New Grad RN Jobs?

willowita, ADN, RN · Nov 15, 2015

vglass,

I know you weren't asking me but just wanted to reply to you as well. All the things in this thread still hold true. I just left Oahu 1 month ago and went back to the mainland. I was a new grad when I got to Honolulu and so I ended up working through a temp agency for a year in an outpatient setting. All the girls I worked with were also new grads and the only opportunities with no experience were some outpatient, SNF, and home health. Even outpatient is hard because they feel MAs are cheaper and APRNs can do more and cost less than an MD. An RN falling in the middle adds nothing. It is no joke when they say you cannot get a job in the acute care setting as a new grad. The doctor I worked with, who has connections at Queens, wrote a letter to the recruiters telling them how great his team was and that he wanted to know how he could recommend us for jobs as new grads since he felt so strongly about us, they basically wrote back saying they hire maybe 30 new grads a year and we'd just have to wait until something opened. Also, I took a PALs class at Queens and some of the new RN hires told me they graduated 3 years ago and had been working as techs before they finally got RN jobs. Yep, the stories, the legends, are true.

vglass82 · Nov 16, 2015

Thanks for the post, but holy-bad news batman! We have two kids, otherwise I would just stay in florida and work for a year. But the navy is moving us and I have no choice in the matter. I guess my biggest concern is that if I am not workng for two years, when we get back to florida, I wont get hired because of the hawaii situation. They're going to look at my resume and be like, "soo, you graduated from an accelerated BSN program but then didnt work for 2 years?"... I am just afraid of the snowball effect. I dont understand why they are so anti- new- grads out there? They would rather import travel nurses rather than invest in their own island grads?? And why do they have 5 nursing schools on one island if there are no jobs for their grads? Its all bad business to me. Very infuriating

mcubed45 · Nov 16, 2015

Thanks for the post, but holy-bad news batman! We have two kids, otherwise I would just stay in florida and work for a year. But the navy is moving us and I have no choice in the matter. I guess my biggest concern is that if I am not workng for two years, when we get back to florida, I wont get hired because of the hawaii situation. They're going to look at my resume and be like, "soo, you graduated from an accelerated BSN program but then didnt work for 2 years?"... I am just afraid of the snowball effect. I dont understand why they are so anti- new- grads out there? They would rather import travel nurses rather than invest in their own island grads?? And why do they have 5 nursing schools on one island if there are no jobs for their grads? Its all bad business to me. Very infuriating

I would recommend trying to figure something out where you can stay on the mainland and get at least 1yr acute experience (I'm assuming you're interested in working acute care). Being military does make things a lot more complicated. Ultimately though, once you get a couple years acute experience, you'll have a lot more flexibility in the future and should have little trouble finding employment wherever your husband is stationed.

Consider that even if you do move to Hawaii, get an aide/tech job soon after moving (which can typically takes months), then get into a new grad program after a year or so, you'll typically sign a contract with the hospital for 2 years. You're looking at a minimum 3 year commitment to start your nursing career in Hawaii. Say your husband gets reassigned? Then you're in the same boat once again. And while breaking the contract and paying back the several thousand dollars may not be the worst thing in the world, if you leave with less than a year of experience you'll still be considered a new-grad at most other hospitals on the mainland. Some hospitals might make an exception an give you an extended orientation, but others might simply tell you to apply to their new-grad program. The new grad market is quite bad in some locations on the mainland as well, so it's kind've a gamble.

And it's not that hospitals are anti-new grads here. It's just very expensive to train new grads. It's also unsafe for a unit to be inundated with very large new-grad classes all at once. Bad things happen when the most senior nurse on the unit is only a year or two out of school.

