Job woes in the SF Bay Area... why is it like this?

[NTPinky]

After finishing nursing school, it took me several months to finally get a job (I live in San Francisco and the market is tough here for new grads). Other RNs advised me to start anywhere, such as a clinic. I finally did get a position in a women's outpatient clinic (yay, income!), but I've always felt somewhat envious of my friends who started on the floor, because most RN attitudes that I encounter are that of "you have to start on the floor to be considered a 'real nurse'". I do a lot at the clinic, but other RNs seem to think that working in a clinic is not "real nursing." Even a couple co-workers who started on the floor have made comments.

Now we are facing layoffs due to budget problems, and I'm likely to get the axe in the next couple months because I'm per diem (though I work 5 days a week). I've been looking for another job but the problem is that even though I've been at the clinic for over a year, all the available RN jobs require the famous "minimum one year acute care experience," which I don't have. I had an interview at a hospital a few months ago (maternity unit), and was hopeful because they had six openings, and the Nurse mgr said my chances were good because they had so many openings. But I didn't get the job, and when I called to ask why or what suggestions they had for me to improve in future interviews, they told me they preferred to hire new grads.

So I don't qualify for new grad training programs because I'm not a new grad, but I don't have floor experience either. Is it only like this in the San Francisco Bay Area??? When I tell people I'm a nurse they often say "Oh good, you'll always have a job." And on a recent news report about the economy they reported that healthcare is one of the very few industries to not be affected by the national economic crisis, but I'm not feeling safe at all. And I have about $40,000 in student loans to pay off. I don't know what to do. Anyone else been in this situation?

I've looked into relocating, but I'm living rent-free here and salaries seem much lower in other areas, so I don't know if it'd be a good financial move.

[js408]

This 13.9% figure includes

"Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and

are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past."

Actually it's 15.9%, I was looking at the wrong column the first time. The figure includes people who have given up looking for work because there are no jobs. These people are available to work and would be working if there were jobs, that makes them unemployed.

Back in 1994, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics changed how it gauged unemployment, choosing to exclude "discouraged workers." That means people available and eager to work but who, after a year of looking, have given up because they cannot find a job. If you're looking at the U3 then you're looking at the wrong number, especially if you want to compare the number during the great depression before the U3/U6 difference existed.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

Remember when the hospitals were saying that the mandated raio law in CA would make the so-called nursing shortage so much worse?

Guess they were wrong.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Remember when the hospitals were saying that the mandated raio law in CA would make the so-called nursing shortage so much worse?

Guess they were wrong.

Probably wouldnt hurt if those ratios were actually enforced on days other than just when JACHO was in the hospital.

[suzanne4, RN]

In the Bay Area, they are most definitely enforced. The majority of the facilities are unionized and it is written right into the contract. Even for break coverage. If there is not a nurse there to releive the nurse for their breaks, then they get two hours of penalty pay in addition to everything else.

New grad program in the Bay Area have been quite tight for the past few years, there are more new grads than there are positions and this is when things were good. Now there are more than 200 applications for every spot that they will have, and the new grad orientatons are usually only two times per year, maximum three per year. And even though one is seeing a posting, many times they have already been filled by the manager or the manager of a specific unit has already ofered the job to someone, but HR is required to post it.

Having been away from the acute care hospital setting is going to make it harder, even if you have worked in a clinic; it is not judged the same. And most facilities will take a grad fresh out of school before someone that has been out for a year and in another area of nursing.

You may find it easier to get hired if you go for the year of LTC and then apply. Even last year, Stanford was accepting those that got the year in at a nursing home and were considering that current since they were taking care of the patient completely and not just for a clinic visit.

May be something to consider.

[suzanne4, RN]

The ratio laws in CA actually happen to be state law and have nothing to do with JCAHO. A facility can be fined substantially by the state for not following them. Any hospital that does not follow can easily be reported to the state and they will follow up with this.

JCAHO also makes unannounced visits many times now, they are not required to give notification in advance.

[suzanne4, RN]

But it is time to send all the nurses working here on VISA's back to their country to ensure our citizens keep working!

