I REALLY need some direction from Mi RN's!

tildor · Aug 20, 2011

Westieluv,

I received my RN license Dec. 2010. I have many friends that have also graduated from Dec. 2010 - May 2011... None of us have received job offers.

westieluv · Aug 21, 2011

Westieluv,
I received my RN license Dec. 2010. I have many friends that have also graduated from Dec. 2010 - May 2011... None of us have received job offers.

Sorry, I should have clarified, there seem to be plenty of jobs here in Michigan for RNs with experience. As for new grads, I see across the board on all the state forums here on Allnurses that that is a problem across the entire country. It's a bummer, especially when you worked so hard to become an RN, but way too many people have gone into nursing to try to compensate for all of the jobs that have left this country over the past couple of decades, and the older nurses aren't retiring due to the bad economic climate. As a result, employers are being really picky right now and demanding experience. I took 7 years off in the early to mid-2000s to stay home with our kids, and I had a hard time getting back into hospital nursing because I didn't have "recent" acute care experience. I took a home hospice job, then a LTC job, before I got hired into a hospital again as a Med/Surg float nurse, which I have several years of experience in, so even with that experience I had trouble too.

Hang in there. I really hope that things pick up for new grads soon, but in the meantime, there are a lot of jobs out there for experienced nurses, which I guess is better than no jobs at all.

CorazonDeOro · Aug 22, 2011

Sorry, I should have clarified, there seem to be plenty of jobs here in Michigan for RNs with experience. As for new grads, I see across the board on all the state forums here on Allnurses that that is a problem across the entire country. It's a bummer, especially when you worked so hard to become an RN, but way too many people have gone into nursing to try to compensate for all of the jobs that have left this country over the past couple of decades, and the older nurses aren't retiring due to the bad economic climate. As a result, employers are being really picky right now and demanding experience. I took 7 years off in the early to mid-2000s to stay home with our kids, and I had a hard time getting back into hospital nursing because I didn't have "recent" acute care experience. I took a home hospice job, then a LTC job, before I got hired into a hospital again as a Med/Surg float nurse, which I have several years of experience in, so even with that experience I had trouble too.
Hang in there. I really hope that things pick up for new grads soon, but in the meantime, there are a lot of jobs out there for experienced nurses, which I guess is better than no jobs at all.

There are jobs for new grads, I just don't know why some have more luck than others. My luck was purely based on working in the hospital for a year before graduation but pretty much everyone from my May 2011 graduating class has jobs now. Beaumont Grosse Pointe seems to be doing the most hiring. The rest of us are at St. Johns, Henry Ford, Mt. Clemens Regional, and DMC. Have you had anyone take a look at your resume? Are you applying for only certain shifts (most of the new grads I know are on midnights)? I am sure you have heard all of this before, but there is hope.

tildor · Aug 22, 2011

Thank you so much!!!

rkm1005 · Aug 26, 2011

I would like someone to tell me where all these fabulous jobs are at?? I have 14yrs med-surg experience and have been looking for a job since January. Henry Ford interviewed me for home care and told me my qualifications were not good enough. I am currently working for BCBS on a temp assignment for $26 an hour, with the crappiest schedule you could imagine! I live in Southeastern Michigan, Wayne County. I can't even get a interview much less a job!

tildor · Aug 26, 2011

rkm1005,

Hello! I agree with you. The economy is bad in Michigan. I am so sorry you are not happy with your present job. Good luck!

westieluv · Aug 30, 2011

Well, I work at a busy community hospital in Monroe and they have 36 open RN positions posted right now. Henry Ford Healthcare currently has 113 open RN positions posted on their website. Oakwood has 70 positions posted on their website. And those are only a fraction of the companies that hire RNs in this area. To me, that's a lot of open positions just waiting for experienced RNs to fill them. Compared to most career fields right now, and NOT just in Michigan but across the entire country, that's a lot of open positions for this one area.