And I absolutely agree that the excessive amount of nursing schools is a huge problem. I honestly wish the BON would step in and establish some sort of limit. Of course it's simply a matter of supply and demand. A lot of people want to go into nursing and education is a free, unregulated business. It has been historically very competitive to get into UH/KCC and as a result there are private colleges that are happy to take the money of anyone unable to make the cut. It's a great business model as long as students don't realize how terrible the job market is. $100k in school loans doesn't seem too bad when you think you'll be making $70k your first year out of school. It's much harder to stomach when you realize you're making $35k/yr until you manage to land an RN job.

willowita, ADN, RN · Nov 17, 2015

Completely agree with the unfair nature of it. It's partly why the state university cut enrollment for their nursing program this year since people cannot get jobs on island. Again, I'm not saying you will not get a job. I would just focus on outpatient, SNF, and home health so you can at least use your RN license and have something to show on your resume for being in Hawaii for 2 years. Apply to hospitals since you never know what could happen, but definitely don't overlook non-hospital RN jobs.

vglass82 · Nov 18, 2015

Thanks very much willowita and mcubed45. My hubs and I have talked and talked about me staying behind with the kids. We have the Mayo Clinic and a few other Magnet hospitals here and while getting a job as a new grad is harder, the university I attend is very tied to the community and most of our graduates have jobs at the six month mark. Actually, many have jobs lined up before they graduate. But, at the end of the day, the kids go through enough with deployment. Its unfair to keep them from the dad for over a year. Love the military life! lol.I just want to do something that has RN at the end of the job description so when I get back to florida, I can at least put that I worked in the capacity. Maybe I can just work part time even so I can enjoy the island for the little time we will be spending there. I talked to some professors about it and they said that even if its not a hospital job, RN looks better then a tech on a future resume. I thought about hospice, SNF, home health, urgent care clinic, schools and even the jails. So, as far as non-hospital jobs, what is the market like for new grads? Thanks again!

mcubed45 · Nov 18, 2015

Thanks very much willowita and mcubed45. My hubs and I have talked and talked about me staying behind with the kids. We have the Mayo Clinic and a few other Magnet hospitals here and while getting a job as a new grad is harder, the university I attend is very tied to the community and most of our graduates have jobs at the six month mark. Actually, many have jobs lined up before they graduate. But, at the end of the day, the kids go through enough with deployment. Its unfair to keep them from the dad for over a year. Love the military life! lol.I just want to do something that has RN at the end of the job description so when I get back to florida, I can at least put that I worked in the capacity. Maybe I can just work part time even so I can enjoy the island for the little time we will be spending there. I talked to some professors about it and they said that even if its not a hospital job, RN looks better then a tech on a future resume. I thought about hospice, SNF, home health, urgent care clinic, schools and even the jails. So, as far as non-hospital jobs, what is the market like for new grads? Thanks again!

Outside of acute care, the job market is fairly decent for new grads. But just realize that SNF/homehealth etc is not a stepping stone to acute care. The hospitals here do not recognize that type of experience for acute care. You're basically still a new grad. I'm not sure how hospitals on the mainland view that type of experience. It's important to realize that outpatient RN experience isn't necessarily better than acute care aide/tech experience.

Working on a hospital floor as an aide gives you a lot of insight that will help your transition to an RN in the acute care setting. You learn to juggle large patient assignments and prioritize. You learn to work with the healthcare team. And most importantly, you work directly with experienced RN's and acutely ill patients. Many RN's are more than happy to teach you about the patient's current disease state and the plan of care (especially since many of them were in your shoes not long ago). You may not realize how much being away from acute care for a couple years post-graduation can hurt you. At my hospital, a large portion of the interview for new-graduate RN positions consists of clinical scenarios based on common admitting diagnoses and the appropriate medical management.

Again, if your career goal is somewhere outside of acute care, there are many different avenues you can explore with better new-grad opportunities. However, if your ultimate goal is to work in the acute setting, non-acute RN experience is typically less beneficial than acute-care aide/tech experience.

vglass82 · Nov 20, 2015

Thanks again, mcubed45, BSN . You know, I did not realize that about SNF or hospice, that it wouldn't count as experience. I do want to be in a hospital, any floor, so I guess that would not be the route for me. So, I guess I just take a tech job for the two years and hope for the best when I get back to the mainland. In a perfect world, I'll get a job as a tech in 6 months, totally win them over with my smarts and charm and land the new grad job 6 months after that and then work for two years for my contract! Perfect world right? Where it only takes 6 months, lol.

