I graduated in May 2009 and have not been able to secure a job yet. I have an ADN degree with a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing and a Master's in Traditional Oriental Medicine. I have ten years of experience diagnosing and treating patients as a licensed acupuncturist and have worked in several clinical environments with doctors and therapists in addition to alternative medicine practitioners. I am in my late thirties and have seen all of my colleagues from nursing school who are under 25 being hired without any patient care or life experience.
Is anyone else noticing this trend? I thought my diverse experience and age would be an asset. In school, we are always taught that nurses should be assertive, culturally competent and be able to apply critical thinking. These are skills that improve with age and practice. I believed spending 20+ years in customer service and medicine would give me an edge, but it seems to be a liability.
The other older graduates from my program were equally surprised to find that the local hospital where we attended clinicals seemed to prefer younger graduates.
Specializes in Emergency Room, Specialty Infusions.
My daugheter who will be 32, just graduated from a BSN program. She can't get an interview with anyone either.
Back in the day (30+ years ago) a new grad was always hired for the float/PRN pool. She can't even get into that.
I'll be returning to the States in another year or two. And at the age of 54 and the economy the way it is.....I'm afraid I won't be able to get an job too.
I wish every one the best of luck. I will be keeping an eye on things.
After passing the Boards, I got 5 interviews for nursing homes, two for Sugery Centers and just today, had a phone interview with a hospital, all in New England. Prior to this, I took an ACLS class and Completed a Short IV Insertion Course to make me more marketable and so far that $400 has generated interest with employers.
There is another class/seminar I plan on registering for dealing with PICC lines to further enhance my skills. With this bad economy, you have to go the extra mile to show employers you have initiative to educate yourself and not simply rest on one's laurels. The aforementioned comment was also stated by employers..."we like to see that you are not waiting for a job to fall into your lap."
I feel for those who have worked so hard to get where there at, but have now hit a roadblock. More then ever we need to put God first in everything. I bet most people are seeking employment and have not even asked the Lord to bless them. We need though to seek His will first. Put Him first in everything. Get back to His way of life. To love Him with all our might, heart, and soul. Get back to keeping His Torah. When we do these things then the blessings will come...maybe not in the way we expected though
I graduated three years ago at age 49 and my age was of concern to me. I structured my resume to reflect only the past few years of experience, plus I left everything off my applications that would give any clue to my age. If they asked for a social security or driver's license number, I wrote on the app that I would gladly provide that information if/when there was an offer for a position. I don't look 49 but you can also tell from looking at me that I'm not in my 20's either, so during interviews, I carefully avoided saying anything in conversation that would indicate my true age, such as having a son who is grown and having a granddaughter. I realize that I was applying for jobs at a time when they were still plentiful, but this strategy worked for me.
I feel for those who have worked so hard to get where there at, but have now hit a roadblock. More then ever we need to put God first in everything. I bet most people are seeking employment and have not even asked the Lord to bless them. We need though to seek His will first. Put Him first in everything. Get back to His way of life. To love Him with all our might, heart, and soul. Get back to keeping His Torah. When we do these things then the blessings will come...maybe not in the way we expected though
Hmmm... I found a job right after graduation (Grad. Nurse) at a major hospital. And I was 38.
Trust me, I'm not even close to being religious.
There is a lot more to finding a job than faith in God.
There is another class/seminar I plan on registering for dealing with PICC lines to further enhance my skills. With this bad economy, you have to go the extra mile to show employers you have initiative to educate yourself and not simply rest on one's laurels.
There are no jobs. It's not your age. Supply and demand. Lower wages. Worse working conditions. Let your papers know so people don't keep lining up for nursing school.
The only way to stop the abundant supply of nurses is to stop the lines for nursing school. The nursing schools aren't going to stop you. They will take your money.
there are jobs out there. some of the jobs I took are ones i didn't want and had to dig for them. the unemployment reate is around . . what 10%(i can't keeep up on exact number) that means there are 90% working. of course the higher the unemployment means it isn't as easy as if it was 0%
The Nursing Field has been flooded. 10 years of marketing "We need nurses" has brought an abundance of nurses fighting for the same job, decrease in salaries and worse working conditions.
More sick people than ever!!!! The economy has affected health care - there are more sick people than we can handle. But no more jobs.
Specializes in Emergency Room, Specialty Infusions.
What happened to the nursing shortage??
When I was a nurse in the 80's they talked about it. They wanted all RN's to have their BSN's back then.....but, because of "the nursing shortage", they knew it would create an even BIGGER shortage and that requirement quickly fell by the wayside.
Up here in Ontario a few years back they made it a requirement for nurses to have their Bachelor's.
Now, that most of the nursing force is my age, "50's" and getting ready to retire they are in a world of hurt. The "shortage" is going to get even bigger!
At my oldest daughter's commencement in May down in Tennessee the Dean mentioned how she hoped some of the students would go on for their Master's and decide to teach. Because, "We are all getting ready to retire and there will be a shortage of Instructors."
I see it now....more and more non-nursing duties and more patients with higher acuity are heaped on nurses who hit the floor at a run and don't stop for 12 sweaty hours.
For over 30 years I have seen how Nurses are treated. It has been and still is predominantly a female job. We do not get the respect we deserve because we are women.
I am sure a few males will write in. But, if you look at other posts regarding how male doctors act towards us, you will also see the male nurses do not have the same problem.
No jobs out there? It usually takes people getting sicker and dying before something is done. Then watch the jobs show up.
THE HELL YES!! i have 13 years of nursing practice and exposed to different areas in our country. when i resigned to seek a better pay abroad the applicants i was with immediately got an interview and exam. Me they told that they have to review my resume for evaluation. I was so frustrated and Mad is it because i was turning 40 doesnt mean i could compete with the younger generation? The reason i see in here maybe because they are afraid to handle older nurses simply because they are afraid that we may have more knowledge and experience than they have. Secondly they could noy easily manipulate us unlike the newbies....I hope they count give us a chance..
I don't think age has anything to do with it, there are very limited New Grad positions certain hospitals in my area are not having a New Grad position for January or February 2010. I graduated in May 2008 and still can not find a full time position. Right now I am administering flu shots. The hospitals and Nursing homes that will have New Grad positions have only 3 slots available for about 300 people applying. Basically it is like in most states everyone keeps telling me just to hang in there and it won't be like this much longer. I recently went on a job interview in Washington, DC for there New Grad position starting in February. The interview consist of a 3 page math test and a two page essay. I know I received a 100% on the math test but I received an email that I was not selected to go further. Nothing else to do but to keeping trying.
Code_VSA
96 Posts
My daugheter who will be 32, just graduated from a BSN program. She can't get an interview with anyone either.
Back in the day (30+ years ago) a new grad was always hired for the float/PRN pool. She can't even get into that.
I'll be returning to the States in another year or two. And at the age of 54 and the economy the way it is.....I'm afraid I won't be able to get an job too.
I wish every one the best of luck. I will be keeping an eye on things.