If you guys still believe that Michigan is so much worse than other states for employment opportunities, read some of the other states' forums here. I know it's fashionable right now to bash Michigan, especially if you've never lived anywhere else, but honestly, things are no worse here for RNs than anywhere else, and actually better than many other states where people just assume that things are better than here.

westieluv · Aug 30, 2011

Forgot to add, we lived in Phoenix a couple of years ago due to a temporary transfer with my dh's company, and things were way worse there. All of the hospitals were on hiring freezes and the colleges and universities were cranking out new RNs by the hundreds every year. I spoke to experienced RNs who had been out of work for years because things were so bad there. Remember, warm and sunny doesn't always = tons of job opportunities. And FWIW, Michigan does circles around Phoenix in terms of quality of life, crime rates, etc. NEVER again will I live there, even temporarily. If I ever entertained "anywhere but here" thoughts, that move cured me of it and made me appreciate what all we have here in the Great Lakes state. I realize that this is a subjective statement, but it sure made me realize that things aren't just automatically better somewhere else, even somewhere that is *supposed* to be so much better. :)

tildor · Aug 31, 2011

Rkm1005,

Email me.. LOL

westieluv · Aug 31, 2011

Hmm...just did a search on Indeed.com. I put in "RN" and searched in Detroit. I got 1,779 job postings when I tried it, and 1,251 job postings when I did the same and put in Ann Arbor for the location.

LOL. :rolleyes:

Again, the economy is bad EVERYWHERE. And yes, there are jobs to be had in Michigan for nurses, more so than in a lot of other places. If someone is hell bent on bashing Michigan and has never tried living anywhere else, they may not want to believe it, but unfortunately for them, it's the truth. New grads are struggling to find jobs in every city in every state. It's all right here on these forums. Blame it on the bazillions of people who went into nursing thinking that it was the easy ticket to good money and job security. The market is flooded with new grads right now. It has to be so frustrating when they worked so hard to get through school and pass boards. I hope that things pick up soon for them, I truly do.

rkm1005,

I have no doubt that you are a great nurse. Maybe the problem with the home care job was that you had lots of good inpatient experience but no home care experience? When I was looking to get back into the nursing field after spending several years at home with our kids, I applied for some home nursing jobs and every one of them told me that they preferred some home nursing experience. I did home hospice nursing for most of 2010 and going into peoples' homes is a completely different animal than doing inpatient care.

Anyway, at least now you know that there are plenty of RN jobs out there for you in SE Michigan, so good luck in your search. With 14 years of Med/Surg experience, you shouldn't have a hard time finding something. :)

My intention here was not to ruffle anyone's feathers, so I am through posting here. Good luck to all of you.

rkm1005 · Aug 31, 2011

Thanks for the replys, however, I guess my point was missed. I have applied to Henry Ford, Oakwood, and Mercy Memorial, Trininty Health care (st joes), Davatia, Fresinus and BCBS. I have not even recieved a phone call! Davita just sent me another email- "we have a exciting opportunity available" I have already applied for that opportunity! As far as sites like Monster and Indeed go yes it will come up with lots of jobs, most of them Agency positions or contingent, that or they are some crap job. Those agency's just jerk you around, tell you what you want to hear. I need full time permanent position, and I can not work midnights. As far as the home care position goes the job posting states the requirements are "one year of clinical experience" Hello??? I have 14yrs of clinical experience. Also, that job is still posted on their site. I didn't have any trouble as a new grad or for that matter ever, I applied for a job and I got it, so I don't understand what the hell is going on.

miteacher, ADN, MSN · Sep 16, 2011

Forgot to add, we lived in Phoenix a couple of years ago due to a temporary transfer with my dh's company, and things were way worse there. All of the hospitals were on hiring freezes and the colleges and universities were cranking out new RNs by the hundreds every year. I spoke to experienced RNs who had been out of work for years because things were so bad there. Remember, warm and sunny doesn't always = tons of job opportunities. And FWIW, Michigan does circles around Phoenix in terms of quality of life, crime rates, etc. NEVER again will I live there, even temporarily. If I ever entertained "anywhere but here" thoughts, that move cured me of it and made me appreciate what all we have here in the Great Lakes state. I realize that this is a subjective statement, but it sure made me realize that things aren't just automatically better somewhere else, even somewhere that is *supposed* to be so much better. :)

I find your post interesting. I'm originally from Michigan, but I relocated to Phoenix to take a teaching job. I ended up in the LPN program here in Phoenix, and plan on entering the 3rd block of the RN program once I finish the LPN program. I'm wondering if I will be able to find a job when I move back to Michigan, or even here as an LPN while I finish up the last couple blocks of the RN program.

I also find the quality of life in Phoenix appalling, to say the least. The schools are terrible. I teach 4th grade, and half my class can't read....Anyway, I miss Michigan and want to move back once I finish in about a year and a half. Did you work as a nurse in Phoenix?