I am beginning to think that I can not get a job...

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I am a new grad RN (of course). I am wondering, is there any way to compete with people who have experience?

Specializes in Addictions, Acute Psychiatry.
By which you mean???

Reality is nursing is a good job but a terrible career. Google pay compression and it will be all about nurses with 20 years making the same as GN's.

Nursing is the only profession where you can leave one job only to start all over at another place. I have no loyalty as most the jobs I've had we all got screwed out of benefits and sent home when the census was low meaning some months we were in the hole for vacation time (you have to use vacation when they send you home) so basically you have no time off.

My thankfulness? I left and wish them ill.

THere are few jobs that have truly decent benefits...jobs, not careers. I won't count the nurses let go in decades past just before retirement kicks in. Hospital admin is evil; I've been a part of the board meetings and it's a tough arena. I've also seen the CEO's taking a killing while nurses don't get raises (usually their bonus is exactly what was missing from nurses salaries.

Loyalty in nursing? For what? Whoever pays the best with the best benefits gets my application.

Now given this market, any job will do but it will likely be bottom of the barrel so that will be short lived for my career focused job.

Having said that, jobs with benefits and education perks, etc are keepers and I do feel loyalty to jobs that treat their staff as lifers not as temps.

I've not seen a facility in my area that negotiates salaries; here, it is what it is, take it or leave it. It irritates me when they ask me to post my salary expectations...of course I'll put the equivalent of 20 years experience but they all start you out the same anyway so that space is there just to create a divide. I don't know a single facility where an undergrad level RN's salary isn't set.

Ask what we want, sure everyone wants the moon but most know it's already set. I try to fill out my app leaving that blank but most don't accept it without salary expectations. Ridiculous when it's set.

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Besides working at the bedside, I also teach. You wouldn't believe what some of my students say. They think they will be making at least $30/hour, starting rate for new RN (even LPN with experience new RN) is about $20/hr in the area where I am. They usually also comment, "I'm not working weekends OR holidays, they can kiss my a$$". And believe me, we actually see these demands on resumes......And even our most senior nurses (25+ yrs experience) don't get this treatment. So while some of you are not like this, there are still many who are, sorry, but it's really the truth. And right now, the hospital I work for will not even look at a resume that has less than 2 yrs RN experience. It's really a tough market.

30 bucks is definitely not an unrealistic expectations,most places in my area start new grads on such amount.

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Specializes in jack of all trades.
Reality is nursing is a good job but a terrible career. Google pay compression and it will be all about nurses with 20 years making the same as GN's.

Nursing is the only profession where you can leave one job only to start all over at another place. I have no loyalty as most the jobs I've had we all got screwed out of benefits and sent home when the census was low meaning some months we were in the hole for vacation time (you have to use vacation when they send you home) so basically you have no time off.

My thankfulness? I left and wish them ill.

THere are few jobs that have truly decent benefits...jobs, not careers. I won't count the nurses let go in decades past just before retirement kicks in. Hospital admin is evil; I've been a part of the board meetings and it's a tough arena. I've also seen the CEO's taking a killing while nurses don't get raises (usually their bonus is exactly what was missing from nurses salaries.

Loyalty in nursing? For what? Whoever pays the best with the best benefits gets my application.

Now given this market, any job will do but it will likely be bottom of the barrel so that will be short lived for my career focused job.

Having said that, jobs with benefits and education perks, etc are keepers and I do feel loyalty to jobs that treat their staff as lifers not as temps.

I've not seen a facility in my area that negotiates salaries; here, it is what it is, take it or leave it. It irritates me when they ask me to post my salary expectations...of course I'll put the equivalent of 20 years experience but they all start you out the same anyway so that space is there just to create a divide. I don't know a single facility where an undergrad level RN's salary isn't set.

Ask what we want, sure everyone wants the moon but most know it's already set. I try to fill out my app leaving that blank but most don't accept it without salary expectations. Ridiculous when it's set.

