I just want to vent a little. I've worked as an LPN in FL for the past 4 years & found myself wanting to know more, to experience more than the redundant repetition of my days working in the same place in Geriatrics. I decided to go back to school to become an RN thinking that it would open more doors for me & bring much more opportunities.
I recently finished, passed my boards, and became licensed as an RN. It's already been a couple of months, yet I haven't heard a word from the 40+ jobs other than 1 rejection email. I suppose that living in an area that's over saturated with about 10 nursing schools is a factor to why I have been unsuccessful in landing a job.
Being experienced as an LPN..I thought I would have a better chance of getting a job before any new graduates straight from school, but it doesn't seem to be the case. It's been discovered that it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know. Unfortunately for me, I don't have the network required to even get an interview.
With school finished, and the dreadful wrath of NCLEX behind me; I have a lot to be excited & happy about, but as time passes and no incoming phone calls about inquiring employment..I can't help but feel down & disappointed.
An over abundance in graduate nurses allows the few surrounding hospitals to be very specific & picky about who they hire onto their team. "1-2 years experience required" - in a specialty area ... those are the words I dread to read. How am I to attain experience if no one will take the chance?
Feeling down and feeling doubt creep in..where I should be excited and ecstatic about starting this new chapter in my life.............RN_Laila
The thing is, classes cost money. I am taking another class, and relocating for my job. There comes a point where money is exhausted. If I spend much more, I will go bankrupt. This is the problem for many of us, and even those of us who found jobs. A very sad situation. I have accepted that I am broke. Hopefully, full time hours will come. Still, I never thought it would be this awful for us. The worst part is that people don't grasp how dire it is for nurses.
If the geography is not in your favor you may want to relocate. .
I see this on so many threads, its a good idea if you have the resources to do it, but many people dont. I have had to take a part time job at a local amusement park :tinkbll:just to try to get by until something else comes along. Sadly in the state I live in if you dont pay your utilities they turn them off, they dont give you a few months like other states. Around me are sooo many nursing jobs but like others have posted they want 1-2 years exp, well how is someone to get experiance when noone will hire them?
I totally understand all New Grad pain at this point. I graduated with a Diploma in Nursing in january 2010 and got my RN licence for NJ in early febuary. Since that time I received a total of 2 interview with no calls back. Also I received Reciprocity from NY and CT, but nothing has panned out with those states either. Let me though fully admit I can only travel 2 to 2.5 hours from my home base in NJ. Also unfortunately I can't move to the states where the jobs are because of family commitments. Yeah it very frustrating for me as I'm sure it is for almost all New Grads without employment. I think at this point I going to stop searching for the rest of this year and restart in January. I personally just want to enjoy the holidays as much as possible and not be a downer at this time of year. I'll just keep working at my current retail job until then.
I wish all the new(er) grads good luck and hope everyones fortunes change in 2011.
wOw..I was unaware of the extent of difficulty that graduate nurses are currently receiving when trying to become employed.
Have you considered moving if you were to find something? not sure if that is a possibility for your situation or not.
- yes that is an option for me to move. It's a last resort of course because my entire family resides here, but if things keep going in the same direction it has been..I will not have a choice but to relocate.
The city (if that's what you want to call it) I will potentially be moving to, has 100+ RN related job postings listed. I believe it's because it's a very small town compared to where I currently live & does not have the inconvenience of having a surplus of graduate nurses...@ this location nurses are hard to come by.
When I said my heart would sink when I would read "1-2 years experience needed", this city is NOT picky @ all. If you graduated from an accredited school, passed NCLEX, have RN license #, and CPR...they're happily take you on & train you.
Trinitas - you & I think alike. I'm enjoying the holidays with my family now b/c moving to another state is becoming more and more of a reality. BUT that doesn't mean that I'm not slipping in my 50+ applications to each facility/hospital when I can.
It's very very frustrating when I KNOW I have more job experience than others, but they are picked solely because of the fact that they're "friends" with The Powers That Be. wOw...I wish we all had that kinda luck.
The more I think about it & discuss it with you all..the more sense it makes for me to just suck it up and relocate 1,000+ miles away; although it will be difficult to move away from my family and friends..it's the ultimate decision I need to make in order to survive.
I'll see what I need to do in order to endorse my license to another state. I want to thank you all for listening to me vent...I appreciate you sharing your stories with me as well. I'm going to pray for a break through...FOR ALL OF US
i have a bsn graduated in 07, graduated broke . the rules in 07 were if you didnt have an internship lined up well you missed the boat. an if you applied as a gn and did not pass nclex then you were out of a job or at best went to tech work. well in the interim i took a non nursing/ quasi medical job so my family did not get kicked to the curb, and had to sign a 2 yr contract. no problem, i'll keep my end of the deal. you'll always have a versant program or residency program to get into. not!!!! lets jump to 2009, contract is up, now no one is hiring, the favorite hospital who i wanted to work for (yes the pineapple) wont even look at you now for versant because they didnt home grow you (although i did clincials there). the next largest hospital went bankrupt, and the others wanted refreshers. when you call back your school of nursing all you are told is "keep grinding away" things should get better.
joanna73, BSN, RN
4,767 Posts
The thing is, classes cost money. I am taking another class, and relocating for my job. There comes a point where money is exhausted. If I spend much more, I will go bankrupt. This is the problem for many of us, and even those of us who found jobs. A very sad situation. I have accepted that I am broke. Hopefully, full time hours will come. Still, I never thought it would be this awful for us. The worst part is that people don't grasp how dire it is for nurses.