New RN, New to Houston, and No Job

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Hi everyone,

I moved to Houston from Pennsylvania after I graduated nursing school at PSU a few months ago. I passed my boards almost a month ago and have applied to probably 70 jobs since then. I have my ADN, and am 3 courses away from my BSN which I hope to be finished in May. I also did an externship in critical care. I haven't heard anything from anywhere I applied. It is discouraging, because I feel like I worked really hard to get here, and I want to start working badly. It seems like many hospitals here either want experience, or a BSN. Does anyone know of anywhere that hires new nurses without experience to positions other than internships/residencies in the Houston area? Everyone I've been in contact with tells me to apply to their internship or residency program (which I haven't had much luck with so far). Any information/assistance is greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I am a LPN and have been in Houston now for about 4 years. My first job here was hospital and hated it. Now I work in Home Health and love the flexibility it offers without the micro management...I hope to start RN in the next year or so and look to home health as the most flexible work environment for me anyways. Not sure if this helps. Good Luck to you!

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Thank you, Tree2144 for your response! I'm primarily interested in working in the ER (this is my dream job, but I know it is highly unlikely at this point as a new nurse). Right now I'm considering any type of job. Home health has been my last resort until now, because I have actually heard a lot of bad about it, but your post gives me a little more hope on it. Thanks!

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Specializes in floor to ICU.

New Methodist hopsital in Katy opening up. They are hiring. Also, Texas Childrens about to open. Booming around West Houston. Not sure about a new RN. Worth looking into. Good luck!

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Thanks for your response! I am definitely going to look into these.

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I job hunted for 5 months with no results this summer as new grad RN (also recently relocated from out of state). No hospitals would even talk to me. I finally found a job working LTC in Conroe. It isnt my dream job, but its my reality job. Hopefully I can get some experience under my belt and then try something new.

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Thanks Trubie for your response. I was thinking about applying to some places North of Houston, but I was worried about the commute from where I live in West Houston. The job outlook right now just isn't good for new grads. I'm glad you found something. At this point I'm willing to take anything just to get some RN experience under my belt too!

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

Internships for new nurses usually start in Jan and June. Now would be a good time to apply for them, if not a little too early.

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Thanks NeoNurseTX. I've applied to a few nursing internships so far. It seems like I won't have much luck with the hospitals in the Med Center because they are very competitive, and apparently I am an "outsider" because I didn't do clinicals at any of these hospitals. I applied to the RN residency program at Cy-fair hospital, so I'm hoping for the best with that. Although the program is competitive like all of them, I probably have a much better chance of interviewing with them because last time I spoke with them they had about 75 applicants. I'm sure the med center hospitals have hundreds at this point. I feel like if I can just get an interview I can really make myself shine!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I always advise people who are considering a move to H-town to find a job first, then decide where to live... in order to avoid getting caught up in a soul-destroying commute.

I am so sorry you are having such a difficult time finding a job, but it appears that the steady influx of job-seekers has finally affected our market for new grads. I would suggest focusing on suburban facilities rather than those in the med center. In Houston, formal new grad programs (internships, residencies, etc) are generally designed to support the partnerships with nursing schools that have clinicals at the facility. Theoretically, they are open to all applicants, but the host facility markets them to students before they graduate, so they fill up very fast.

Best of luck to you.

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

Don't forget St. Joseph downtown. I got my internship there when I applied late (due to the time I moved back to Houston) and the med center internships had already deadlined.

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NeoNurseTX, thanks so much for the suggestion. I had no idea they had an internship. I looked it up and they just added some RN Intern positions about a week ago so I applied today. Hoping for the best, Thank You!!

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