If I hear this one more time....

RNforLongTime · Mar 11, 2011

I think it's possible because in my area, LTC facilities are always looking for a few good RN's. Same with the local Rehab hospital. I guess it just depends on the area of the country you are in.

axr64086 · Mar 11, 2011

... I swear I'll scream:
"You're an RN, you can have a job tomorrow!"
Yes, that was true maybe five years ago, but today... how can people be so clueless? Especially other nurses! Case in point, a close friend of mine; has been with the same employer for a decade; could be fired tomorrow if she has to call in sick (which would be the first time since May '10; such goes the punitive sick policy she got caught up in); but she's convinced she'll have a job tomorrow, just because she's an RN! Even if she gets fired for attendance issues!
Is it just me... (unemployed for almost a year) - or are some people absolutely clueless about today's economy? And what do you say to them?!
Sorry for the vent, it just got to me today.
DeLana

Your friend work for an HCA? I hope you find something soon :)

agldragonRN · Mar 11, 2011

... i swear i'll scream:
"you're an rn, you can have a job tomorrow!"
yes, that was true maybe five years ago, but today... how can people be so clueless? especially other nurses! case in point, a close friend of mine; has been with the same employer for a decade; could be fired tomorrow if she has to call in sick (which would be the first time since may '10; such goes the punitive sick policy she got caught up in); but she's convinced she'll have a job tomorrow, just because she's an rn! even if she gets fired for attendance issues!
is it just me... (unemployed for almost a year) - or are some people absolutely clueless about today's economy? and what do you say to them?!
sorry for the vent, it just got to me today.
delana

yes she will have an easier time looking for a job because she is an experienced rn. that is what the employer is looking for. new grads are the ones who are really having a hard time getting that first rn job.

silentRN · Mar 11, 2011

The economy sucks. So is job hunting now days. I've recently applied for some jobs in a different location. I've worked 3 years with Surgical/Trauma/Transplant patients in the ICU, and I still get emails back from their HR saying I don't qualify...I think the whole HR system is a joke. You know a good hospital when they have good nurse recruiter. Luckily, I'm not unemployed, and I have received some employers who are interested.

canchaser, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Clueless!!! Just cause one is experienced don't cut it. I've been looking since august for a new job. Even in my same system I apply , apply and apply getting rejected. I've only had 2 interviews. Due to family reasons ( car) I'm

Looking to get the same hours of husband and hoping for the same hospital. Also it took my husband 16 months to land a new job after being laid off from auto industry. Your friend could get an agency job tomorrow but getting thru Hr is a long and tedious job!

WhichWayIsUp? · Mar 11, 2011

The economy sucks. So is job hunting now days. I've recently applied for some jobs in a different location. I've worked 3 years with Surgical/Trauma/Transplant patients in the ICU, and I still get emails back from their HR saying I don't qualify...I think the whole HR system is a joke. You know a good hospital when they have good nurse recruiter. Luckily, I'm not unemployed, and I have received some employers who are interested.

:mad: WOW HAVE YOU EVER HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!!! The entire application process in this country is an absolute joke! Talk about a department that has increased their importance while decreasing the value of an organization! HR is a department that needs to be cut back and redefined!

Let me be clear, I am not a hack. I have held every line management position you have in a traditional organization including charge nurse, nurse manager, director, vice presiedent, chief operating officer and president. I have never found a use for HR other than processing a new hire with all the forms or firing some one. Other than that they are just a big waste of resources!

Did you know that 30 years ago HR was the place you sent executives that could not function in their jobs? That is where you sent the drunks, the inefficient and derelict folks that you wanted to get out of the way. So they figured out the way to improve their position was to become a road block to the hiring process. In the old days you sent an envelope with a nice cover letter telling who you are and what you are looking for and included a nice resume. They sorted through them and then sent them to the "right" hiring manager. As a manager you read through the letters, looked at the resumes you were interested in and then called the applicant yourself and conducted a phone interview. If you liked what you heard you called them in and did a face to face. When you found the person you wanted you called up HR and said prepare the paperwork, I am hiring this person. The person came to HR filled out the paperwork and that was that. Started work on the next orientation day.

