How in the world do i find a JOB?!

[muskrats]

I am one month away from graduating with an RN degree. I live in a very rural part of northern minnesota. there is a hospital here (only 16 beds though) and virtually no demand for nurses. And, i'm afraid, if a job ever does open up, it would clearly be given to someone with experience. So. I need to find a job elsewhere. The closest next hospital is 2 1/2 hours away (in Duluth) with the Cities being 5 hours away. I am willing to commute if I could find a part-time job with consecutive hours. But...my next problem is...there aren't very many openings at any of those hospitals either and all of the openings REQUIRE at least one year of experience. SO...how do i GET that experience? Especially from way up here. We can't move right now...we just bought a house and my husband really can't' quit his job. So I can't really do a graduate nurse internship in some other state because i can't commit to worker there for 2 years. I am desperate and getting really worried. ANY ideas/thoughts/advice would be VERY VERY appreciated. thanks in advance!

[mom2cka]

Not sure where you're at, but I've been looking around the Range for a friend who wants to move back around there, and I'm finding a few home care positions, which may hire new grads (one is FT in Hibbing) as well as LTC positions. It's tight - for those of us who'd like to move back around there, it's hard to find anything, with experience or not, let alone anything with benefits or FT hours. In my last year of school, I realized that it wouldn't be a good option to stay up there, so looked outside of the area - I'm very glad we didn't buy a house on the Range, like we were considering while I was in school. Good luck, get what you can, get some experience, and keep your eyes out. If you have a 4-year degree with public health, that opens a few more doors. Stay positive, and network, network, network - get involved at a community center where you can volunteer, a nursing home that is seeking volunteers or very PT staff, etc.

[Leyla~]

I couldn't get into a hospital when I graduated. I did get a job with a pediatric home health care agency. I'd work a full 8-12 hour shift with a special needs children in their homes. I got pediatric experience, vent training, worked with feeding pumps and GJ-tubes. The pay wasn't as great as the hospitals and benefits sucked, but it was such an awesome experience. I still work for that company part time. The peds experience though opened up the opportunity for me to work on the floor that takes peds in a nearby hospital one year later.

I don't know of the home care companies that operate up north. You could try contacting Edelweiss Home Health Care or Bayada if you're interested in that type of home health care. Even if they don't have patients that far north, they may be able to connect you to a company operating out there.

Good luck with your search!