New grad? Here's what you can expect..

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I know this topic is getting a lot of ink these days, but here's my experience on the issue. I post this because I think that there are still an abundance of people struggling to get into nursing schools, and uninformed soon to be new grads.

I graduated in May 2010 from the BSN program in Colorado. I worked as a nurse intern ("ACP") at University hospital hoping to get a little experience before I graduated, as my program consistently provided me with poor clinical experiences (preceptors who didn't wan't to be there, let alone teach).

Simply put, there are very few jobs out there. I'm sure many of you have combed this site and seen the carnage, and it's pretty much the real deal. I know of people who have applied to literally 100 jobs with not one call back. I'm at about 50 over the past 4 months. I've pretty much stopped at this point, as it's become demoralizing. And just so I'm clear, I've applied to 12 different states, all over the map. The one thing that I have not done, (that may hold promise for some), is apply to nursing homes or SNF's. Even If I landed a job in this area, I didn't want to start off my career hating it. Oh yeah, I think it's possible to go Navy or Army, but I've been in the military before and...no thanks.

What's worse, is that I'm married to an RN (charge), my sister is an RN and many of my friends are RN's. I've worked every angle I can think of.

Yes, there are some new grads getting jobs, but it's clearly the exception at this point. The advice that I've seen posted in just about very forum is to call the nurse mangers on specific units, be proactive, go to the hospitals and hand out resumes. Whatever. I suppose that could be beneficial for some, but I have seen no results with this.

I guess I just wanted to put one person's story out there, as it may help those thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of eager students or potential students. Definitely not trying to make people bitter, but it's good to know the real deal.

As for me, I'm pretty much done, trying to get back into my pre-nursing school career. I consider myself very lucky in this regard, as I have something to fall back on (although it's definitely going to be a while).

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

I'm sorry. I had hoped that the nursing tide would have changed by now, but it apparently hasn't. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.

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All true. And if you are lucky enough to get a job, be wary that the place is prob pretty desperate, has a high turnover rate and will have seriously subpar training/staffing. They lure you from out of state with all kinds of promises, then you get there and training is cut short due to short staff. They throw you to the wolves. But whats a new grad to do? You are so lucky to have found SOMETHING you are stuck dealing with the unsafe situation for as long as you can stick it out just to get the "magic year" of experience that everyone wants you to have. So do you risk your license and stay to keep your roof over your head? Or quit and be unemployed & broke?

BTW those that have made it to the magic year, are things better for job hunting? Is the one year really helping you land a job? How about 6 months experience?

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I feel very bad for new grads coming out of school these days into a brutal job market, whatever their profession may be.

Nursing, like any profession out there, is a field where you have to start at the bottom and work your way up, whatever the economic climate and however unpleasant that experience may be. It seems that for many, SNFs and LTCs is that bottom and I get the sense sometimes that people think that if they sink to that level, than it's all over.

My feeling is that eventually this recession will be over and the job market will loosen up and nurses, especially experienced nurses, will be able to find work -- and probably good work.

You may get a job you hate for now, but it won't define you and it won't define who you will be five years down the road, other than that you will have five years of solid experience under your belt that someone else won't have.

You will learn a thing or two about the profession, and most importantly about yourself, and you may find that the job you hate is actually not so bad, and may be pretty satisfying to boot.

Or you may really hate it, and you will know in the future that you cannot stomach doing X or Y, or that Z is a patient care issue that is a dealbreaker for you in your future career choices.

But you will be prepared, when opportunities start to open up, to step into a better and more satisfying role, and you will have a lot to bring to the table.

Or you could go back to your pre-nursing career and maybe look into volunteer work in healthcare that may lead you in a direction that you hadn't anticipated. Perhaps that will give you some breathing room financially and emotionally.

You sound very worn out and demoralized by the search.

I do volunteer disaster relief work on the side; it makes it possible for me to wake up in the morning and face the sometimes dreary realities of the nursing job I have to do to earn a living. It makes me remember what I was looking for when I went into nursing (as my second career) and why I stick with it even though at times I want to throw in the towel. The job I get paid for is what I do so that I can afford to do the nursing work that really matters to me.

I just hate to see someone who has invested so much into a profession -- and getting a BSN is hard work -- just bow out because things don't work out they had hoped.

Life is hard. You work your rear end off and sometimes the rewards aren't immediately apparent. Patience, I think is the hardest thing I've ever had to learn -- just keep plugging away at your dreams, keep your eyes and your heart open to the possibilities out there, and eventually things will happen the way that you want.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

You are correct. On the flip side you also have new grad programs that are not fleshed out properly. You are precepting with people who have about two years experience or who resent training you in the first place. There's nothing like having someone tell you to your face that they cant believe they have to train someone to take their job away. SMDH.:confused:

All true. And if you are lucky enough to get a job, be wary that the place is prob pretty desperate, has a high turnover rate and will have seriously subpar training/staffing. They lure you from out of state with all kinds of promises, then you get there and training is cut short due to short staff. They throw you to the wolves. But whats a new grad to do? You are so lucky to have found SOMETHING you are stuck dealing with the unsafe situation for as long as you can stick it out just to get the "magic year" of experience that everyone wants you to have. So do you risk your license and stay to keep your roof over your head? Or quit and be unemployed & broke?

