NEW GRAD JOB CRISIS!

adpiRN · Sep 28, 2014

As a new grad I went straight to the L&D nurse manager (when I was in the hospital for a clinical). She told me they weren't hiring new grads at the moment. When I saw an L&D job posting online I emailed her (she had given me her card). I got an interview and the job!

Other than that, I've heard good things here about the job market in North Dakota.

Good luck!

Jazzyjazz · Sep 28, 2014

One of our frequent posters is from Boston and graduated from a nursing program there. After almost a year of job hunting to no avail, she relocated 250 miles away to Vermont to secure her first nursing position.
I am totally cognizant that not everyone is willing or able to move to areas with less glutted nursing employment markets, but the new grads who have relocated to carefully researched locations are usually able to secure jobs.

You're right. I would totally jump on that boat but with a mother in her second round of lung cancer, I'm hesitant to move. But trust me, I was the first one in line to move. Many in my cohort have moved and found jobs in other states.

OBigdog26, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 28, 2014

If recruiters and HR staff at acute care hospitals are not calling the new grad, I advise the person to be flexible and keep an open mind.
Many, but not all, of the new grads who find themselves trapped in the long-term unemployment vortex are either too selective ("I would never work in a nursing home!"), too unrealistic ("Working in the ER is my dream and I won't settle for less!"), too special snow-flaky ("I will only work day shift") or too rigid ("I refuse to commute or relocate for work!").
Beggars cannot be choosers, so if no one from the hospitals are calling to schedule interviews, the prudent new nurse will do anything to prevent turning into an 'old new grad' with no experience. This includes seeking employment at home health companies, hospices, nursing homes, physical rehabilitation centers, psychiatric hospitals, jails, prisons, private duty, group homes, blood banks, and basically any workplace outside the dream hospital setting.
Non-hospital nursing position = RN PAY + RN EXPERIENCE
Waiting for the hospital job = ZERO PAY + ZERO EXPERIENCE

Don't knock a pathway until you try it. You might actually enjoy nursing roles outside the acute care hospital. Good luck!

True! It's how you market yourself and what you can bring to the table. There were difficulties in finding new grad jobs when I graduated. I had to commute 1.5 hours to work at a level 1 trauma center and got my feet in ICU. I was prior RRT which helped me.

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RNsteve · Sep 28, 2014

The nursing home gig is a slippery slope. 2+ years experience as a charge nurse of a 40bed level 3.4 home. I have made great money, plenty of overtime... but now that i'm looking at moving on I am finding this "lack of acute care" experience a real downside. I desperately want to move to a different area(location rather then area of work) and I feel stuck.

Seems every job posting lists "must have recent acute care experience" as a requirement. We do IV's, semi complex dressings(a few packings here and there), g-tube feedings, trach care... but its hard to move out of LTC.

Its to the point that I am at a crossroads of debating I should stay in the area permanently. You kind of lose out on a compelling resume, and more importantly...your confidence. So you might get a job but as a person starting out its a tough pill to swallow.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Sep 28, 2014

When I was a new grad, I posted here and made a friend. Got an interview through her connections and hired.

I left everything, including my clothes. I moved from a large city to a small town with only a back pack, and made the most of my opportunity for 4.5 years. Sometimes verging on insanity and depression because of the isolation, I forged ahead, never losing sight of my goals.

My student loans were paid in 2 years. I'm now living and working in a city again, and I just bought my first place, a condo downtown. All this in less than 5 years. Other people have shared similar stories on AN. Many have had to relocate.

While not everyone is able to relocate, you have to ask yourself, "What is the bigger picture, and what is the cost if I stay where I am?"

The jobs are not readily available. Forget about that "dream job" in the short term, but make this a long term goal for yourself while you're working somewhere. Anywhere.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 28, 2014

This works for school too. One of my CNA classmates avoided the 2-3 year wait lists in Maricopa County by moving just one county north. She's about to finish her RN this semester, and her husband just started his first semester. Had she stayed here, she might be just now getting accepted into a program.

I agree. I crossed state lines to attend school in a metro area where nursing program admissions were not nearly as competitive as the programs in the city where I was living. Half of my nursing program classmates were from out of state and/or commuted to the school.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Sep 28, 2014

The nursing home gig is a slippery slope. 2+ years experience as a charge nurse of a 40bed level 3.4 home. I have made great money, plenty of overtime... but now that i'm looking at moving on I am finding this "lack of acute care" experience a real downside. I desperately want to move to a different area(location rather then area of work) and I feel stuck.
Seems every job posting lists "must have recent acute care experience" as a requirement. We do IV's, semi complex dressings(a few packings here and there), g-tube feedings, trach care... but its hard to move out of LTC.
Its to the point that I am at a crossroads of debating I should stay in the area permanently. You kind of lose out on a compelling resume, and more importantly...your confidence. So you might get a job but as a person starting out its a tough pill to swallow.

Totally agree. I am in a SNF because I want to be, but there are more than a few nurses I work with that would dearly love to move into the hospital setting and are having a hard time because of the lack of what the hospital sees as acute care experience. It's not an impossible transition, but the odds of being hired with LTC experience seem to be about the same of the odds of landing a hospital position with no experience.

allnurses Guide · Sep 28, 2014

I disagree with not taking nursing home jobs. Long term care, home health and other nonacute positions are soon going to be far more numerous than acute care positions and beggars can't be choosers. You will need to pay your bills, presumptively. If there is a nursing home position and nothing else, I would suggest you take it. Will it be hard to move to acute care? Yep. It will be even harder though the longer you go unemployed in an RN capacity. The term "old new grad" has been the tolling of the bell for many these days. If you go a year without employment you will find yourself competing with new grads fresh out of school and they will be considered more desirable than you. Don't turn your nose up at LTC/SNF or rehab. Too good for nonacute = unemployed = death of a dream.

Apply for anything and everything nursing related.

Apply for any shift.

Apply for any specialty.

Apply at your most desired facility and ones that aren't your preferred location.

Apply out of town

Apply in rural areas

If your area is glutted YOU ARE GOING TO NEED TO MOVE.

Call in favors and contact people you know.

If you don't know anyone, join some organizations, get active, be awesome and get to know some people. Network. Network. Network.

Tailor your resume to EVERY position to reflect the wording in the ad you are answering in order to help you get past the automated filter.

Pray.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2014

Too good for nonacute = unemployed = death of a dream.

^^^ THIS!!! ^^^ I wish that I could like this quote a million times over! :up:

joanna73, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2014

The population is aging and facilities are cutting services in favour of community based care. Whether you like it or not, many new grads are going to have to get used to working in nursing homes, clinics, and LTC permanently.

That's where the jobs are. Fewer and fewer positions will be possible in acute care. Some of you are going to need to change your view of nursing if you want to be employed.

firstinfamily, RN · Sep 29, 2014

You most likely are going to have to relocate. The needs, seem todepend on where you are geographically. I personally would not recommend Home Health for a new grad as one is usually totally on their own and the experience is needed to make many judgement calls and critical decisions for the home health pt. It is true you do not want to be restricted to LTC, but some work experience is better than no work experience. Back in 2011 new grads had a difficult time getting hired into the acute care facilities also and most of the ones I knew entered LTC at that time and then transitioned into acute care. Look at the medical centers they usually will spend the money to train new grads.