I FEEL LIKE I'VE MADE AN ABSOLUTE MISTAKE BECOMING AN LVN! I regret doing this!

U.S.A. California

Published

Hello and thank you for taking the time out and reading. I have reached my breaking point and am fed up. I am a new LVN grad in Los Angeles and CANNOT find a job. This is the absolute worst. I spent one year in HELL going through VN school and even more hell taking my boards. Needless to say, me passing my boards was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. I came into the world of nursing thinking that there was a "shortage" of nurses. Boy was I wrong. NOBODY WILL HIRE ME, a new grad. I earned my license in June and we are now in September and have not gotten ONE call back, even for an interview. I've submitted tons and tons and TONS of applications(walk-in, fax, mail, over the internet). Ive submitted over 100 applications and nobody wants me. I am beginning to believe this was a big mistake. My loan payment it kicking me in the rear because I have no job. I've tried to submit everywhere such as SNF, long term care, rehab, acute care, psych, home health, assisted living and more. My husband and I fight all of the time because I nobody wants to hire me. I have tried to tweak my resume a million times and it is next to perfect. Still, employers will not give me a chance. Have I made a mistake? STress is truly killing me. I have only been able to get about 3 hours of sleep each night because I am constantly looking for a job. Where did I go wrong? Possibly this career. :mad:

I moved to California thinking there was a nursing shortage and finding a job would be a cinch. Ha! I was really beginning to regret it! I looked all day everyday for a job for 6 months. My husband was also getting frustrated thinking i was doing something wrong. I searched craigslist, indeed, monster, simply hired. Tweeked my resume for each different nursing job. Wrote hundreds of coverletters. I discovered nurses also work at cosmetic laser centers, oral surgeons, adult day care centers, weight loss centers hire LVN's (like lindora). After convincing a doctor with a private practice to hire a nurse with a license vs another MA, I recieved 2 more offers for adult day care and a clinic supervisor. I couldn't believe they all came at once after looking for so long! Stay strong and persistant! Show your husband all the posts on this site maybe he'll be a little more supportive. Your persistance will pay off.

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.

Great advice yincy! :) I agree with the other posters, don't give up, continue your education, look in all the places they recommended. The state prison system is constantly sending me jobs for LVN all over the state. Can you move? If not, at least apply to jobs an hours drive away. Consider joining the military! Volunteer! The best thing I did as an LVN was to volunteer during a disaster. Now on my resume I can list my volunteer experience. :D Good luck and try to keep a positive attitude.

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The prison system is the way to gain some experience. I'm working at the prison right now and PRN in the hospital as a LVN.

NEVER, EVER think you wasted your time, and please don't regret your decision to become a LVN. You've worked hard to earn your title and wear it proud. All the advise that's given to you here is all true. It's not you, it's the economy. Just a few years back they were hiring both RN & LVN like crazy and have went overseas to import nurses who didn't know their right hand from their left. But now that the economy is bad every employer is wanting nurses with experience. They can now be picky and choosy who they want to hire. A friend of mine just got turned down for a position as a RN (cough cough) she's a US citizen with an overseas BSN, and the reason that was given to her was that she didn't have SNF experience. Well they ended up hiring an ADN with NO EXPERIENCE at all. We think she was descriminated against because of her education. But she had 2 years experience at a hospital in Texas.

Do a search on careerbuilder.com and look up LVN positions. Even if they say they want experience I would apply anyway, as stated before the CDC is hiring them right now. Good Luck!

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Specializes in NICU/Subacute/MDS.

I'm so sorry for all of the stress you are under. I was so lucky to find a job and thank God for it everyday. My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope you can both find the strength to make it through these tough times together.

As one poster above suggested: Apply for the flu shot clinics. They do not pay a lot, but it is experience. Many of the jobs are posted for a short time, so check several times a day. I believe it is Mollen that does the majority of these clinics?

Also, private doctor's offices do hire LVN/LPNs. Most do not post the jobs online (if at all) so you will have to go door-to-door in your best suit and smile and hand out resumes. Ask the office staff if they know of any local openings or possibilities. I handed out resumes this way and most office managers were impressed at the initiative and positive attitude it took to do so. Some will not take the resume or have the time to talk to you, but don't be discouraged. You never know what crisis they are dealing with behind that closed door.

