New Grads!!! There IS a way to SURVIVE!!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

I have started a thread based on an off shoot if solutions to help create a marketplace for new Grads. I was on a 12-year plan en route to my BSN....from failing ADN school at 19 due to a cyclothymia trait and test anxiety, Getting my LPN, making money, buying my first house, finding a BSN program to be blindsided by fracturing 2 vertebrae in my neck in 2007, then a near death experience in 2008. I survived sucky setbacks, indeed...However, the nursing school supported and allowed me through my hard work to achieve my goal of a BSN...However...

GPA 2.98-GREAT-but not enough for a competitive nurse residency program...if I wanted to get into the residency I would have to wait, stay at my current job as an RN and wait six months and reapply to the program...this hospital ended up having a hiring freeze.

LPN-GREAT!!! You won't run away like most new grads, but we can't hire you because you do not have acute care experience in the last 2 years AND you haven't touched an adult pt in five, oh and if you want to be considered for the job, we'll contact you in 2 years.

These are the above comments I have experienced when finding a job. Rejected 200 apps a week, then the reminders of loan repayment started rolling in, along with my anxiety...then I thought of the resources that I had started compiling during my last semester in nursing school in December 2011...and still from over a year, these programs and resources are in place:

1) Perkins Loan forgiveness: started well into my nursing school track...really should've chose Perkins over Sallie Mae. Still holding my breath for that loan forgiveness passage. I hope the new Congress will return to this bill and pass it, but I'm not holding my breath. Either way, contact you state BON if you have Perkins loans. They can be forgiven...I have a co worker who took advantage of the program...we are in PA, but I saw a lot of states who are participating.

2) HRSA: Committed to access of healthcare, they have loan repayment programs, scholarships, etc: http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/index.html

3) FinAid: Have various volunteer programs like City Year and Peace corps which can help pay off student loans...I will post the link below in the response

Please feel free to post additional programs that are out there. There are grant programs as well geared to Healthy People 2020 and can help towards further education...

These programs are competitive, but worth the try!!!

There is a light at the end of this tunnel...I was able to get a job after 8 months post graduation and licensure at a PICU at a local Children's hospital starting in February. I plan to apply to the HRSA loan repayment program. There is a light in the end of the tunnel...volunteer, work at a clinic...think outside of the box!!! You can do THIS!!! You may be eligible for these programs!! Good luck and keep surviving!!!

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Ok this is a repost from another thread but here it goes...

www.peacecorps.gov looks very good, that is if you are able to commit to 27 months, and can pass the physical.

if you happen to have $2000+ lying around, (yeah I know, who does?) there is an admirable program www.islonline.org . It's a program where you have some hands on experience in other countries doing honorable things in 1-2 week sessions. If you can't afford it, but are blessed with a family, you can ask your 12 uncles, aunts, parents, grandparents combined to contribute, they also have fundraising options.

If you know someone who wants to be a doctor but can't afford it (again who can?) www.citydoctors.com The deadline has already passed but there is a contact email, can contact the program to see if and when it will be active again.

Best of luck new grads. We need all the help we can get.

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You have not had it easy. It is brave of you to share your story. One day I will share mine, but as of now I feel it will only crush my toe in the door. Thank you LadyFree28 for starting this thread. Congrads on the new job and best of all for you, babies aren't heavy!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Your welcome!! This subject resonates with me...just as unconventional my schooling was, i realized my repayment may have to be...I high HIGH hopes for you and anyone else who needs this information! :)

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

FinAid information on loans and volunteer programs: http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
You have not had it easy. It is brave of you to share your story. One day I will share mine but as of now I feel it will only crush my toe in the door. Thank you LadyFree28 for starting this thread. Congrads on the new job and best of all for you, babies aren't heavy![/quote']

Thank you...I saw on your other post that you were volunteering in the ER...I know you will tell your story in due time:) My Nurses's senses tell me your light is coming soon...Sending positive vibes for success to you!!!

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Specializes in Pedi.

Perkins Loans can be forgiven if you are a nurse but here's how it works... you have a six month grace period once you graduate before you have to begin making payments on your loan. Prior to this six month grace period ending you must submit your application for cancellation which must include a signature from your supervisor confirming that you are employed full time and your job description. Once this is submitted to your school, your loan is deferred for a year. At the end of the first year, you resubmit all of this paperwork, a percentage of your loan is canceled and then it is deferred for another year. After 5 years of full-time employment, your loan is canceled completely. If you are a new grad who is not employed, you don't qualify for this specific cancellation but could probably defer your loans for economic reasons/due to unemployment.

You don't really get to "choose" Perkins Loans over Sallie Mae though... Perkins Loans are federal loans, the federal government gives you the amount they determine you qualify for based on your FAFSA and your school's opinions. Basically your school receives a certain amount of federal loan money and they determine how it is dispersed. If you still have a balance on your account after you receive your financial aid package, you can't just apply for more Perkins Loan money... that's where private loans like Sallie Mae come in.

HRSA incentive programs only apply to nurses working in Health Professional Shortage Areas...

I did a program through International Service Learning immediately after graduating from Nursing School. It's still on my resume and people still comment on it nearly 6 years later. I was a newly licensed nurse at the time and the only nurse/nursing student on the trip... everyone else was pre-med or in pharmacy school. There are a lot of similar programs around but, as backwards as it seems, volunteering abroad is expensive. It cost me around $5,000 to volunteer in Africa four years ago... the majority of that was the flight.

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New grads living in part of the USA where jobs are difficult to acquire? Life isn't easy, sacrifices must be made. I was living in California and moved to Texas to go to nursing school to avoid the trap that y'all are in right now. What I have found in my travels is that there are jobs in acute care all over the country in little places called Texas, Louisiana, Alabama...

I will not volunteer to do something that I should get paid good money to do. I feel that this belittles the profession. If you didn't pick up my tone, I would move to a part of the country that is hiring new nurses. I praise you for your hard work, determination and drive. I wish you the best.

Yeah, Texas kinda !@#$ for me.

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I do like the city year program but what is the big commitment before I get into it. and does it involve traveling as well?

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How did you land a PICU job after 8 months of being "out of action"?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
How did you land a PICU job after 8 months of being "out of action"?

Honestly, I didn't even apply for the position...I was applying to a ECMO team position, which hired new grads and the wording described that they were "willing to train." I had uploaded a skills-specific résumé-which a nurse recruiter at a career fair suggested I used, months ago-and the recruiter for critical care sent me an email wanting to do a phone screen. The process went from there. Based on what I described about how I liked seeing a variety of pts, she suggested that I try the PICU...my phone screen was in September, interview November (which included a shadow experience) and they offered me the position the Friday before Christmas Eve. Although I knew 2 classmates who got a job there (one is a Peds oncology nurse; she worked there as a unit secretary during school, she approached the nurse manager and expressed her interest in eventually becoming a Ped Onc NP; the other had no connections whatsoever; however, she applied about the same time of year the previous year and was hired on a step-down unit) I NEVER told them I was looking for a job there or listed them as referrals either. I knew I could get my own job on my own merits.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I do like the city year program but what is the big commitment before I get into it. and does it involve traveling as well?

I suggest you go directly to the city year website, or contact the agency directly to get more information. I was considering the program and I honestly cannot remember whether it involved traveling..It depends, but don't quote me on that. I have worked with the agency prior, and the agency has great individuals who are involved...at least in my area-and I heard all positive things about city year.

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