This thread is specifically speaking of the Bay Area and there is no one single facility that has hired anyone in years on a temporary work visa, the unions do not permit it.

So, as you would put it, then any American working in any other country that has permission to work there needs to be sent back to the US as well? Things do not work that way. Sorry.

Nurses should not be coming to the US with anything less than the green card or a treaty visa in the first place.

But this thread has nothing to do with this and it is completely off topic from what was being discussed here.

Would appreciate it if you stick to what is being discussed here and on-topic.

[suzanne4, RN]

The Bay Area has many more nursing programs than other areas as well. Simple as that and the supply far outweighs the demand.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

:scrying:I'm sorry Suzanne. I was just being, you know......... But this isnt a vent thread. I really dont know what the ratios are like in CA to be honest or how they work. I was just taking a jab, for a laugh. OP is stressed about a real problem though, I should time things better. Didnt mean to give the wrong impression.

[BonnieSc]

The OP can play up "new grad" as some suggest, but the problem will always remain that she's been out of school for a year or more, and I'd bet that's what recruiters/NMs are having a problem with, more than the fact that she's been working in a clinic. There's no hard-and-fast rule about how long someone remains a new grad.

OP, I don't have any real advice, but I hope you can keep your job and I wish you good luck. Even if the county clinics do see more business during the economic downturn, the governments are going to continue to cut funding, unfortunately, in most cases.

[shodobe]

"But it is time to send all the nurses working here on VISA's back to their country to ensure our citizens keep working! "

I agree so much it hurts. We DON'T need foreign nurses anymore because it shows in the inability for domestic trained nurses to get jobs. All working visas should be revoked and the workers should be told their services are no longer needed. I know this is harsh but reality needs to step in and have these workers stop taking jobs away from American trained nurses.

Why is it that certain countries are training their nurses for the sole reason to come to the US? You will find very few US trained nurses wanting to go over seas. We need to make the entrance exams far tougher than they are now. Foreign trained nurses SHOULD be held to a higher level of competency, especially in the English level. So many of them fall so far short of English competency. OK, I have said my peice. let the naysayers come forth!

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

The reason they will send these nurses to America is because many of them send money home to their families, and the money is spent in their countries, strengthening their economy...

I agree with you. It is frustrating to have seen nurses on the floor who when a patient asks them for pain medication, they are unable to understand them and walk away. I trained under a foreign nurse for preceptorship, he couldn't understand me half the time, so I doubt he was able to understand the patients who had difficulty speaking.

It made it difficult because I saw him make several errors, some more serious than others. I did report all of these to the supervisor, and when I was finishing my last days of preceptorship it was obvious they were going through the motions to let him go.

I'm not saying all foreign nurses fall into this category, but there are some out there, that I have seen with my own eyes, that appear to be more of a liability than others. And they are taking jobs that could be given to nurses who were trained in this country, and english is their primary language.

[NTPinky]

Wow, quite a few responses since my last post!

The latest postings I've seen for LTC facilities were for LVNs. Seems they hire very few RNs and more LVNs because it's cheaper. I'll keep looking though, of course. I've seen new grad programs available in Southern CA lately, but they pay much less there (curious since the cost of living isn't much cheaper).

I get very conflicting opinions about selling myself as a new grad vs. not. I do a lot at the clinic, including managing gestational diabetic pts, triage, and even training more experienced RNs. And I don't understand the rationale behind hiring someone fresh out of school vs. someone like me.

As for ratios, I hear they get violated all the time. There is no such thing as break relief for inpatient RNs at my hospital, and the only one I know of in SF that for sure has break relief RNs is Kaiser. My friends who do inpatient at other hospitals are often asked to cover for another RN while he/she is at lunch. Isn't that technically breaking the ratio?

If I knew then what I know now, I think I'd have gone to medical school instead. Only reason I didn't is because I wasn't sure if I'd like the healthcare field and didn't want to end up in debt paying for something I didn't even enjoy. And here I am in a field I like but constantly worrying about job security.

And to top it off, I found out today that one of my high-risk pts and her baby died When it rains it pours!