're in a rural area.

[HawkFanDan]

Thanks for the feedback! Im strongly considering becoming a nurse but knowing i could be having a hard time finding a job is a little discouraging. Regardless, i've heard too many positives about the career so im sticking with it. Just wondering, if i decide to get my BSN from a community college, would that be a dealbreaker to most hospitals? What would i have to do to make myself standout more when employer has a choice between a resume from a community college and a resume from a well recieved university?