New Grads and Acute Care Hiring

[CardiTeleRN, BSN]

Hello!

I've recently posted about the difficulties of finding employment in NYC. I see multiple commenters mention that being hired is virtually impossible as a new grad. I am not a new grad; however, I find it be ridiculous that new grads are looked down upon. I am still at a loss as to how employers expect for new nurses to have experience without hiring them. I feel the policies and thought process behind this should be questioned. The new grads I work with are usually more invested in the work. Very detailed oriented. They're always eager to go above and beyond and usually error on the side of caution. The "experienced" ones may be nonchalant about situations that require investigation, they usually don't take the extra step, they're stuck in their ways, etc. I've noticed that they're so used to a routine that they bypass steps sometimes and that one off time may be the time they make an error. I've witnessed the after effects!

I think this whole no new grads thing is another way of corporations attempting to save money by decreasing the amount of orientation time, classes, and certifications. This is getting out of hand in my opinion. There will forever be a shortage in nursing as long as these politics of health care aren't challenged.?

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I don't think they are looked down upon at all. Getting the good ones in the door to work for US is a huge priority here. HOWEVER....hiring them takes a LOT more time, work, expense and mentoring than experienced nurses. They no longer come out of school ready to hit the ground running. 

[Sour Lemon]

1 hour ago, CardiTeleRN said:

I think this whole no new grads thing is another way of corporations attempting to save money by decreasing the amount of orientation time, classes, and certifications. This is getting out of hand in my opinion. There will forever be a shortage in nursing as long as these politics of health care aren't challenged.?

Corporations want to spend as little as possible, just like we want to make as much as possible.

Shortages exist in pockets, but not everywhere. A new grad willing to move away from their preferred stomping grounds will have zero difficulty finding a job as a new graduate.

[CardiTeleRN, BSN]

32 minutes ago, Nurse SMS said:

I don't think they are looked down upon at all. Getting the good ones in the door to work for US is a huge priority here. HOWEVER....hiring them takes a LOT more time, work, expense and mentoring than experienced nurses. They no longer come out of school ready to hit the ground running. 

This is true. I believe nurses that hold associates are much more prepared clinically for acute care fresh out of school than BSN holders. Associates focuses solely on clinical practice. ASN holders are being phased out for BSN - saves money for corporations. Don’t have to pay for BSN as well as possible MSN. 

[CardiTeleRN, BSN]

6 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

Corporations want to spend as little as possible, just like we want to make as much as possible.

Shortages exist in pockets, but not everywhere. A new grad willing to move away from their preferred stomping grounds will have zero difficulty finding a job as a new graduate.

Of course! I just feel it’s not fair for people to have to leave their homes, family, friends, etc to find a job that’ll pay them just the same give or take a dollar or two. Shouldn’t have to uproot their lives for a year or 2 years to come back home just to make one dollar more. Maybe.

[Sour Lemon]

18 minutes ago, CardiTeleRN said:

Of course! I just feel it’s not fair for people to have to leave their homes, family, friends, etc to find a job that’ll pay them just the same give or take a dollar or two. Shouldn’t have to uproot their lives for a year or 2 years to come back home just to make one dollar more. Maybe.

You're naturally looking at things from your own perspective, but consider the other side. It's entirely fair that a business would hire the best person for their business, not the person with the biggest sob story.

Imagine yourself 20 years into the future with a rock-solid resume and extensive experience. Now imagine that a new graduate was hired over you because they had friends in the area and didn't think it was fair to have to move.

I had to work in a less preferred area for a few years to gain experience, so I'm not unsympathetic. We cannot confuse charity with employment, though.

***Full disclosure: I lived in the less preferred area and didn't have to move. I just had to wait to move to where I really wanted to be.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

45 minutes ago, CardiTeleRN said:

Of course! I just feel it’s not fair for people to have to leave their homes, family, friends, etc to find a job that’ll pay them just the same give or take a dollar or two. Shouldn’t have to uproot their lives for a year or 2 years to come back home just to make one dollar more. Maybe.

This is just silly. Fair doesn't figure in when it comes to feeding a family, paying bills or succeeding in a career. The fact that modern day folks can even state this is a sign of how good we have had it for a pretty long time. In the Great Depression families uprooted and moved across the country and sometimes across the world in the mere hope that it might be better than where they currently were trying to eek out a living.