Now as an applicant you have to find a website and locate a position. You fill out about 45 minutes worth of data. Sometimes you can attach a cover letter that explains who you are and why the company should hire you. BEWARE! The software has programs built into it to screen you out, not screen you in! If it doesn't find what the HR secretary put in the program it will send your application to the big terabyte storage bin to never be seen by human eyes! And now, to add insult to injury you don't even get an email to say "Sorry, you suck and we are not even going to look at your resume!" Nope, you just sit there with your little dreams in your hands thiniking that somebody at that hospital or company really must be looking at your resume. But they are not. All because HR decided that they needed to be the "gatekeeper" of the application proces. Fire them! Fire them all!

Another example of HR inefficiency and waste. Since I have returned to staff nursing I have noticed a general trend. We hire PCTs, train them, work them for 3 months, begin the disciplinary process and fire them at 6 months. They are usually young, full of vigor and excitement when they start and then 6 months later they are old, burnt out and cynical. So we have to have new ones. But alas, there are no applications for PCTs. Huh? Is not the country in an economic downturn? In Georgia we have officially 12% unemployment and unofficially it is closer to 40%? How can this be, no applications? Well, when I put the fire to my director's feet she decided to prove me wrong and we went to HR. Pounding on the desk of the HR director we demanded to see all the applications for PCTs in the last 30 days. She typed on her keyboard and said "there are none." I cried liar and told her that I had entered 3 applications under 3 different names so where were those applications. Under duress from my director she started searching. And guess what? In some dark corner of the HR database she found all 3. And why were they over there? Because some HR secretary had put in the wrong code for the postings and the computer system had sent every application to this depository. Which no one would have looked at! There were hundreds of applications! No one lost their job or got reprimanded, just a "whoops, we goofed."

I must go now. I have launched a world wide job search and must spend the entire day filling out webforms that will never be seen by human eyes.

Good luck.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

I have to agree with one of the above posters... it depends on your area and what type of job you are looking for. In my area of the state...you can get a job. If you are looking for a specific floor or unit or you want only certain hours..maybe not as fast.

If you are looking for a job to get in the door and get experience...they will take you.

If you are willing to do LTC, skilled care or rehab....you can have a job today (or in some places if you are experienced..you can get the job like yesterday)

A job is a job when you are desparate.

BUT....I totally get what the OP was saying.

kygavin · Mar 11, 2011

It is well known that even though you are an RN it is very difficult to get a job right now...It may be easier to get a job in LTC right now because of high turnover but in my area it's difficult EVEN AS A NURSE!!!!

DeLana_RN, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Thanks for the replies. I do know that some jobs are available and always will be, but I am restricted by family obligations to working only certain days/hours and no call. Therefore, it is very difficult even for me as an experienced nurse to find a job. Years ago, they would have accommodated me (and paid a sign-on bonus as well), but nowadays they got it too good - too many applications from desperate nurses to pick and choose from.

I agree with pp - HR is just about useless! They used to at least forward your application to the manager of the department you applied to - now they get so many apps, they just prescreen themselves; never mind, most recruiters aren't even nurses and don't have a clue. And if your opinion of HR isn't already low enough, read the new Reader's Digest which will confirm what pp has mentioned - and more. And no, it's not good, their job truly is to screen people out (as they admit anonymously).

So my plan is now to get my foot in the door of an organization I'd like to work for by starting as a volunteer; because it's a fact that the only way to find a job nowadays is through connections (as the friendly HR folks in the RD article confirm).

Best of luck to everyone,

DeLana

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

What about part time work instead of volunteer? That is a way to get your foot in the door. I guess it really depends on what you are looking for. It sounds kinda specialized.

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Mar 11, 2011

Ironically, though I have not been able to even get a call-back on any of my applications for nursing positions, I have an upcoming interview at a local hospital for a CNA position. The hiring manager is aware that I'm an RN and I was honest with her on the phone, saying that the primary reason I was interested in the job was to get my foot in the door at her hospital in the hope that at some point in the future I'd be considered for open nursing positions.

I also do volunteer work as an EMT with my local fire company and at a nurse-managed clinic but that has not really helped in locating a nursing job.