New Grad RN no job thinking of being a CNA

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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So I graduated last May and I'm a licensed New Grad RN. I am having sooo much trouble finding a job here in California. When I moved I let my CNA II cert expire and now I'm wishing I would have held on to it. How do I go about getting my CNA license if I'm a RN? Do I have to take the test and all over again?

TIA

Specializes in LTC.

In response to Nurse156: I don't think anyone at the colleges was broadsided by anything. They were well aware of what was going on. However, to inform the students would bring the wrath of administration down on their heads. It would also put their own jobs in jeopardy. For the university, it is about self preservation and not about student preservation. I just graduated May 2010 from a BSN program with a 3.54 GPA with 2 departmental honors and have been unable to get anyone to even respond to my resumes. They just fall into a black hole. I have made sure that my formatting is simple and not something that would gag HR computers. My resume is concise and to the point. I will tell all of you that in our final semester in one of courses one of our professors mentioned that it costs $22,000 to train a new R.N. We all looked at each other silently after she said that. We had never been told that in any of our prior courses. Had they provided "informed consent and full disclosure for us" perhaps some of us would have chosen to delay college til economic conditions were better. But that would have hurt the university's bottom line so they kept mum about it until it was too late. My tuition payments of upwards of $30,000 came out of a family trust fund, out of which I am to get income payments for life. This whole charade has now permanently reduced my income for the rest of my life. I will tell you all one thing. I am going to give it about 3 months and if I still have no offers then I am filing a lawsuit against the school. (My school is a prestigious, well known school with a supposedly sterling reputation.) All of you should consider doing the same. It seems we can only get people to sit up and listen when we sue.

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Sorry to hear about your job difficulty. I recieved my CNA in September 09 and just found a job, I start on monday. I got tired of walking in and putting application because alot of the places were just accepting applications, so no call backs. So I started calling a list of health facilities in my area to see if they were hiring and i found 3. The first place i went to hired me. I think they pay more attention to you when they actually need people. You can call hundreds of places in just one week. Maybe you can try that way if you didn't already. Good Luck :)

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Specializes in Complex Disease Management, ER, Case Management.
Sorry to hear that.I graduated on May 2009 and couldnt find a job for the life of me.I was unemployed for many long moths.Recently my mom's friend suggested for me to try out this certain home health agency,they also asked if I'm fluent in any other language and luckily I am so it worked out well for me.But I feel your pain,I'm still looking for a hospital job,and also I will be doing flu shots for a flue clinic and pray a lot for the job market to open up for an unexperienced nurses such as ourselves.

Do you mind telling me the name of this/these agency(ies). I can also multilingual. I got my license last month & graduated since Dec 2009. Has been looking for a job since I graduated but no luck at all. My husband losthis job as well & he's having a hard time to find a job (not in the same industry). I don't know how we can get by next month. I really need a job desperately.

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Even better than OurParents...

http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/SearchCriteriaNEW.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C8%7CWinNT&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home&CookiesEnabledStatus=True

Lists every single Nursing home in the United States that take Medicare money....which is all of them lol.

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I am in the same boat as many of you. I graduate in May 2010 with a BSN and I have gotten my RN but still no luck with landing even an interview. Btw I'm from the DFW area so for those struggling to find a job all I have to say is good luck.

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SOLUTION- "NEW RN"!!! This site has been extremely helpful in my job search as a new cna- GOOD NEWS- it's for NURSES too. PLEASE try it out- it will post you jobs available direct to your inbox! www.healthcare.jobsite.com

For CNA's Solution: www.GetCNAJobs.com

You WILL find something on the "healthcare site"! Seek and you shall find.

All the best!

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This might sound silly, but I heard schools are always looking for school nurses. A lot hire RNs because you can take one look and know what's going on. I was told that you get teacher's pay and you join their union and you have summers off. Also, you can work at more than one school.

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Specializes in LTC.

Thank you for your reply. School nurses also need experience. If you have no experience, and a child becomes sick on your watch and you do not recognize the symptoms and the child is harmed or dies as a result, you can be sued. There are no other nurses there to precept you or monitor you when you are a school nurse. You are utterly on your own, with no one to turn to for help if you get in over your head.

Children are not just "little grown ups" and have their own recognizable signs and symptoms. Only an experienced pediatric nurse would be able to properly "pick up on those signs and symptoms". In fact, I know many experienced nurses who have only worked with adults who would feel uncomfortable dealing with children as they are so different if all your experience is in adult care.

You must ask yourself, if I had a child in school, would I want a brand new, inexperienced graduate nurse taking care of that child? Would I feel safe (especially if my child has chronic issues like asthma or epilepsy)?

I happened to have graduated with a BSN. That gives you the opportunity to take stand-alone peds courses and have some experience in peds on a hospital floor. We had 4 months of clinical, once a week - 6 hours per week in that regard. That is not alot of exposure to pediatrics. What if I had an Associates degree in nursing? If a peds course is provided at all, it is likely to be greatly shortened due to time constraints and done over the summer in a 6 week period. Otherwise, the school just sticks all the peds facts between the cracks of the adult facts. Again, not a good situation and no new grad nurse should consider herself competent to function with children coming out of an environment like that.

Many schools, I have found out, will take on RN's per diem. I do not know if they will accept new grads but I doubt it. Even if they would, I would not be willing to put my neck and my hard-won license on the line. I have no and cannot afford to purchase it at this point, having yet to work anywhere since I graduated.

Being in a school would be an unsafe place for me at this point, given my lack of experience. Never mind what could happen to my patients.

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Specializes in LTC.

To Tamimac: I tried the health care job site you posted and it does not connect to anything. www.healthcare jobsite.com It brings me to a Time Warner Road Runner page that says Sorry we couldnt find the site...as above and suggests that I try websites like careerbuilders, monster etc that I already know and have tried. Can you please check that website and make sure it is correct. Thanx

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