What The Bleep Happened To The Shortage?

Nurseismade RN · Sep 23, 2008

hi nurshell888

there is a shortage of nurses with experience, but unfortunatley not for new grads. Hospitals will look take you if you have at least six months experience but prefer a year. Try looking outside Boston. I see you like pediatrics.....look at some community health centers in Boston to see if they are hiring. Some do hire new grads. I started out as a community health nurse, I am now a hospital nurse. Also look into agency work.

Don't give up.....you will find something soon.

ps I am a fellow graduate of RCC too, class of 2007

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2008

There's no shortage, never has been. People are finally starting to see that. And with the huge flood of nurses from overseas that should be coming in 2009 d/t changes in immigration laws, pertaining mostly to nurses, there is soon to be a huge surplus, imo.

FireStarterRN, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2008

The economic downturn is probably a factor as well.

HappyPediRN · Sep 23, 2008

Um, YES, totally! I've had my license for three months and have not yet found a job. I graduated second in my class with all kinds of awards and honors and had experience at three hospitals as a nursing assistant. I feel completely betrayed.

neurorn6 · Sep 23, 2008

There continues to be a shortage of nurses, but I have found that it is on a geographical basis. Some areas are turning out new nurses every 6 months. This causes a surplus in those regions. There are quite a few nurses who have the need to remain in their home area for different reasons, family, etc.

If you are willing to relocate, there are areas that still need nurses. Look in your nursing mags. One thing is remains constant, as nurses, we have to stay flexible.

Good luck in your job search.

Selene006, BSN, LPN · Sep 23, 2008

I too live in the Boston area and graduated with honors and a clinical excellence award. What have I been doing for the past 2 months? Applying to hospitals and nursing homes (even ones that I don't want to apply to!) ...and getting no response, or the infamous "We'll contact you if we're interested" or "We start our new grads as per diem workers and if we have a spot opening up, we'll notify you." Blah Blah Blah. I spent the entire day today (again!!!!) putting in applications and walking away desperate and wondering how I'm going to pay my bills this month! Everyone wants to hire nurses with experience, but how am I going to get experience when no one will hire me? I even had my instructors double check the structure of my resume. It's not about WHAT you know--it's about WHO you know!

HappyPediRN · Sep 23, 2008

Oh Taina sweetie I really feel your pain. It is absolutely all about who you know. If you can easily access Cambridge, there is a place called Youville Hospital right on Cambridge Street. They're a rehab facility but with high acquity and you max out at 5 patients on most floors. They take anyone from age 18 and up and really see a lot of younger patients. GREAT place to start, wonderfully supportive staff, and decent pay. Most of their patients stay less than three weeks except for the oncology floor which houses patients from out of state who stay there during their 6 weeks of chemo/radiation in Boston, and the vent floor which has many chronics.

3 South and 4 West/South run drips and have tele. Piccs, g-tubes, stable trachs, central lines, wounds/dressings, pacemakers are a regular occurence and 3 South (which is the cardic/pulmonary floor) even takes LVADs. Most people who get their new grad experience there have no problem getting into ICUs and critical care areas. I really want to work pediatrics but if it doesn't happen for me I wouldn't think twice about working there.

NurseKatie08, MSN · Sep 23, 2008

I would definitely look into long term acute care places, such as Youville, which was previously mentioned. It is still good hospital experience. I am starting out on the Transitional Care Unit of a smaller facility (the campus itself has LTC (including a dementia unit), my TCU & an Assisted Living Facility. I know that our TCU will be expanding (we do get a wide variety of patients, PICC lines, wound vacs, etc all included) and I have been trying to put my feelers out with my DON to see whether she is looking for new nurses bc of the expansion, and would be more than happy to share that information if she mentions she's looking for anyone. I would definitely reccomend a floor similar to my own. I feel that it's given me great experience thus far (I'm three weeks in on orientation, and would estimate that I am probably doing about 80% of the work on my own, and my preceptor is picking up the slack/reminding me of other things to do.) Right now our floor is 22 beds with plans to expand and we run on an 11:1 ratio if the floor is full, which hasn't been nearly as overwhelming as I thought it would be. Typical length of stay is probably two weeks to one month, depending on how sick the pt is and why they are there & how they progress with PT/OT/SLP. I worked at this facility before as a nurses aide, absolutely love it & definitely do not regret coming back. Don't over look LTAC/subacute & TCUs!!

Lovely_RN, MSN · Sep 23, 2008

I think another factor is that some inactive experienced nurses are returning to the bedside because either they can't find a job in another area or their spouses are out of work.

My spouse works in IT and it took him 9 MONTHS to find another IT position after his company laid off 20k employees :eek: So with the economy in the toilet you are going to be competing with experienced nurses who are easier to re-orient rather than new grads who need to be taught from scratch.

My facility has hired two such nurses within the last month. One has been away for 8 years and I'm not sure how long the other has been away but they haven't hire a new grad in a few months. Also the competition for OT has become fierce. I don't want any because I have school but some of our big OT pullers are almost fighting to get their extra shifts in.

To the OP how are your classmates doing in the job search? If they are working then you need to find out where and see if they can get you in somewhere. If you had good clinical/school experiences then you need to speak with your professors and find out who they know and see what you can get.

HappyPediRN · Sep 23, 2008

Hi. I still don't have a job but have a couple of prospects and interviews coming up.

gerry79 · Sep 24, 2008

Nursing seems to be the hot ticket profession at this time. More people are entering nursing than ever before, and with the economy tanking, more experienced RN's are returning to the workforce. If you count the number of nursing schools in the Boston area, you will soon realize that there are not enough jobs to satisfy all of the new grads being produced. Lets see.. there is Simmons, UMass, Boston College, Northeastern, Bunker Hill, Quincy College, Regis, Middlesex Community College, North Shore Community College....All producing RN's at a clip that outpace the need for new nurses. Most new grads prefer to work in the city. The main hospitals in the city are BI, Brigham, Mass General, St E's, BMC, and Childrens. So there could be a few thousand new grads fighting for maybe 100 positions. And a large majority of the new grads already work at the large Boston hospitals as PCT's, and they are having a rough go of it.

The pickings are slim for new grads, but still open for "seasoned" nurses (over a year experience). But that may change soon as the economy goes further into the tank. I know several new grads who were forced to relocate, which is not an option for everyone.

Keep networking and don't get discouraged! Good luck to all!