New Nurse having trouble finding job in Dallas

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Specializes in Stepdown ICU.

Hello everyone!

I am a newer nurse with about 8 months of PCU experience and I am moving to TX soon. I am having a terribly hard time finding a job, I have literally put in about 30 applications including apps to new grad residences, psych hospitals etc but no one will even give me an interview. I just need someone to give me a chance! Does anyone have any advice?

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- Sorry, I just saw that the title said Dallas.

I have heard great things about Baylor Scott and White. I know Dallas does prefer BSN.

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Specializes in Community Mental Health.

DFW is a hard market to get into with experience much less a new grad. We are very much over saturated with nurses. There are tons of public and private institutions pumping out nurses. When you add in the current pandemic it makes it tougher. Try going to one of the surrounding counties or LTC. LTC is always in need here. Pay in hospitals are also typically lower here too because of all the grads. Where I work, they hired a new grad and she told me that other in her class are making 3-4 less per hour than she does and they don’t have the perks of days, weekends/holidays off, flexible schedule etc. look at the non conventional jobs too. If you don’t mind not being in a hospital try our local community mental health authorities (one counties or better than the other but I’m not going to give more details than that). The nurse we hired it took her 6 months to find a job out of school. Just keep trying!

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Specializes in Stepdown ICU.

I have a BSN. LTC scares me, the fact that you could be responsible for 40+ patients really makes me nervous. I’m sure that with experience I’ll gain confidence, but right now it makes me uneasy. I would like community mental healthcare! Would you mind messaging me the names of these authorities?

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

With 8 months experience, you won't be considered for residencies in DFW hospitals. Most of them reserve those for new grads.

You have landed, unfortunately, in a time when hiring has trickled down to near nothing due to COVID. With an ASN and less than a year of experience combined with the current contagion, you will struggle to get calls for work. DFW very much favors BSN, though most will hire an ASN with an agreement to get their BSN within two years.

You will have to keep applying and broaden the scope of your search. Good luck!

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Specializes in PMHNP/Adjunct Faculty.

Dallas County's community mental health system is Metrocare and Tarrant County is MHMR. As other posters have said, most hospitals are currently on a hiring freeze. Try urgent care clinics, freestanding ERs to get your foot in the door (CareNow, CompleteCare, TheEmergencyCenter, SignatureCareEmergencyCenter, TrustedER, ERNearMe, CityHospital, ExceptionalEmergencyCenter, iCareEmergency). These Urgent Care and Freestanding Emergency Rooms are EVERYWHERE. We also have the Federal Medical Center (prison) in Fort Worth that is a good place to look for a job and another federal prison in Seagoville. As for the hospital systems, Baylor and HCA pay nurses the least however Baylor has high nurse satisfaction rates. THR is middle of the road with pay, people seem to be very happy with their pay and benefits packages at the county hospitals (Parkland/JPS). It is very difficult to get hired as someone who is not a new grad with less than 2 years of experience in a hospital in DFW.

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Specializes in PMHNP/Adjunct Faculty.

Psych Hospitals/Outpatient Programs to Apply to:

-Parkland Dallas Psych ER, inpatient/outpatient services, correctional health, partial hospitalization

-JPS Fort Worth Psych ER, hospital, partial hospitalization, outpatient programs, Correctional Health

-Green Oaks- Psych ER and Hospital Dallas

-Hickory Trail

-Dallas Behavioral

-Glen Oaks (Greenville TX)

-Millwood Hospital, Excel Center Partial Hospitalization Program

-Springstone Inc hires new/less than 2 years exp I know for sure: Carrolton Springs, Mesa Springs, Innovations Partial Hospitalization Programs, Changes Partial Hospitalization programs (locations Carrolton, Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, Arlington, Keller)

-Perimeter Hospital- Arlington and Dallas (adolescent/children's psych)

-Mind Above Matter- Keller, Arlington, Burleson

-UBH/Mayhill Denton

-THR Springwood Bedford

-THR Arlington Memorial

-THR Dallas, also has an eating disorder unit

-Cook Children's- PHP, inpatient for 11 years and younger

-Children's Dallas , PHP, outpatient, inpatient, eating disorders

-UT Southwestern Psych

-Garland Behavioral Hospital

-Haven Behavioral Health Frisco

-Wellbridge Fort Worth-primarily geriatric

-Wellbridge Healthcare Greater Dallas (Plano)