I just want to be a nurse! Its not my fault my husbands navy career takes me around the world every few years. I am so frusterated and feel like I did this all for nothing. It is what it is. Gotta roll with the punches and see what happens.

mcubed45 · Nov 20, 2015

Thanks again, mcubed45, BSN . You know, I did not realize that about SNF or hospice, that it wouldn't count as experience. I do want to be in a hospital, any floor, so I guess that would not be the route for me. So, I guess I just take a tech job for the two years and hope for the best when I get back to the mainland. In a perfect world, I'll get a job as a tech in 6 months, totally win them over with my smarts and charm and land the new grad job 6 months after that and then work for two years for my contract! Perfect world right? Where it only takes 6 months, lol.
I just want to be a nurse! Its not my fault my husbands navy career takes me around the world every few years. I am so frusterated and feel like I did this all for nothing. It is what it is. Gotta roll with the punches and see what happens.

Definitely check with the hospitals where you plan to be applying after your stint in Hawaii. Some may recognize SNF/non-acute RN experience but others may not. It's just a completely different skill set.

Another thing to consider is that both Queens and HPH have excellent continuing education departments and educational opportunities. HPH kind've has an edge since employees can take pretty much any class offered by HPH for FREE. This means even working as an aide/tech you can take ACLS/PALS/NRP etc for free (classes tyically cost $200+). Queens offers an employee discount but it isn't much.

Most hospitals also offer education reimbursement. At HPH you get $1k annually to spend on continuing education. There are plenty of nursing seminars and classes offered on Oahu that should definitely be taken advantage of. There is also a nearly unlimited amount of online continuing education you can pursue.

Your time post-graduation/pre-RN employment is really what you make of it. A lot of people just view it as a waiting game. But really, you should be taking advantage of all the opportunities available to you to advance your nursing career. When you finally get an opportunity to interview for that new-grad RN job, you should have a lot to say when they ask "What have you done to advance your nursing career since graduating?"

willowita, ADN, RN · Dec 3, 2015

It's definitely tough in Hawaii. The reason I brought up outpatient is because as a new grad RN who wants to use their RN license, that may be the only route available for a while. I realize it doesn't count for an in-patient position but even getting an aide/tech/clerk job at an acute facility is difficult. Mainlanders I've known applying for those jobs weren't qualified to be CNAs even with some CNA experience and their RN license. Don't understand the reasoning behind that. Locals who had clinicals at the area hospitals explained to me you try to get those jobs while you're still in school. It's tough to do it afterward, though not impossible. While on Oahu, I had to pay bills and live so I took what I could, which was outpatient. I don't want to discount the work because working in the community does require the kinds of skills in care coordination that eventually will be expected as a result of health reform. So I don't regret the experience. But as a reality check, you can't be too picky for a job in Hawaii if you don't have experience. Apply for your dream jobs but don't limit yourself if you need to pay bills. You can always look for a job even when you have a job and hope for something better to pan out.

Love2Sleep, BSN, RN · Sep 9, 2016

Definitely check with the hospitals where you plan to be applying after your stint in Hawaii. Some may recognize SNF/non-acute RN experience but others may not. It's just a completely different skill set.

I would advise that you take the quoted advice. Although working non-acute care may not be what you want right now, experience is better than no experience. I work on the mainland where we get new residents who have been working SNF, LTC, outpatient, insurance companies as RNs. I guess it just depends on where you are.

If you're wondering why a mainlander is responding, I'm in the same boat as you. Lol. I'm a local that moved away for school who is wanting to return home! Good luck on your job search. You'll absolutely love living in Hawaii!