Sometimes there are random jobs listed on Craigslist. I see temporary jobs on there all the time where someone needs short-term private care or a nurse to fill in at a clinic, fair or office. These jobs seem to be more receptive to newbies. Maybe even apply for medical office positions that may be able to utilize your license for expanded duties?

I really wish there were magic words to help you keep your head up. Please know that there are many of us out here that support you 100%

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Yes I'm Going Threw The Same Misery......It's Depressing Here In L.A Looking For LVN Jobs

They Have Tons Of Openings But They All Want You To Have 1 Experience But Where Are You Supposed To Get It Form. I Spent So Much Time And Money Into This, And Now I'm The Only LVN Who's Filling Out Applications At Target

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Specializes in hospice.

I looked for 6 months and sent out over 200 resumes. I finally got hired by a hospice company, the one I really wanted to work for! I think it was because I e-mailed them all the time telling them how much I wanted to work for their ccompany. They showed me all my e-mails at the interview! They required 2 years experience and I was a new grad.

Persistance paid off for me maybe it will for you.

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I looked for 6 months and sent out over 200 resumes. I finally got hired by a hospice company, the one I really wanted to work for! I think it was because I e-mailed them all the time telling them how much I wanted to work for their ccompany. They showed me all my e-mails at the interview! They required 2 years experience and I was a new grad.

Persistance paid off for me maybe it will for you.

What hospice company was this if you dont mind me asking?

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Specializes in hospice.

Roze Room Hospice. (Los Angeles area)

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After sending about 100 applications (no exaggerations), I finally got a call back from a SNF. I interviewed with the DON and she hired me on the SPOT. I was beyond thrilled. The pay is $20.50/hr. I had orientation for two weeks and have been on the floor for 1 week. I have an RN supervisor who is my lifesaver teaches me a lot. The wonderful thing about it that I spoke with my DON about applying to an RN program that starts next summer and she is more than willing to accommodate my schedule for me during that period next year if I get accepted. To all the other nurses who have yet to find a job is to not give up. Persistence is key! Good luck and thank you all who kept me sane.

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

Not a suprise... I honestly don't know what to advise you, but to all those VN, LPN and even ADRN school student recruiters out there- SHAME-SHAME-SHAME. I see the advertisments on TV constantly- "get your nursing licence in only 12 mos and join the exciting and rewarding world of health care."... Students have an obligation to look into the potential job market before they embark on a education path, but to not tell LPN,LVN, ADRN, and even BSN students the difficulties in the current job market may make finding a paying job difficult to impossible as a new grad is criminaly dishonest. I would look into volunteer opportunities in your area. Even if you don't get paid-adding some out-of-school experience to your resume' may help a lot. If you wait too long no one is going to hire you because you are too long out of practice (even as a student) to have mantained your skills. A geographic change could help, but I wouldn't count on it. Good luck!!!

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Congratulations on your new job.

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each day i get more and more discouraged and my skills get weaker and weaker. i need some kind of work to keep me up to par. i thought making a career change was going to be great, that i was going to be needed, according to the statistics of job openings and nurse shortages by 2018! where are these jobs? why is every facility afraid to take on a new grad? we could at least take up some of the slack and help. these facilities can mold us to become exactly what they need. why don’t they give us a chance?

i am a so. cal lvn graduate. i had a very high gpa and i passed nclex first time at 85. i was licensed in august 2010 and still can not obtain a job. everyone requires 1-2 yrs experience, including home health and ltc. i have applied for cna, ma at med offices, flu shot clinics, state prison system, and phlebotomy tech positions just to gain experience, but even that is a wasted effort because i still do not have the 1yr experience and facilities will not hire above the required licensure.

i hope start classes in jan 2011 to finish required pre-req’s for the rn program. but until then where do i work? how do i get the experience started? i don’t want to forget all that i have learned.

there is such a long wait for the rn programs anywhere you look and even they prefer you to have experience if you want to get credits for the program.

this is a second career for me and i have now been unemployed for 2 years with a ba, a new lvn license, acls cert, cpt1 cert (i have had time) and nothing to show for it except another student loan. i can’t go back to what i was doing before (laid off d/t fall in design/construction industry). i found happiness in nursing, a niche. my family depends on me to move forward (and so does sallie mae).

i know with an rn license, finding a position as a new grad may or may not be easier, but even that can take me as much as 5 years. until then, i just keep plugging away at classes and looking for the cracked door.

if anyone knows of facilities that like volunteers in the oc/san bern/ or rivsd counties, please give a shout!

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