Fair has nothing to do with this. Nobody is entitled to a job when and where they want it.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I don't think new grads are looked down on either. The problem comes when the hospital/organization spends time and money on orienting, some have contracts to sign for a commitment (1-2 years mostly). Some new grads don't even fulfill half their contract. 

I work at a large teaching facility and lots of people come, work a year to get it on their resume and then leave. It is very frustrating as a preceptor and as a long time nurse on my unit. There seems to be a consistent "grass is greener" issue and many become job hoppers looking for something that does not exist. 

I blame that on the nursing schools that are not preparing new grads what nursing is really like. 

Hope that helps answer your question. ?

 

[CardiTeleRN, BSN]

2 hours ago, mmc51264 said:

I don't think new grads are looked down on either. The problem comes when the hospital/organization spends time and money on orienting, some have contracts to sign for a commitment (1-2 years mostly). Some new grads don't even fulfill half their contract. 

I work at a large teaching facility and lots of people come, work a year to get it on their resume and then leave. It is very frustrating as a preceptor and as a long time nurse on my unit. There seems to be a consistent "grass is greener" issue and many become job hoppers looking for something that does not exist. 

I blame that on the nursing schools that are not preparing new grads what nursing is really like. 

Hope that helps answer your question. ?

 

This response is the only legitimate one that I see happen all the time. I hear the new grads constantly mention how they want to work at specific teaching hospitals for only a year for their resume to leave. I do see that as being the issue and a common issue. 

[CardiTeleRN, BSN]

5 hours ago, Nurse SMS said:

This is just silly. Fair doesn't figure in when it comes to feeding a family, paying bills or succeeding in a career. The fact that modern day folks can even state this is a sign of how good we have had it for a pretty long time. In the Great Depression families uprooted and moved across the country and sometimes across the world in the mere hope that it might be better than where they currently were trying to eek out a living.

Fair has nothing to do with this. Nobody is entitled to a job when and where they want it.

No one is entitled a job; however, I believe it is silly for an employer to turn away an ASN new grad whom may be actually well qualified to hit the ground running for a BSN holder. Unfortunately, people are getting jobs in high population areas BECAUSE of who they know and not what they know. I know several people who have been overlooked for employment opportunities with years of RN experience, as well as holding MSNs for new grads. Sometimes it is who you know...the politics of health care currently is becoming out of control. Maybe a decade or so ago, experience mattered. Doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is what will save the company money, which from a business standpoint is very strategic!

[Queen Tiye, RN]

9 hours ago, Nurse SMS said:

I don't think they are looked down upon at all. Getting the good ones in the door to work for US is a huge priority here. HOWEVER....hiring them takes a LOT more time, work, expense and mentoring than experienced nurses. They no longer come out of school ready to hit the ground running. 

I doubt that any new nurse comes out of school ready to hit the ground running — now, or in times of yore.  Nursing is learned through experience and guidance.

[HiddencatBSN, BSN]

11 hours ago, CardiTeleRN said:

This is true. I believe nurses that hold associates are much more prepared clinically for acute care fresh out of school than BSN holders. Associates focuses solely on clinical practice. ASN holders are being phased out for BSN - saves money for corporations. Don’t have to pay for BSN as well as possible MSN. 

That really depends on the program. New grads requiring more orientation resources isn’t limited to BSN programs and my ABSN had more clinical hours and better placements than the local community college. Where I live and work currently there are two diploma programs that are excellent with clinical experience and are much better than the ASN program, and the BSN programs here vary with some being pretty close to the diploma programs in clinical experience.

New grad orientation has expanded beyond being basic training to the unit to include role transition and mentoring and support and it’s not uncommon for there to be some residency component that lasts for 6-12 months after hire. That’s a big commitment and with a lot of facilities seeing either low census because of COVID or being stretched beyond their capabilities, it’s a hard one to take on. And large urban areas often have many RN programs producing new grads to compete for new grad positions- it’s generally harder to get a new grad job in a big city because the volume of new grads outstrips the availability of new grad positions, not because no one is hiring new grads.

I’ve only worked one place that didn’t hire new grads on to my unit but they had a huge new grad residency program and hired new grads in to every other specialty the hospital offered.