New Grad from ADN: Difficulty finding Work!

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello fellow nurses!

This is my first post on this site and I am looking forward to hearing from you! :D I have a dilemma as a new nurse. I turned down a job offer in the department I wanted to work in, since it was for night shift, and that doesn't appeal to me. I hear terrible stories about it and even the director told me a few new grads had to quit not that long ago due to that particular shift. Problem is, I am unable to even get HR people on the phone after submitting countless apps/resumes to other local hospitals. Either they don't call back or they want experienced nurse, which is very frustrating. I am considering going out of my specialty to get the hours I want, though I know I'm not a med-surg kinda gal. :p What would you do? Take the night shift position and be constantly tired :yawn: and crabby or hold out for a better opportunity, assuming it's headed my way? Any other new grads having trouble with finding jobs? Pardon the icons...I have fetish for them! :loveya:

Specializes in Internal Medicine.
:banghead: it is very frustrating for me too and i think for all the other new grads out there. hospitals want experienced RNs, well how can we, the new grads, get any experience if they don't even hire us? and if they do they have very limited amount. by the time you see any openings online, so much applicants have already applied for it. i currently work at a clinic (internal med), i started as an LVN, been there about 2 years now. i like my job and everything, but i feel like it is not challenging enough and i want to do more.i want to use the skills that i learned, i just don't want them to go to waste, we worked so hard for them after all! now that i realized how hard it is for a new grad to find a job, so for now i feel like being an RN is not as exciting as i thought it should be :( *and they said nurses are in such high demand*
Specializes in Have a niche for pysch.

Today's update: (I feel like I'm blogging). :wink2: I became desperate and submitted my application/resume to a local community hospital in the city...about 15 minutes from my house. HR called me twice in 24 hrs wanting to schedule an interview, though the position available is for tele...and I hate that! The hours are great...rotating weekends with one day during the week--for a total of 3 days a week on AM shift--what I wanted. I haven't called him back yet, because I dread tele, though everybody in nuring school push new grads to work med-surg or tele upon graduation. Another HR lady from a different hospital sent me some personality test to do online (about 65 questions) required for recruitment process--things like, how reliable are you, how you deal with conflict, are you a leader, etc. I don't even know what position this was for since I applied like 9 of them in the past month! :no: This hospital is in walking distance to my house and only applied for part-time AM or PM shifts. I am still waiting to hear back from another hospital about a half hour away who had several openings in the specalty I want and have heard great things about their staff/floor, though I have never visited their unit. But I must admit that night shift position is still in the back of my mind, since I had my clinicals there in that specialty and know the staff and has a great environment all around. If it were any other shift I would be a very happy gal right now. My family is divided in their advice :eek:...my husband thinks I'll be crabby all the time working nights, but my sister and father think it's great being able to take my kids to school and pick them up, cook, do homework, etc. But that just sounds very overwhelming, especially with the stress of being a new grad in addition to the lack of sleep. What would I do if my kid was sick and needed to be home or go to the doctor? Not go to sleep that day? :yawn: What about Christmas break, summer,half days from school, etc.? Sorry, but this has been haunting me since I turned down that job offer about a month ago! Please help! :bluecry1:

Specializes in NICU.

First of all, that specific position may no longer be available....so let go of that. At this point, you'd probably have to reapply. You may have applied for 9 positions at one hospital, but the HR rep may do an initial interview for ALL of them, or for whatever they have open right now.

I would interview everywhere, and go with your gut based on the type of patients, the interaction with the staff, the RN:patient, etc....and the schedule close to last. People come and go all the time through units. If you accept a NOC position, they probably have a list of folks waiting for another spot to open. Ask about it during your interview, and how long it might take to move up to where you would like to be.

I liked nights as a new grad for a couple of reasons, but the biggest one being that I had more time to study protocols and really learn how to do the basics, without constant specialists, scans, referrals, visitors, etc. It's a pretty laid back group and a lot of great teachers. That's why I stayed. :)

Keep in mind that most positions are 3, 12-hour shifts. So, all the "what-ifs" about family emergencies are quite possibly moot. You learn to network with other parents, utilize the offers from friends and family, and some days you just have to call-in or try to switch a shift. The "working nights, and being the mom/wife during the day" ideas are not realistic. You aren't Batman...or Batnurse, as it were. Some days you will HAVE to sleep.