BTW those that have made it to the magic year, are things better for job hunting? Is the one year really helping you land a job? How about 6 months experience?

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Thanks to the OP. This is the sad reality for new grad nurses and new grads in general. New grad nurses can't find jobs, experienced nurses can't find jobs, experienced nurses are getting laid off...

You new grad-nurses-to-be out there, listen: Don't believe the BS...There is no nursing shortage! When it comes down to money, hospitals can afford to cut staff and not miss them one bit. From another post, a forum member cited an article saying that there are about 86K jobless new grad RNs in this country. It also said something like PA graduated 10K new grad RNs last year but only had 4K openings for new nurses.

If you are working as a CNA or a Tech, hold on to that job unless you have a RN job promised to you on paper. In some states, once you get your RN license, you can not work as anything below your license. Save all your money now because it will take you months to get an interview, much less a job.

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experienced nurses can't find jobs, experienced nurses are getting laid off...

Just an FYI, experienced nurses are in high demand where I live. There are many, many positions available for experienced nurses.

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Specializes in Hospice.

This hasn't been the experience for me and many of my classmates. sure some are working in sNF but no shame in that, and several have found they actually really like it. I got my job through a connection I work acute care in an IPU. its had its ups and downs but for the most part i really like my job and i am learning a lot. I encourage people to hang in there. Im a may 2010 grad as well and i certainly was prepared for rough waters. What i did was latch myself on to friends that were getting interviews. I had not gotten one call back but my friend had 3 interviews line up (some for jobs i didn't want like L&D, or research facilities) but she was getting interviews so i asked to read her resume and cover letters and she did such a better job at selling herself. there was a reason she was getting interviews. I took some tips, made it my own and then i got some call backs as well. Hang in there but don't give up!

This lull in jobs is not new. I had preceptors that experienced the same thing. one of my preceptors worked at the red cross doing a job they use techs for now. She did it for a year then got her dream job at a hospital. others have told me similar stories. hang in there, but also know that taking a job that isn't your #1 choice is going to necessairly ruin that goal..it can still catapault you in the direction you want to go. Good luck!

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Just an FYI, experienced nurses are in high demand where I live. There are many, many positions available for experienced nurses.

Yes true, you're right. I was wrong. There is still a big demand for experienced nurses. That's why some retired ones came out of retirement... You are absolutely right.

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I am a recent Nclex passer. Just yesterday.After I found I passed, a question stucked in my head "now what?" coz here in our state they're not hiring new nurses coz they have no budget to train. I'm thinking of joining the military but I'm asking myself if I can make it.

Im confused coz in the news nurses are one of the high demand jobs and look.

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

From what I've seen in this area(Ohio) your post seems to be accurate. WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING with so many RNs in the family. Surely someone said -" stay away from nursing- no jobs, no job security, little respect, and mediocre working conditions". Dosen't your family love you enough to warn you before you spent 4-5 years in school getting a degree that dosen't lead to a job. With your service backgroung you may want to check into any VA medical providers in your area. Having service time gives you a leg up for those jobs and they are mostly civilians in the nursing positions. Not the best nurse to patient ratio but better than a lot of the SNC LTC positions.

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I just want to re-emphasize that the reason I posted my experience was to let potential new grads understand the reality of the situation. I don't think that getting a new grad job is impossible right now, but it is very improbable. It's also important to note that markets are still very regional. Even though I feel like I've applied everywhere, most likely there is someplace, somewhere that hires new grads.

As many of the veteran nurses out there have correctly pointed out, nursing (as many jobs) runs in cycles. I do believe this, but no doubt there will be still be an enormous glut of new grads when the market improves.

Also wanted to point out that in my op, I said that I simply did not want to work in a SNF, I certainly did not want to imply that this is beneath me in any way. It's a call that I have made and that many (more flexible types) will be more lenient with.

And Suana, when I started my BSN is 2007, the RN's in my family were overwhelmingly supportive. They all like their jobs very much and feel as though the security is as good as any career out there. I got the spiel from about "we need male nurses" and "male nurses have an advantage" from everyone I met. That certainly is not the case in my experience (and I'm glad it's not the case, honestly).

My spouse was a travel nurse at the time, and we were traveling all over the country making great money, living for free. I wanted to be an ER nurse, as I had some experience as a volunteer EMT. I figured that if we could both be travelers...well it seemed like a great deal.

Lastly, know that my intention here is not to create a negative vibe, or ruin anyone's career aspirations. I'm definitely not trying to complain, I'm old enough to know that there's a much bigger picture out there.

I'm overall very impressed by how positive the overall tone is on these forums. Nurses are good people.

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