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).
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.
The media is nothing but smoke and mirrors and can't be trusted.
The problem I have with the situation is the role the nursing schools play in all this. They keep on increasing the number of students while they know that many of them will be without job when they get out. It is all about the money. And nobody will address this problem during the program. There are plenty of students who are so focused on surviving and pay no attention to the real world. It will hit them hard.
Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.
To all of you new grads as well as experienced nurses: Check out both Carolinas. Many, many places are hiring! Good luck! Most are huge teaching hospitals in university settings. Good experience to be obtained!
Very true....keep the faith. Patience and perseverance has paid off for me. I am a new grad. recently hired on a surgical floor in a busy hospital. I feel very blessed to have been in the right place, at the right time, knowing the right person!!!! Patience and perseverance!!!!! :)
It took me 4 months of demoralizing myself after getting my RN license in Spring 2010. Applied to 200 jobs. Got 3 callbacks from LTCs, got 1 job offer. It pays the lowest in my city, $19/hr. During the 4 months of trying to get a nurse job, I was a Registered Nurse working as a cashier at the Dollar Store. I don't have previous career to fall back on.
I work at a facility where the nurses eat their young. I ask questions, and I get reported to the supervisor. The work load is high, 26 patients to 1 nurse, all while responsible for 1-3 admissions in an 8 hour shift. Many daysI stay 4 hours after my shift was supposed to end, and so do the experienced nurses.
I walked into hospital human resources for a job, and this hasn't worked. I even walked in with people I know who work for the hospital, who said good things about me.
Hospital recruiters say "1 year of experience". I called when I had 6 months of experience (now), and they said "Sorry, you need 1 year." And that's not for a job, that's for only for them to look at my resume - just to consider me as an applicant. For all I know, they might not consider LTC as the magical 1 year experience, since it's not typically considered Acute Care.
I'm just trusting that God is waiting for the right time to help me find the job meant for me. I really wish I could work in the ICU.
I sent out over 100 resumes, before I got my first call back for an interview. I also live in Colorado and the job situation here is pretty horrible. I'm in the float pool at st. joe's and I love it there. However once my orientation is over my job goes from full time to PRN which is really scary. I feel very blessed to have a job and gain some experience. I am applying to positions that are opening up at the hospital, because us new grad float pool people get the chance to interview on the floors first before anyone else, which is good.
Don't assume that when people tell you that they have applied to over 100 jobs without getting any offers that they are even applying for jobs that apply to them. There are 100s of nursing jobs out there, but new grads usually only get any hope of a job offer if they are applying to new grad positions. You can not just apply to all nursing jobs out there, start out on the floor right out of school, and expect to be worth anything. I think what is going on right now is a great example of why people should not listen to those who say grades do not matter, Cs get degrees, ect. Those of us that did well in school and did extra preceptorships all got jobs out of school when I graduated last year right during the first incident of very few new grad jobs. For those of you that are still in school, you have to make yourself marketable. With very few jobs and a lot of people graduating, you have to stand out if you are going to have a chance of grabbing one of the few new grad jobs out there. A lot of the new grad programs a very ridged and are selecting their enrolled based on grades, preceptorships, ect. If you just went to class and passed you are not very marketable, you just like the 1000 other new nurses out there.
Malarkey! I grad in May 2010 with a BSN, 3.5 GPA, nursing dept honors and Sigma Theta Tau inductee and have not had even one interview. I also have, of course, BLS and ACLS certification and that didn't seem to mean a thing either. So don't believe it when people tell you that those extra certifications make a difference. I applied to places that had been to my school for job fairs just one year earlier and now I am getting post cards in reply telling me that there are no "openings for someone with my qualifications" meaning new grad. Grades don't mean squat. I believed they did, which is why I worked so hard and treated each exam and paper as though it were my last. What is now happening in my area, with some facilities but not all, is that they are refusing to even interview from outside. They are hiring from within, i.e. you have to have been a CNA there during your nursing training. Once you graduate, you already have your foot in the door and they are telling people not to expect to be hired if their grades are poor (meaning barely passing) but then they turn around and do it anyway as they want to reward "loyal employees". I think more likely they dont want to "let someone go" and have to pay unemployment and, where I live, you cannot have your RN and work as a CNA. This leaves the facility with a choice: either to fire you and pay unemployment just because you got a C+ average or to suck it up and take you on. They are apparently choosing the latter. So those who are already on the inside have a shot over those of us on the outside, no matter what outstanding credentials we have.
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.
Again i was in an RN program that had students that do their clincals all over the country (It was a well respected university of WI program). I have classmates in Washington, Idaho, minnesota, arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, NEbraska, Hawaii ect.....................and ALL of them have jobs. ONe of them got a job in one state her husband got a job in another state and she got another job there at mayo........ so my point is that what your saying isn't just regional. People ARE getting jobs. if you aren't getting calls re-evaluate your resumes and such to see why you aren't getting noticed. is it hard out there ? ABSOLUTELY... but 'improbable"??? i don't think so . Its easy to get down, but the better solution is to look at what people are doing that is working. THis is not a hopeless situation......
Again i was in an RN program that had students that do their clincals all over the country (It was a well respected university of WI program). I have classmates in Washington, Idaho, minnesota, arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, NEbraska, Hawaii ect.....................and ALL of them have jobs. ONe of them got a job in one state her husband got a job in another state and she got another job there at mayo........ so my point is that what your saying isn't just regional. People ARE getting jobs. if you aren't getting calls re-evaluate your resumes and such to see why you aren't getting noticed. is it hard out there ? ABSOLUTELY... but 'improbable"??? i don't think so . Its easy to get down, but the better solution is to look at what people are doing that is working. THis is not a hopeless situation......
Perhaps I should be more specific: It's improbable that the typical new grad will get a job for at least 6 months. And you're right the situation is not hopeless, but again for emphasis, new grads and nursing students should know what they are getting into! Yes, I'm sure you know people who have new grad jobs. As I said earlier, employment varies by region. But clearly your experience is the exception, not the rule, as 90% of the new grads on this forum can attest.
Most are huge teaching hospitals in university settings. Good experience to be obtained!
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Barbara Hessinger
54 Posts
The media is nothing but smoke and mirrors and can't be trusted.
The problem I have with the situation is the role the nursing schools play in all this. They keep on increasing the number of students while they know that many of them will be without job when they get out. It is all about the money. And nobody will address this problem during the program. There are plenty of students who are so focused on surviving and pay no attention to the real world. It will hit them hard.