Right now, I'm staying up for a while, so I can sleep in tomorrow and work tomorrow night. My husband will take the kids to their things in the morning, and I will pick them up in the afternoon.....help with whatever they need, get dinner started, and go to work. I don't like to work more than 2 days in a row, or I get worn down. The second day, I don't get as much sleep. So I usually do 2-on, 3-off, 2-on, etc.

At any rate, I would recommend you let go of your lofty ideals regarding your "specialty," (unless you hold credentials in something that you haven't mentioned) and enter into possibilities with a little more of an open mind. You may be missing some fantastic opportunities.

Best of luck.

I was willing to take any shift as a new grad in any department. I was willing to work nights. I was able to get a day shift because that is where they needed me. I told them I was flexible for either days or nights, and never once asked about the shift until the end of interview. And the end of the interview they said, "well this position is for days." I took the job, but would have taken it even if it was on the night shift.

I like getting a paycheck, benefits and accumulating valuable work experience.

My colleagues are having problems getting work because they were under the false assumption that the nursing community couldn't live without them and waited too long.

In many areas, there is no nursing shortage for new grads.

I would recommend being open to any opportunity, as this is the season when many new nurses are competing for jobs.

Good luck to you and keep an open mind.

Specializes in Internal Medicine.

today was the very first day of my official job hunting... i started my day at 8:30 am, i had a list of facilities (of which all were ltcs/snfs) to go to so... i asked for an application for each one and filled it out right on the spot and then turned it in right away...for my very first one, i was lucky 'cuz the don was there and she interviewed me...so the interview ended and i was told that she will just call me by this week and let me know...so i went on to the next one on the list...i went to total of 5 facilities... i finished at about 1 pm (some of the applications were really long...my hand kind of hurts from writing...)anyway, a couple of hours after i got home, i got a call...it was from the first snf i went to...they want me to come in for an orientation already! wow! (*i was thinking, they could've just hired me right on the spot...hehe!) well, i'm kind of excited about this job...this is something new for me...i worked in an assisted living but i never worked in a snf/rehab before... so... yeah ...but on the other hand...i would really really want to work in a hospital setting!...but like what i said before...a hospital job is very hard to get if you're a new grad... :cry:well, that is based on my personal experience, it may be different from others... so...now am thinking if i want to work in a hospital later on...would they count snf/ltc/rehab as rn experience? :confused: i know some hospitals want acute care experience and then again how can we new grads get acute care experience if they don't hire us?!? :banghead:urghh!!! so should i take this job?? thank you all for your time

Specializes in Peds,ER,FP,Med/surg/oncol, Hospice.

Hi TherePretty Nurse,

Yes, Def take this job, it will count as experience. My best friend worked for home health peds for 2 years right out of school as a new grad she just went about 4 months ago and got her dream job in labor and delivery at a hospital and her time at home health counted for her experience. You have to start somewhere. I say go for it.

Specializes in Have a niche for pysch.

I would interview a little more and apply to more hospitals, even though they may say they don't hire new grads. What have you got to lose by applying? I'm a new grad also, and there are some hospitals that will take new grads. Did you call the HR departments and ask? IMHO if the facility wants to hire you that quickly, then maybe you might want to investigate that. Maybe the job is very stressful, nurse turnover high, nurse--patient ratio too high...etc. Just a thought.:twocents:

Specializes in Tele,CCU,ER.

It is hard for new grads to get the 'perfect' job. Many of my friends haven't found a job yet and have been applying since May. I was able to stay at the hospital I worked as a student nurses. I wanted ER and day shift (12 hours). I applied at 3 hospitals and they all wanted to give me nights. I refused. I wanted days. Finally I was called back and they gave me days. I am at a county hospital and they have very few openings and I was lucky to get my dream job. I wanted to work at a nice hospital, but it is even harder to get those jobs. Just keep trying. Try tele if it your last choice. I did tele as a student worker and you do learn a lot. Good luck!!!!

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