Life as a New Grad Sucks

[lifeasanewgrad]

Dear hospitals that won't hire new grads, dear nurses that refuse to retire, dear saturated new grad market, dear nursing schools that keep accepting too many students for the money and not for the need, dear people that still think there is a nursing shortage,

You're making my life miserable.

Sincerely,

A very bitter, worn out, new grad.

So glad I busted my behind to get a 3.7gpa in nursing school, work as a nurse aide for two years, have two other degrees, a preceptorship, and volunteer all for not.

P.S. hospitals: one day you're going to want me and don't think I won't forget who didn't treat me well or wouldn't hire me when it really mattered.

Felt good to get that off my chest!

[JSlice., ASN, RN]

I too recently graduated. I am sure that's terribly frustrating not having a job right now. Nursing school is such hard work! Right now it does stink that there aren't as many jobs available for nurses. Before we graduated our instructors had told us about what you were saying: Nurses won't retire because of the economy, fewer job openings. She gave us a suggestion if we ended up without jobs upon graduating. She said that instead of waiting around, perhaps this is a perfect time to further our education, which can help prepare us even more for work as a nurse! Try and be patient and continue to actively search for jobs. Good luck job hunting!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I understand what your instructors were saying about getting more education, but will it help you get hired as a nurse or make you look more expensive and less experienced?

I just bring this up because if you get your Masters, but have never actually had a day of nursing experience, do you think you will have a very good chance of being hired? The masters will put you in a higher (supposedly) pay category which would make the jobs open to you mostly those for experienced nurses. .................just seems like a vicious circle to me and one you might want to consider before taking on more student loan debt.

[jorjasmith]

CrunchRN you are absolutely correct. I just spoke with my cousin who is an ARNP and I mentioned going back to school for my MSN and she made the same statement, that I would have the credentials but not the experience to back it up and that may be more of a hindrance to my search for employment. I'm seriously considering applying for a lesser position just to get my foot in the door. I just hope they don't say to me now that I am overqualified for that position (it's a never ending cycle I guess)

[jjjoy, LPN]

It doesn't help any but know that this isn't the first time new grads have had trouble some places. When I graduated in the mid-90's it was a bad job market for new grads in my area due to major down-sizing and lay-offs. Like today's grads, we'd heard all about the shortage, sign-on bonuses, etc. The class two years before us were being actively recruited prior to graduation. The year before had a bit less recruitment. No one locally was recruiting new grads in my area the year I graduated. Very few of my classmates had job offers prior to graduating. Some years later, any warm body would do again.

But I will grant you that it's worse this time round since the entire job market across the board and across the country seems to be taking a big hit.

[Intern67]

Well I'd be mad at a nurse if they were playing the Brett Favre game.

I'm not aware of any nurses who went 12-4 last year (while throwing 33 TDs and 7 picks) and went to the NFC Championship.

[DizzyLizzyNurse]

I keep reading that there is still a shortage long term, but in the short term it looks like a bad job market because of the nurses who lost their retirements and have to keep working longer than they thought and because of all the budget cuts made in health care they can't afford to hire a lot of people. New people, especially new grads, are VERY expensive to train. Give it time, the economy will start turning around and things will get better. Maybe you'll have to take a different, lower paying job than you originally envisioned. Or maybe you can move to another city? IDK if that's feasible for you.

[kubivern]

Like others, I encourage people to "rant and rave" when appropriate - it is therapeutic and it reduces stress. But of course you can't please everyone.

I work in education right now, and we recently were visited by our State's Board of Nursing. One of our major discussions was the lack of employment for new nursing grads.

When there is an abundance of workers in a specific discipline, the education "machine" will reduce the number of graduates in that discipline - usually this is simply because less people apply because they know they will not have jobs on graduation, but it can also be done by reducing the allowed number of applicants that the college will accept.

So we asked - should we reduce the number of applicants we accept due to reduced number of jobs available to our graduates? Well the answer was no - as soon as the economy picks back up, the nursing shortage will return with a vengeance!!! The Board of Nursing representative stated that during meetings with industry (hospitals, etc.) the industry has emphasized not to cut back, because they will need lots of nurses in the future.

Now any time industry says anything, we must take it with a grain of salt - of course a hospital wants an abundance of nurses so they can pick and choose, and keep wages and costs low. But still, they recognize that the need will be there in the future. And of course they can't improve the situation now, by hiring more people, because there is no money.

How does that help a new grad? I am sorry - not very much. But as with any goal, sometimes it has to be modified by working in other job markets, in other professions, taking more classwork, etc.

Good luck, and keep punching !!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Don't get me started! They are purposely not decreasing because they could care less about the new grads and want to keep their jobs and keep wages low. Bunch of BS!

[kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN]

Don't get me started! They are purposely not decreasing because they could care less about the new grads and want to keep their jobs and keep wages low. Bunch of BS!

What part is BS?!? Hopefully you don't think nursing is some special field where new grads aren't hired. I have a few friends who spent much more time and money to become pilots only be working as waiters now since that market is struggling. And new grads who are complaining about money and not getting paid enough, these pilots are starting out making $18,000-$20,000 GROSS...before taxes, retirement, etc is taken out. And on top of that they're gone from home 4-5 days a time. I'm still technically a new grad and I won't complain about the money...especially since I work 3 days a week, and make more than some people who work full time 5-6 days a week. Plus I have 4-5 days OFF from work at a time depending on which 3 days I CHOOSE to work(we have self scheduling).

P.S- I know of one floor in my hospital that my friend works on...that hired 7(yes seven) new grads and 2 travel nurses. No one is purposely doing anything. There are jobs out there, trust me. But some(not everyone), refuse to work somewhere that isn't their first choice...be glad there is a choice.

[vegas2009]

lol... I found your post cynical yet funny.

However, sorry... you feel stuck. Well, at least, you'll have hundreds of thousands of new grads to keep you company.

At least, you can honestly say that you really tried and have thousands of dollars that you've spent to show for it.

It's a really scary time for new grads now. Maybe it'll get better?

[kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN]

haha whose post?

[vegas2009]

haha whose post?

TO ALL OF THE ABOVE POSTS THAT MY POST APPLIES TO

It really is a scary time for anyone who wants to invest in their education. I'm just glad I'm not graduating this year or next. Come to think of it, maybe I did myself a favor?

Only time will tell, still... medical professions are the only way to go for me.