I just applied for a job that looked very promising!
Oh, but then the computer sent me an e-mail saying, "no new grads." So, I walked my résumé in by hand to at least get by the screening. I was, however, told that they're looking for experienced nurses -- you know, "it's so expensive to train new grads."
So, I was thinking about contacting them and offering to work for minimum wage for 3-6 months in order to help offset the expense. (This is a non-union place so there's nothing to stop them from paying a training wage.)
I know several new grads who are working as unpaid interns (actually, they're doing it through a nursing school so they're actually paying to be med-surg nurses... good gig for the hospital, huh?) and it seems like this would be a step up from that.
There will be no "going" back on the wages because experienced people would leave. You cannot have a hospital running on "free" newly grad RNs alone.
It is DANGEROUS.
and it won't happen.
I agree about working at McDonald's though, at least you get to get free food.
If that happens, not all experienced people will leave, because most cannot find jobs right away. Even if they leave, if other hospitals are doing the same, where they are going to?
I think it's all about supply & demand in the labor market. If the bad economy continues, eventually it will hit the market for experienced nurses. It happens in job markets in many professions, the salaries going down for experienced due to high demand for scarce job opportunities. Nursing is a bit different since it has strong labor union and can protect its members.
And don't try to downgrade new nurse training to flipping burgers in McDonald's. It's all about "getting in the door". Flipping burgers for two years will lead one to nowhere except couple of free burgers a day. While two years work will turn a new grad nurse to experienced one and make her much more marketable.
If you really choose to devalue your education so much as to work minimum wage, then I feel sorry for you. If new grads are willing to work for minimum wage, why wouldn't the hospitals all pay that in the future? It's shortsighted to accept a "solution" that will harm us all in the end.
Because, presumably there would not be people willing to work for that wage for an extended period of time. In my case, it would simply be the means to undercut the "we can't afford to train new grads" argument. Obviously I wouldn't be willing to work for those wages beyond an introductory period.
It's not shortsighted - it's a way to try to get a job in a market that's for the most part unwilling to hire new grads.
I don't see that it's going to harm anybody.
Irrespective of whether new grads are willing to work for training wages or not (and again, I know several who are working as unpaid interns so obviously many are), the market forces of supply and demand will set the nursing wages... given the evident surplus, wages are almost certain to stagnate.
Is this post for real? Go work at Walmart if you're willing to work for minimum wage. Hardly any stress. I don't think you are sane if this post is for real (I am not joking).
I don't quite get why a New Graduate Nurse would be working as a FREE nurse intern. Just don't work and take the time off. Enjoy it while it lasts. Think of it as a vacation until you can find a job. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, don't work for free! That's I N S A N E, people! Insane!
Is this post for real? Go work at Walmart if you're willing to work for minimum wage. Hardly any stress. I don't think you are sane if this post is for real (I am not joking).
I don't quite get why a New Graduate Nurse would be working as a FREE nurse intern. Just don't work and take the time off. Enjoy it while it lasts. Think of it as a vacation until you can find a job. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, don't work for free! That's I N S A N E, people! Insane!
take time off/vacation...untill the next batch of new graduates come out and it gets even tougher? or till the the nursing shortage happens in 2020?
You pay to work in clinical..were talking about minimum wage during a training period.
If the nursing profession are really fighting for semi-decent salaries, then why don't they learn from MDs who successfully control the Number of seats of the medical schools tightly over centuries?
Paid training (where the nurses pay hospitals for training them after graduation) are already common in the Philippine.
"take a vocation, work in McDonald's, work in Wal-mart".These are so insensitive/rude comments from some of nurses. Don't think working in McDonal's or Wal-mart is little stress.
In terms of fighting for decent salary, the American doctors are much smarter than nurses in that they know how to tightly control the supply to the labor market.
take time off/vacation...untill the next batch of new graduates come out and it gets even tougher? or till the the nursing shortage happens in 2020?
You pay to work in clinical..were talking about minimum wage during a training period.
