Jobs in Columbus, Ohio (Or Ohio in General)

[ngillilan123]

I am going to be starting nursing school really soon... I live in VA and am planning on moving back to Ohio when in graduate. I want to buy my first house and everything. I can't go to school there though because my future husband has to stay here in Virginia for a while, so I am going through school here... Sentara or TCC.. Which ever I get in to first. I have been looking at job posts in both Virginia and Ohio and a lot of them say that they want at least 1 year experience. That is how it is with most careers... They want experience before they give you the job, especially if you are going to be caring for patients. But how am I supposed to get experience if no one will hire me because I have none. One reason why I decided to go into nursing was because of the HUGE demand, and now I am getting a little discourged. How hard is it to get a job as an RN fresh out of nursing school? Are hospitals and doctor's offices willing to take a gamble on a new nurse or is it really hard for nurses to find jobs right out of nursing school? Thanks for any feedback!!!!

[KatzchenLSW]

I'm not a nurse, but I work with lots of them and my husband works for one of the BSN programs in Columbus. I can tell you that Central Ohio is a very tight market for new grad RNs right now as there are many, many ASN and BSN programs (there are 6 programs in Franklin county alone, and several more in the surrounding counties) putting out class after class of graduates while the major hospitals in the area all have hiring freezes. The school my husband works for has had several angry letters from recent graduates who had great grades and glowing clinical reviews but are still unable to find a job.

You may be okay if the economy turns around in a year or two, but I would not bank on being able to quickly find a job once you do decide to move to Ohio.

[ngillilan123]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess that I am just curious to know how difficult it is for a newly graduated nurse to find a job. Almost everywhere that I look, the job requirments for an RN are at least 1 year experience. How are we to get this experience if no one is willing to hire us without it?

[sicushells, RN]

If you're able to work part time as a tech, that does look better on your resumee. Many hospitals have new-grad orientation/residency programs. You might want to look at those instead of just the general hiring openings. I know someone who got hired into Columbus Childrens NICU as a new grad less than two years ago. While the job market may have changed since then, I doubt it... Cleveland and Columbus have some of the highest negative population growth rates in the country.