I've been an RN with a traditional BSN for over 28 years. You hit this nail right on the head!!! I'm just sorry it took me the last 3-4 years to finally see the light on this issue. Even with my experience I cant find a job!! I left bedside nursing 3 years ago to do chronic outpatient dialysis and biggest mistake I ever made. Now hospitals wont even look at my resume soon as they see I have been away from bedside these last couple of years. Of course most dont have a clue what chronic outpatient dialysis is and to be honest the degree of care it requires during tx can be every bit as demanding as bedside if not more. I a former CCRN and CCM. I have worked CVICU/CTU, Burn ICU, Trauma/ER etc and that past experience doesnt even make a blip on the radar screen in todays economy. On the other hand if I had left and been a stay at home just over a year well I would have no problem getting these interviews. My area has had layoffs and pay cuts yet built a brand new hospital and the other had a huge expansion. Go figure. When I first went into dialysis my 20 something years meant nothing on my pay scale. I will take what I can find that pays the best and when what I want comes along I'm gone. Hate to say it but work is work at this point in my life.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
Besides working at the bedside, I also teach. You wouldn't believe what some of my students say. They think they will be making at least $30/hour, starting rate for new RN (even LPN with experience new RN) is about $20/hr in the area where I am. They usually also comment, "I'm not working weekends OR holidays, they can kiss my a$$". And believe me, we actually see these demands on resumes......And even our most senior nurses (25+ yrs experience) don't get this treatment. So while some of you are not like this, there are still many who are, sorry, but it's really the truth. And right now, the hospital I work for will not even look at a resume that has less than 2 yrs RN experience. It's really a tough market.

Wow, just wow. Although I am only 1 1/2 years out from nursing school, I never had those unrealistic expectations. I knew that if I wanted hospital experience, that someone had to cover shifts, 24/7. If new grads don't want to work weekends and holidays, they can apply for outpatient areas, but I guarantee yo they will make even less than a hospital new nurse. Plus, most outpatient areas want hospital experience.

With the economy still recovering in many areas, I don't think anyone just graduating in any field has a right to be too picky.

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i too am a new grad who'll be graduating in Dec, i would like to say for the record that i am happy to work nights (i love night shift nurses, they are such a riot!) weekends are fine, my long term career goal is acute care so i am happiest on the units!!

i find it ironic when hospital admin tells me, "we are going to hire the experienced RN who's reentering the workforce cause she has experience & will be here for the long haul."

then in clinicals & specialty rotations RN after RN tells me, "the only reason i came back to work is cause DH lost his job. he has two interviews next week & if he lands one, my a-- is outta this place!!" most of the reentering RNs i have met are NOT in it for the long haul, in another couple years the hospitals in my area will be hurting big time as a mass exodus of nurses ensues... on the other hand, i plan on working fulltime or parttime for many many years to come, i enjoy working alongside being home...i want to be the acute care nurse that's been on the unit for 20 years!

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
By which you mean???

I think that I am merely rehashing this here but:

You get the, "I don't want to work holidays....no one in my family has to and they just won't understand"

the, "Shouldn't it be the nurse who has GROWN children/no children that works Christmas". (my Dad was military and deployed most holidays, in Vietname...your kids CAN deal with Mommy being working on the holiday).

the "I have small children, and can only work 7-3, during the week, and it has to be okay when I come in late every shift, and if one even sniffles, I will have to leave my shift shortstaffed (at least once every ten days), because my husband couldn't possibly handle a sick child". Surely that gives me priority.

"I couldn't possibly take care of that pt w/TB/MRSA/VRE/HIV/HepC, because well, my husband and I are starting to try to conceive, and I think it would be too dangerous....you know".

"I have ADHD/ADD and need to have fewer pts than everyone else, because I need more time to do things".

"I have to be able to answer my cell 24/7 because my boyfriend can't stand to not be in constant touch/my kids try to kill each other if they can't call at least 20 times per day. Don't you just love my new Trace Adkins ringtone?"

"Well, I really don't like to work the Sabbath because religion is really important to (implication - it can't possibly be as important to the rest of these heathens here). But hopefully I will be able to find a switch for my required weekends. (reality...will basically torture and harass incessently, every other staffer so that s/he will be off every Friday night/Sat/Sun)."

