I'm having a hard time finding an RN Job

Davey Do · May 26, 2019

At times like this, nurse0000, we may just have to focus on our priorities.

We can't have our cake and... well, you know.

panurse9999 · May 26, 2019

You are not alone. Here in PA, the job market for nurses is non-existent. Market saturation . My advice: Stay home and take care of your baby if you can swing it financially. Or look for a non nursing job that fits your schedule. The stress in nursing is off the charts everywhere. Over work and under pay is the norm. It became this way over time, and through healthcare becoming part of the corporate structure in this country. I advise whomever I can to get out before you lose your sanity, or better yet, do not enter this field in the first place.

TAKOO01, BSN · May 26, 2019

Do you need health insurance? If not, you can work per diem or agency, essentially creating your own schedule. Not sure how many months/ years experience you have now and if this is feasible.

Also, what about clinics, working for the state in mental health facilities, or correctional nursing? I believe these areas all have 7a to 3p or 6a to 2p type of hours.

TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN · May 26, 2019

You'll be much more marketable once you have a solid year of nursing experience and while the rehab may seem like a black hole there's a lot that you can learn there. You can also look at applying for outpatient jobs clinics, dr's office, and dialysis. Chronic dialysis centers tend to be new grad friendly and the hours are daylight however dialysis tends to have pretty long hours. You can also look at school nursing sometimes they'll accept new grads as substitute nurses, you can take a look at private duty home health as they tend to be friendly to new grads.

Beyond that I think you'll be hard pressed to find a nursing job that isn't too stressful and will have daylight only hours conducive to raising a family, especially in a saturated market as a new grad. No judgement here, just being honest. Best of luck to you.

allnurses Guide · May 28, 2019

The primary issues as you have related your story are two-fold. One, you waited many months before securing a position. This has aged you out of eligibility for most new grad programs, leaving you only with positions for experienced nurses to apply for. The second is that you are working in rehab and only have a few months of experience, both of which cause the acute care world to see you as too inexperienced to be qualified for those positions. You have some hard decisions in front of you now.

You may have to look outside of your immediate area for work. You may have to consider working night shift and secure childcare like most families have to do. You may have to take a significant pay cut to get a position that works better for your family (ie: working in an outpatient setting). You may have to stay at this job for a couple of years to get some credibility for making the transition to something else.

I wish you the best of luck. This will be an uphill climb. Advice to others reading - don't wait to secure your first nursing position. Even if you are pregnant. What makes "sense" to you and for your family may leave you with a bitter pill to swallow later, as it won't make sense to employers at all. Do what is right for you....but with full knowledge that it will have consequences on the other side.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · May 28, 2019

You may want to re-word it to, I can't find a job that won't be free of mental and physical stress. I have worked rehab/LTC, med-surg, psych and nursing homes. I had 30 patients in the LTC/Rehab setting. I was even a flu-shot nurse. I remember sticking up to 300 patients at a health fair because one of the nurses bailed. Good thing I was good at IM injections. There are jobs everywhere but when some people say they can't find a job, what most really mean is what I mentioned above. Fortunately for me, I am back in the hospital setting doing what I don't mind doing. I am back in psych. I see things that can be fixed but I know that where I am, it is better than majority of the places I have worked. First I have what I need, the computer system is decent and there is help around due to emergencies. Here is the thing. I didn't get this job, right off the bat. Try to atleast get 6 months of experience. A year is better but if some employers will accept 6 months. Honestly it is bad in most and a lot of places. You end up trading one bad thing for another. I decided to pick the lesser of the two evils because I need to eat and have to pay bills. Many people are leaving the place I am at and I know where some are going, I am thinking to myself it won't be better there, but it is possible it could be better than them or so you hope. There is so much with doing the work, the nights/days rotation, them pushing 3-4 days of work on you in 12 hours, politics, and etc. Try your best to keep you license safe, document and get your experience. Move up if you choose but you have to stay somewhere to get somewhere.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · May 29, 2019

You've gotten a lot of useful feedback so far, even though it may not be what you want to hear.

For better or worse, there's a limited supply of day shift jobs in desirable specialties/settings, and those jobs can be very competitive. As a relatively new grad with limited experience in a rehab setting, you won't be as competitive as other applicants with years of experience in acute or specialty areas. You can certainly keep applying, but it makes sense that you're struggling to find that specific type of job.