Is this post for real? Go work at Walmart if you're willing to work for minimum wage. Hardly any stress. I don't think you are sane if this post is for real (I am not joking).
I don't quite get why a New Graduate Nurse would be working as a FREE nurse intern. Just don't work and take the time off. Enjoy it while it lasts. Think of it as a vacation until you can find a job. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, don't work for free! That's I N S A N E, people! Insane!
You may not be joking but I think your clinical judgment is in question.
The reason that new grads are working as interns or considering working for absurdly low training wages is because (a) the vast majority of hospitals demand experience and (b) the few new grads that do get hired are generally picked up in units where they've interned or did their preceptorships.
It's not insane... it's a simple necessity mandated by the exigent circumstances.
Insanity would be to just sit idly by, twiddling one's thumbs, and hoping that some miracle is going to befall you and that you'll find a job. Not only are we facing the time pressure of not earning money but we're facing ever more competition as the nursing schools churn out new batches of grads every 4 months. And then, after 12 months, many hospitals don't consider you a "new" grad anymore.
A vacation? Now that's insane. Most of us don't have the luxury to just sit and wait.
You clearly don't get it but I'm pleased that you've chosen to weigh in on the subject.
But really, insane? Now which DSM category do I fall into?
Please dont accept that. It would set a bad precedent for others. I graduated in May this year, and started my job as an RN a week later. I make just over $23 an hour on days, and just over $28 an hour on nights...I would not have taken any job that wasnt about the $20 mark.
Please dont accept that. It would set a bad precedent for others. I graduated in May this year, and started my job as an RN a week later. I make just over $23 an hour on days, and just over $28 an hour on nights...I would not have taken any job that wasnt about the $20 mark.
What would you do if you didn't have that job, and every job required 1 year experience??
Well, the job that I have now actually required one year experience, which of course, I did not have. When I would submit any application I would write a nice cover letter, and lay it out for them that I have an exceptional education, that my clinicals during school prepared me well to be out in the field, and that I have excellent customer service skills. Many hospitals dont want to hire new grads, you are right, but you need to find your hook that makes you marketable. I went to every website of every place I applied for to see what their "catch phrase" was, and I marketed myself to that in my cover letter. You would be surprised how important customer service actually is. I was hired because I was an RN and had good job references, most of whom were college professors, and I had significant customer service. Find your best skill, and see if you can market yourself that way. If I wanted to work for minimum wage I would not have bothered going to nursing school. I would have just applied at McDee's. Your education is worth a lot of money, and getting paid for your critical thinking skills alone are worth more money than that.
Well, the job that I have now actually required one year experience, which of course, I did not have. When I would submit any application I would write a nice cover letter, and lay it out for them that I have an exceptional education, that my clinicals during school prepared me well to be out in the field, and that I have excellent customer service skills. Many hospitals dont want to hire new grads, you are right, but you need to find your hook that makes you marketable. I went to every website of every place I applied for to see what their "catch phrase" was, and I marketed myself to that in my cover letter. You would be surprised how important customer service actually is. I was hired because I was an RN and had good job references, most of whom were college professors, and I had significant customer service. Find your best skill, and see if you can market yourself that way. If I wanted to work for minimum wage I would not have bothered going to nursing school. I would have just applied at McDee's. Your education is worth a lot of money, and getting paid for your critical thinking skills alone are worth more money than that.
So you don't think other new graduates are trying all this?
Im asking what would you do if you couldn't find a job?
mag_new
41 Posts
If that happens, not all experienced people will leave, because most cannot find jobs right away. Even if they leave, if other hospitals are doing the same, where they are going to?
I think it's all about supply & demand in the labor market. If the bad economy continues, eventually it will hit the market for experienced nurses. It happens in job markets in many professions, the salaries going down for experienced due to high demand for scarce job opportunities. Nursing is a bit different since it has strong labor union and can protect its members.
And don't try to downgrade new nurse training to flipping burgers in McDonald's. It's all about "getting in the door". Flipping burgers for two years will lead one to nowhere except couple of free burgers a day. While two years work will turn a new grad nurse to experienced one and make her much more marketable.