-Innovations 360 (outpatient, some home healthcare)

-TMC Behavioral Health (Sherman TX)

-Medical City Behavioral Health Mckinney (McKinney TX, small psych)

-Methodist Richardson Adult inpatient hospitalization/PHP

-Oceans Behavioral Health Abilene TX

-RUSK STATE HOSPITAL for the brave- they have dorms for the staff so you can travel out of metropolitan areas for your shifts and return home for your 4 days off.

-TERRELL STATE HOSPITAL also for the brave- closer to DFW and features ECT.

This does not include rehab facilities.

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Specializes in ICU.
On 4/29/2020 at 12:32 PM, Nurse SMS said:

With 8 months experience, you won't be considered for residencies in DFW hospitals. Most of them reserve those for new grads.

You have landed, unfortunately, in a time when hiring has trickled down to near nothing due to COVID. With an ASN and less than a year of experience combined with the current contagion, you will struggle to get calls for work. DFW very much favors BSN, though most will hire an ASN with an agreement to get their BSN within two years.

You will have to keep applying and broaden the scope of your search. Good luck!

Thanks for your great information. hope you all doing well. I am an RN in Texas, now live in CA . Plan move to Dallas at end of this year. I want to know, with My BSN plus 8.5 years ICU work experience outside US, will make this easy for me to look for a job as RN ? Thanks

On 4/29/2020 at 12:32 PM, Nurse SMS said:

With 8 months experience, you won't be considered for residencies in DFW hospitals. Most of them reserve those for new grads.

You have landed, unfortunately, in a time when hiring has trickled down to near nothing due to COVID. With an ASN and less than a year of experience combined with the current contagion, you will struggle to get calls for work. DFW very much favors BSN, though most will hire an ASN with an agreement to get their BSN within two years.

You will have to keep applying and broaden the scope of your search. Good luck!

Thanks for your great information. hope you all doing well. I am an RN in Texas, now live in CA . Plan move to Dallas at end of this year. I want to know, with My BSN plus 8.5 years ICU work experience outside US, will make this easy for me to look for a job as RN ? Thanks

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
On 5/16/2020 at 12:50 PM, Michelle Yin said:

Thanks for your great information. hope you all doing well. I am an RN in Texas, now live in CA . Plan move to Dallas at end of this year. I want to know, with My BSN plus 8.5 years ICU work experience outside US, will make this easy for me to look for a job as RN ? Thanks

Thanks for your great information. hope you all doing well. I am an RN in Texas, now live in CA . Plan move to Dallas at end of this year. I want to know, with My BSN plus 8.5 years ICU work experience outside US, will make this easy for me to look for a job as RN ? Thanks

Your experience outside of the US probably will not help you much. Depending on what country you were in, your experience may or may not match up with Us equipment and protocols and most employers aren’t going to trust it. Your BSN and current work experience will play in. You will probably find a job, though most have shut down hiring due to covid right now. How soon that may change is hard to guess. You may not be able to find a job in the ICU unless you are working the ICU here in the US.

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Specializes in ICU.

Thank you so much for your help. I am awarded that I might have hard time to find a job without US work experience, but this is something I cannot change, and I willing to keep seeking until I get it. Before that I really want to be prepared as much as I can. Do you have any suggestions to me regarding as a international RN , which area I’d better put more time to study to be prepared for work in US as an RN ¿

Thanks a lot . Best regards.

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hello, did you undergo CES again even though you already have CVS report from New York?

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Specializes in PMHNP/Adjunct Faculty.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/baylor-scott-white-health-lay-off-1200-employees/287-fdf574be-d8d0-411e-b549-fb5652a0b2c6?fbclid=IwAR11iDmzUDq2Ax2jAwEMnNMTSpR0QHMIZkXhVUY6gusxjbeKqAMU7qar2D0

Hospitals are starting to furlough, lay off, and cut pay in DFW. Make sure you are looking into as many employment options as possible during this time.

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