"I know that it costs a huge amount of money and causes a great deal of inconvenience to orient me....but as soon as I find a better job, I will book on outta here".

"I know that it costs even more to orient, educate an ICU nurse...but I only got into nursing to become a CRNA..and not soil my fingers with bedbaths. So I will be here for the 2 required years and then dump this job for CRNA school. Isn't that a great plan?."

"Well, I thought that I would be a CNA, but became an RN because I don't like bedpans/fetching water/feeding people/doing mouthcare. How many CNAs do you have per shift?"

"I can't work nights".

"What do you mean that I won't make $35/hr...in Florida...my first year out."

"What do you mean, that you do not negotiate new grad salaries? Isn't there a nursing shortage? I went to a very prestigious school/worked as a CNA for the last year/did clinicals in many different departments/graduated in the top tier of my class." (Clue....those mean very little against a proven track record)

"What do you mean that I cannot become a travel nurse, get a job in Hawaii right out of school? Isn't there a nursing shortage". I know that for most people you require at least a year (preferably 2-5)of experience but I went to a prestigous school/school with multiple clinical sites/worked as a CNA/graduated in the top tier of my class. Besides, I'm ready now. "(Clue: see above)

"I just want to work in my specialty (none of this M/S - I'm too good for that) for 1 solid year, then I will travel to Hawaii"

"What do you mean that I cannot wear my spongebob scrubs - you have a dress code of all whites? Isn't that old and boring?"

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While not every new grad exhibits these attitudes, enough of them do to make recruiters a bit jaded.

I could go on for hours.

Many hospitals get burned by sinking a lot of money into new grads just to get dumped after a year or two. Or the new nurse does not work out. If they leave after 1 or 2 years, it just is not cost effective. Now sometimes the hospital deserves it, by poor conditions. But I have worked some very prestigious facilities as a traveler and as staff, and 1-2 years at "X" hospital in certain hospitals w/good evals can take you far (I get recruited even in this economy by some great places where new grads can barely get seen). Hospitals in this economy cannot easily pay out the costs of orientation, especially when the staffer may book on them. They also cannot orient effectively more than a handful of new grads at a time.

(An idea would be a contracted residency for new nurses, like we do for MDs. We do not have MDs independent right out of school.)

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Clearly there are frustrations on many sides. Evidently, what I am getting from this post is that there is a lot of resentment towards new grads, even the ones who worked hard to get into top notch schools and carry good grades to help secure a decent job when they graduated.

There seems to be very few who are willing to offer constructive suggestions about how to get a job. The complaints about new grads, frankly are ridiculous, and I would not hire someone like that either. I guess that my question is, for a resonable and rationale person, who understands that you don't make demands like that when you are a new grad, if ever, when you do hire new grads, what are you looking for?

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"Many hospitals get burned by sinking a lot of money into new grads just to get dumped after a year or two. Or the new nurse does not work out. "

How is this different than the returning nurse who has not practiced in years whose DH lost a job who plan on quitting as soon as DH gets a job? Is there a significant difference in money to train the new grad vs. an experienced nurse who has not been on the job in many years?

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"Many hospitals get burned by sinking a lot of money into new grads just to get dumped after a year or two. Or the new nurse does not work out. "

How is this different than the returning nurse who has not practiced in years whose DH lost a job who plan on quitting as soon as DH gets a job? Is there a significant difference in money to train the new grad vs. an experienced nurse who has not been on the job in many years?

No not really.

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get this... one of my previous employers actually preferred new RN's without experience. They were easy to 'brainwash' into believing that their system was the only way, um or should i say 'sell them into the system'. this is a huge teaching institution with an awesome reputation for training nurses to know what to do in every situation. most experienced nurses couldn't or wouldn't hack it, but the new grads didn't know any better.

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Specializes in LTC/Skilled Care/Rehab.

I don't mind working weekends, holidays, nights or helping a pt with a bedpan. There were are few people in my class who didn't want to do any of those things (and I mean a few) but I saw many experienced nurses who felt the same way. I just wish I would be given a chance as a new grad.

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