LPN school: wasted a year of my life

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

I graduated earlier this year, (March), could not find a GPN job. Got my license a month ago and still no luck. I have applied everywhere, nursing homes, hospitals, Dr offices. I feel like I wasted a year of my life. I quit my office job because they were laying off. I figured that was a sign that I should pursue my dream of becoming a nurse and that I would have a steady career. 6 months after graduation and I'm still working as a CNA for a temp agency. No one will permanently hire a CNA who has their LPN license because they know eventually an LPN will leave in order to use their license. I feel like I wasted my time and now I'm 7000 in debt. Loans payments will start to be due next month and I cant afford to make payments because I have two kids to support. Thought the investment would be worth it. There's only about 10 people in my class that have jobs, and most of them had been working as CNA's at the same facilities beforehand. What a waste of time. I'm considering going to try to get my old job back and just hope that I dont get laid off. What a joke.

Yes, have you considered moving? There are a ton of LPN job opportunities out there! Obviously just not wherever you live. I always find this so shocking when I read this sort of thing on here.

I graduated 2 years ago and had several offers within a few hours of sending my resume out. 3 different full time positions were offered to me at the hospital plus the nursing home where we did our clinical told our instructors that they would take out whole class if they could.

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Yes, have you considered moving? There are a ton of LPN job opportunities out there! Obviously just not wherever you live. I always find this so shocking when I read this sort of thing on here.

I graduated 2 years ago and had several offers within a few hours of sending my resume out. 3 different full time positions were offered to me at the hospital plus the nursing home where we did our clinical told our instructors that they would take out whole class if they could.

where are you from? And is it like that now? I knwo 2 years ago is not a long time, but boy how things have changed! But desperate times calls for desperate measures!

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Specializes in Derm/Wound Care/OP Surgery/LTC.

Three words for you.

Move.

To.

Florida.

We NEED nurses here in the retirement capitol of the United States. Long term care facilities are begging for new grads/old grads/any grads. Whenever I have sent my resume out for LTC, I have had phonecalls back within the hour of my resume going out. I am not working presently due to personal issues...but I still see multiple LTC facilities crying out with ads that say "We Welcome New Graduate Nurses".

And you can't beat the weather here either! :)

Good luck to you!

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If paying the loans at this time will create a hardship for you, you can try to get a Forbearance, which is for people with financial hardships or a deferment which would allow you to pay the interest only on your loans. Good luck with your job search. Hopefully something will turn up soon for you!

you can defer 2-3 years with no problem. contact your loan company

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Try showing up at nursing homes, resume in hand, dressed professionally. Showing up always got me more than calling.

Good luck,

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

I'm convinced that the recruiters for LPN schools have a special place in predition for thier eternal black souls. In todays market RN with BSN new grads are having trouble finding full time jobs. LPNs new grads- forget about it. Sorry to hear you were taken for a ride. I'm not putting down anyone who is a practicing LPN and feels satisfied with thier choice- good for you!. The options for a new LPN in the current market and the near future are slim and none. They should have made that clear before you started school- but how would they ever get tuitions paid if they were honest?! You might look into a local community col to see if any of your training could carry over into an RN education. ADN or BSN, there are schools that offer LPN to RN programs. It would put your student loans on hold until you graduated with your RN, and you would be no worse off week to week than you are now. Without a doubt, you would have a bigger overall loan debt when you got out of RN training, but you would be more likely to find a job!

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I'm convinced that the recruiters for LPN schools have a special place in predition for thier eternal black souls. In todays market RN with BSN new grads are having trouble finding full time jobs. LPNs new grads- forget about it. Sorry to hear you were taken for a ride. I'm not putting down anyone who is a practicing LPN and feels satisfied with thier choice- good for you!. The options for a new LPN in the current market and the near future are slim and none. They should have made that clear before you started school- but how would they ever get tuitions paid if they were honest?! You might look into a local community col to see if any of your training could carry over into an RN education. ADN or BSN, there are schools that offer LPN to RN programs. It would put your student loans on hold until you graduated with your RN, and you would be no worse off week to week than you are now. Without a doubt, you would have a bigger overall loan debt when you got out of RN training, but you would be more likely to find a job!

You have hit the nail on the head. The only healthcare trained people who have a harder time finding employment are newly trained medical assistants.

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I know the feeling. It took me months to find an LPN job after graduating. I got my LPN license in 2007, and found out I was pregnant right after getting my license. I had to stay home with the baby, and that delayed me looking for a job for a year. After starting to finally look for a job, it took months to get one. I recently got hired as an LPN at an urgent care clinic an hour and 20 min. from my house. I hate the job and the drive.... I'm hoping to find something closer that I like. Don't give up, you'll find something! I think it's the economy.... Good luck....

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Hi, I am experiencing a similar delay in finding employment. I am hoping to take a class for phlebotomy and/or ekg. An I.V. class would be great. I want to stay in the field until somebody realizes I will be a great asset as a nurse. Be sure to contact the student loan people NOW! Don't let this hurt your credit. One month will cause a blemish. They should allow you some time to begin paying. Keep your head up. I know it can be distressing and confusing but don't lose your year, time and money. I looked into working into another capacity, even in dialysys- just to get experience SOMEWHERE!

You'll be a good nurse when someone gives you a chance. Don't give up! Good luck!

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I wanted to ask the nurse who said she was an 'independent provider' how it works? Can you give us more detail on what that is all about?

THanks

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i'm sorry about your dilemma, something will come through for you...check out http://www.usajobs.gov and see what you can come up with.keep a positive attitude, stay prayerful and don't beat up on yourself; society is more than willing to indulge you in that arena so don't add to it. good luck...always remember, when you educate a girl (woman), you educate a nation; when you educate a boy, you'v e only educated that individual. your education is more valuable than you realize. give yourself a hand for your accomplishment...:yeah:

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Hi Cherybaby,

I'm starting my LPN program soon in Tampa Bay and hope to work part time. I was wondering if you know of any places where I can work part time while going to school - I live in Tampa.

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