New Graduate RN in Boston

[FreeMan RN]

Hello everyone, first time poster, but I've been reading info on this site for 4 years now while I toiled away in nursing school

I graduated from a BSN program in May and passed my boards at 75 questions back in July. This was back in my home state of NJ. I moved with my significant other to Boston, MA as she is now a graduate SLP student at NEU.

This was a big move for us as it was the first time either of us had ever really left home as opposed to just going away to school for the year.

Unfortunately, by moving five hours and two states away I pretty much lost the entire network I had built during my time in nursing school, and I am now in a much worse spot when it comes to finding a job as I at least had a face to pair with my applications when it came to the unit managers near my school.

I keep running into the same issues everywhere "1-2 years experience required, previous [blank] experience required" with no application spot for new grads.

I seem to have missed that boat when the major Boston hospitals opened their applications for new grads as early as February. I didn't even consider looking into postings that early because the hospitals near my school hadn't opened their apps until mid-June.

I have not been hunting for very long as of now, so I'm not surprised or discouraged yet, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to improve my chances of finding a job, or if one of you god-sends knows somewhere that still wants new grads as of now.

I have called a few hospitals to see if I could meet with an HR rep or even a unit manager, but most places refer me to their website for "all application needs" as they have gone paperless. I don't want to just be another name sitting in a pile of hundreds of applicants, but the current system makes it very hard to stand out.

Any advice or words of encouragement are appreciated!

[emoraver]

Boston is 10,000% saturated with nurses. And I don't want to discourage you, but it's really going to depend on WHO you meet not on when/where you apply for a job online.

There are many nursing schools in the Boston area that use all the hospitals for placements, so your chances of getting a hospital job there are really, really small. Not impossible, but small. Last year (I haven't looked recently) MGH had on their employment site something that basically said, "If you didn't do some clinicals here, we probably aren't even going to look at your application."

I recently met with nurses and docs that I know at Dana Farber and Boston Children's and they weren't able to help me. They even introduced me to one of the Director's of Nursing. Boston is a hard, hard city to get that first nursing job.

I lived/worked in Boston before going to nursing school...and I knew this then. That's why I didn't move back. I met a Simmons grad at the gym when I was in Boston and asked her about jobs and she got a job right after graduating but said that most of her classmates were still looking...6 months later. And these were people who did their clinicals in Boston.

Many large cities are like this: Boston, Chicago, Philly, NY, LA, SF, Seattle. All you can do is mill about, go to events - really, ANY events, they don't have to be medical related - and network. You never know who you'll meet. Maybe you go to a first Friday event for young people at the MFA and meet a nurse who is on a floor that is currently hiring... THAT is how you'll get your first job.

Other than that, I suggest you look for a job in Worcester or in the outer suburbs of Boston.

You should also connect with the alumni relations office of your nursing school. They should have names of alumni that are working in the Boston area. Connect with them! Sometimes, they can help open doors.

Best of luck to you.

[ErinDel, ASN, BSN, RN]

If you have time, possibly volunteer in one of the Boston hospitals. I volunteered at MGH for a year then got a job on the floor i was on. That was a tech job, but it still helped. Good luck

[FreeMan RN]

Unfortunately I can't afford to volunteer for a year as I only have a few months rent before I would have to start looking outside of nursing to pay my bills. I've already been applying to hospitals outside central Boston, trying to stay within an hour drive, so I suppose I will continue to focus more on that region.

That same posting on MGH is still present but I threw in my app anyway. Only a wasted hour or so and you never know. It really is a shame how difficult getting that first foot in the door is, but I'm not going to give up. Thanks for your input!

[Alicat1451]

Boston is tough because the nurse managers at the big hospitals have applications from students that have worked on the floors during nursing school or as previous posters have said, done their clinicals on the floor. One of the schools requires full time work experience as a PCA during the program, so the managers can almost pick and choose from those groups.

Another NM encouraged us to get jobs in LTAC or in a nursing home and then come back and talk to her after a year or so (this was during our clinical on the floor). Have you applied to some of the LTAC facilities? Best of luck to you!

[BostonFNP, APRN]

There are lots of great community hospitals in the suburbs that will hire if you are willing to reverse commute from the city.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure what part of the city you are in but you could look at some of the smaller hospitals IN Boston like St. E's (Brighton) or Faulkner (JP) or Carney Hospital (Dorchester). St E's and Carney are Steward Hospitals and I wouldn't exactly recommend working for them but, if you're desperate, it's something. All the big hospitals (MGH, BWH, BI, BCH, BMC, Tufts) have probably long past filled their new grad spots. You have to apply in the winter of your senior year of college to get one of those jobs.

[FreeMan RN]

@ KelRN215 I have applied to all of your recommended hospitals, called to follow up and was basically told "don't call us, we'll call you." St. E's was actually my first choice despite it not being one of the major hospitals because it is within walking distance of my apartment.

@BostonFNP Do you happen to know of any suburban hospitals that want new grads? I've yet to get a single response from any hospital I've applied to in or out of the city limits apart from BMC which was an automatic denial for lack of experience.

@PuppyLV I have applied to every LTC that I can find that doesn't have mandated experience and I had my first interview with one which I thought went well. I haven't heard anything back from them one way or the other though.

I think I'm actually running out of applications I can fill out for RN positions in my area though. The only thing that actively wants new grads are flu drives... which I already did in nursing school and it is on my resume.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Have you tried Franciscan's? They are in Brighton as well. Not sure if you're interested in Pediatrics but, again, it's something.

[FreeMan RN]

I have not, but I will. Thank you for the suggestion.

[FreeMan RN]

After over a hundred apps, I got two interviews. First with a LTC then with an outpatient hemodiaysis.

I got called this morning and was offered the job in LTC, and I hesitated as it was part time and would barely cover my rent. I was supposed to hear from the hemodialysis company tomorrow about a full-time position. I asked if I could get back to them tomorrow and they immediately retracted the offer over the phone and hung up. I've never heard of a company doing anything like that.

Now I just got an email telling me I don't have the dialysis job.

This is a nightmare

[ErinDel, ASN, BSN, RN]

Wow thats pretty horrible about the ltc facility. I know that seacoast nursing and rehab in Gloucester are hiring new grads for second and third shift. They are part of kindred healthcare. I wish you luck with your continuing search