I could be great, just not in CA?

[smileswyou]

Oh boy, this is probably going to be a long one, please bear with me. I graduated with my ADN in May 2013 and passed NCLEX in July. I am in CA and I had begun applying to hospital positions beginning Dec 2012, knowing it would be difficult - without so much as a bite even with prior healthcare experience. I began working in an outpatient surgeon's office in Oct, thinking a job is better than no job, even though I was looking for that holy grail acute experience.

Fast forward to May of this year and I was put to "per diem" status at my job and I have not worked since. I have applied everywhere within a 100 mile radius of my house, stalked the web for emails of DON's and managers, spoken to nurse managers, worked with recruiters, used my "connections", revamped my cover/resume; all to no avail. I can't even get a job for a tech or CNA position! What I keep hearing is, "maybe you should try out of state?" WTH?!! I am SO frustrated and disheartened right now. I was so excited and proud to become and RN, feeling like I could really make a difference. My skills and my knowledge are falling by the wayside and I am beginning to feel like my education has been wasted. I feel like I have an expiration date looming over my head. I am not a new grad per say, but I am not experienced either.

I am in limbo career wise and I do not know where to go from here. Do I focus all my energy into my desired specialty (maternal/child health) by getting my certs and CE's? Do I say forget trying to find a job in nursing for now and go back for my BSN (already have BS)? Move my family out of state? Thanks for any input anyone can offer.

[Pairofshues]

I too was a new grad recently (ADN). I had ZERO healthcare experience and my applications were rejected as fast as I was submitting them. I sought employment in critical access hospitals and found I have two interviews within a week of applying! So I would suggest you stay in your current location, apply for acute care positions in smaller "critical care access" hospitals. If you will take other positions I would apply for positions at a home health company or at rehab facilities.

BTW I went to school and live in Las Vegas - so it seems like new grads have a difficult time obtaining employment ANYWHERE - so my advice is take any NURSING job - at least it IS EXPERIENCE :)

[smileswyou]

Thanks Shues! I had not heard of "critical access" hospitals before. For anyone else in CA interested, here is a link to a list of the ones in CA here:

Critical Access Hospitals - California Hospital Association

[Wheaties]

stick it out in california. i live in california and work with a lot of new grads and nurses. some of them are from out of town. they live in the bay area or southern california where it is hard for new nurses to get jobs. so they end up moving to a smaller city where I work just to get their experience. I can't imagine working anywhere else besides california because i love the pay in this state.

I'm browsing and reading this forum again because I plan to quit my job to pursue my dream of traveling around the world for 2 years. Sure I have nearly a decade of experience working in an acute med-surg/tele department in a hospital, but after reading topics in this forum of how difficult it is just to get a job in this economy, it scares me to think that i will be in the same position 2 years from now when I'm applying for a job to get back into nursing again. I expect that it will be difficult and nobody will hire me for a while. I am prepared to be unemployed for who knows how long, lol.

but i agree, get your experienc anywhere, but stay in california, don't go anywhere. if you can, work in a smaller city where i work. there's a lot of job openings here. and they easily hire new nurses with less than a year experience in med-surg/tele.