The above posters have offered a lot of potential solutions. They may not align with your ideal dream scenario (finding a day shift job in a desirable setting), but given your limited experience you may need to adjust your expectations.

I'd also add that no matter what specialty you enter, your first year of nursing is hard. There are hundreds of forums on this site about new grads stating that the work is exhausting, they feel incompetent and overworked, and they want to quit. You don't state how long you've been at your rehab job, but part of what you're experiencing may be the normal 'new grad blues.' The universal advice is to stick with it, because it gets better, and it's worth it. In addition, it's very rare for any specialty to let new grads go PRN with less than a year of experience. It takes at least that long to start feeling competent in your skills and assessments, and if you go to PRN too early, it's very hard to gain those essential foundations. Like I mentioned, you don't say how long you've been working in rehab, but you may be hard-pressed to find a reputable employer who will let you go PRN with less than a year of experience.

I will say that for nearly all new grad nurses, scheduling for your first few years of nursing can be rough (and it's even harder with a new baby). However, by making some sacrifices now to gain experience, you could set yourself up for excellent future job prospects that work with your family's needs. Nursing is an incredibly flexible, versatile field that can have fantastic hours for families, and you've worked very hard to get your degree. If you step away from the field again, you may be throwing away any future opportunity to use your degree.

motherofcats, ADN · May 29, 2019

On 5/26/2019 at 1:59 AM, panurse9999 said:
I advise whomever I can to get out before you lose your sanity, or better yet, do not enter this field in the first place.

Man this is so disheartening. Is the answer really to quit nursing? As a new grad nurse about to enter the workforce I've heard this over and over. "Are you sure you want to be a nurse? Don't work here, I'm only here for the pay", etc. They tell me I'll be jaded soon too, but I hope not.

Quota, BSN, RN · May 29, 2019

29 minutes ago, motherofcats said:
Man this is so disheartening. Is the answer really to quit nursing? As a new grad nurse about to enter the workforce I've heard this over and over. "Are you sure you want to be a nurse? Don't work here, I'm only here for the pay", etc. They tell me I'll be jaded soon too, but I hope not.

It’s not the case for everyone I promise. I’m about to hit 4 months in as a new grad and I’m feeling great about my career change to nursing. While Oncology wasn’t even on my radar as a unit to work on its where I finally got my first job offer 6 months after I graduated, 8 months of active applying for new grad positions. I took what I could get and I’ve been bp very happy with it. My unit it very new grad friendly and supportive, good patient population to learn from as we see a lot of different things. There are a lot of factors that made this career change a fantastic choice for me, rocky start landing a job but very nice now that I’m here. I’m not likely to stay in Oncology forever but I don’t envision having any trouble staying on this unit for a few years before applying for an internal transfer to another unit at my hospital.

Don’t be discouraged by Panurse’s doom and gloom. Their situation is absolutely not everyone’s situation. From what I read in their nursing education thread recently a fair amount of their frustration is self induced. Refusing to get their BSN which their acute care hospital system has required while also refusing to relocate to areas where their AND would get them a job no problem. While other factors exist in the situation those major truths remain. Panurse is just bitter and wants everyone to be bitter with them.

motherofcats, ADN · May 29, 2019

7 minutes ago, Quota said:
Panurse is just bitter and wants everyone to be bitter with them.

SO BITTER. My lordt reading other posts makes me feel sad for them. You guys, you're NOT victims! I digress.. thanks so much for your reply, Quota. I know nursing is what I want to do and have since I was little. I'm willing to endure the shitstorm. Maybe its not for everybody, but I'm tough

allnurses Guide · May 29, 2019

1 hour ago, motherofcats said:
Man this is so disheartening. Is the answer really to quit nursing? As a new grad nurse about to enter the workforce I've heard this over and over. "Are you sure you want to be a nurse? Don't work here, I'm only here for the pay", etc. They tell me I'll be jaded soon too, but I hope not.

No, this is NOT the answer. However, more and more nursing is coming to recognize the necessity of grit and resilience in the workforce, given the unique challenges to our chosen job.

I love being a nurse and I love knowing I had the internal resources and external support to make it to where I am now. Everyone should have that and I am glad to see the conversation changing on how to help our new grads develop it and how we as experienced nurses can help provide the resources.

Try not to listen to the naysayers. There is no perfect world, no perfect job. Nursing is one of the harder ones and I just bet, if you had it in you to make it through school, you have it in you to weather the storms and be part of the coming wave of change.