Newly Licensed LVN in the SF Bay Area and I can't find a job!

caliotter3 · Jun 20, 2012

I got two jobs when I moved away from SF.

leinasmom · Jun 21, 2012

I am in the same boat. I started applying online..then going in person to meet the department managers.. after doing this..within 1 week I got an email to take a test at PAMF for a position there..I don't have experience as an LVN..but if you wow them and sell yourself..things are possible.. sitting behind a computer waiting for a reply is not going to get it in todays economy.. I am also IV certified... I did my course in S. SF for $310 for both phlebotomy and iv..Good luck..

DanaOh · Jun 21, 2012

ok...this is the deal. you are going to have to work even harder. did someone tell you that because you did well in school it would be easy to get a job? you are going to have to do what many nurses will not do...dare i say...work night shifts to get the experience in order to build your resume....check out rehabilitation hospitals. that is how i started.. each job built upon the next job. from there i worked in an acute care hospital on med surg., all the while building my experience and network of professional friends. burn no bridges! i am sorry, but you are still in school. one day, you will emerge confident in yourself and in your skills. you will walk into an interview, know what is top dollar and settle for no less. we all pay our dues and how many times we pay the same dues...is totally up to us. we can elevate our live with a simple choice! good luck and congrats!!!

so nursing school is over. my lvn program was brutal, but i managed to graduate with honors, pass the nclex, and guess what? after hundreds of applications to various facilties (snf, ltc, acute care, home health, schools, city jobs) all i get are "we regret to inform you..." responses. no one wants to hire me because i don't have 1-2 years of "working" experience as an lvn. well, i how do i get that experience if no one wants to hire me? :bowingpuri have 2 years as an internal medicine ma and about 7 years of hr/admin experience on my resume. idk what to do! i'm already in the lvn to bsn program through isu. i am open to anything and everything except moving out of the sf bay area (family responsibilities). i've seen tons and tons of job openings but no one wants new grads!
does anyone know who is hiring new grad lvns out in this area? i was just hired on by mollen immunization clinics, but that is only seasonal and doesn't start until august -- and even then there are no guarantees that i will get any shifts since it is first come, first serve. please share any information if anyone out there has any information! thanks!
btw, i am also looking into additional certs for lvns -- does anyone have any recommendations for this? thanks again!

pinaytoh · Jun 21, 2012

I got my license on the 30th of May..got a job offer the next day at a homehealth agency, but their taking forever to process my documents...I applied to so many ad, and never get a call back.Today 2 calls for interview: FT jail nurse, & PRN at a methadone clinic...Kind of scared, but I need to start somehwere...

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2012

I got my license on the 30th of May..got a job offer the next day at a homehealth agency, but their taking forever to process my documents...I applied to so many ad, and never get a call back.Today 2 calls for interview: FT jail nurse, & PRN at a methadone clinic...Kind of scared, but I need to start somehwere...

Methadone clinics hire new grads, and the pay is good . I got a prn position at a detention center, and I have another interview lined up at another detention center(submitted the app so long ago I forgot I had applied LOL). Jails seem to be more willing to hire new LPN's right now&we all need a start somewhere! :-)

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2012

right now......there are multiple applicants for every position and many hospitals have hiring freezes. it is however, highly variant. it's affecting lpn as well as rn's. there are a plethora of rn's and they can't find jobs in acute care so the go to ltc and are accepting positions that were traditionally filled by lpns.....leaving lpns in the position of being unable to find positions. you are not alone....:hug:. i believe the bay area is one of the toughest markets.

has the nursing shortage disappeared?

it's that time of year again. graduating nursing students are preparing to take the nclex and are looking for their first jobs. this year, many are finding those first jobs in short supply.

reports are rampant of new graduates being unable to find open positions in their specialty of choice, and even more shockingly, many are finding it tough to find any openings at all.

these new rns entered school with the promise that nursing is a recession-proof career. they were told the nursing shortage would guarantee them employment whenever and wherever they wanted.

so what happened? has the nursing shortage—that we've heard about incessantly for years—suddenly gone away?

the short term answer is clearly yes, although in the long term, unfortunately, the shortage will still be there. the recession has brought a temporary reprieve to the shortage. nurses who were close to retirement have seen their 401(k) portfolios plummet and their potential retirement income decline. they are postponing retirement a few more years until the economy—and their portfolios—pick up.

many nurses have seen their spouses and partners lose their jobs and have increased their hours to make ends meet for their families. some who left the profession to care for children or for other reasons have rejoined the workforce for similar reasons.

in addition, many hospitals are not hiring. the recession brought hiring freezes to healthcare facilities across the country, and many are still in effect. help wanted ads for healthcare professionals dropped by 18,400 listings in july, even as the overall economy saw a modest increase of 139,200 in online job listings.

for the rest of the article http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/co...sappeared.html

nurses are talking about: jobs for new grads

the big lie?losing our skills

the holy grail

take a job, any job

get out of the hospital

back to school?

give us a chance

without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."in other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a bsn later on. who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. the jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

medscape: medscape access

for the rest of the article you need to register for medscape but it is free and is a great resource and source of information

be a nurse...if you can

not too long ago, the threat of a growing nursing shortage prompted thousands of prospective students to choose nursing as a career, and nursing schools rapidly filled to capacity. nursing was frequently referred to as a "recession-proof" career, and the outlook for finding a job after graduation was rosy.

experience and employment: the vicious cycle

now, the bloom, as they say, is off the rose. it seems that many of our new grads are stuck in that perennial dilemma: they can't get a job without experience, and they can't get experience without a job. this situation was not anticipated by thousands of nursing students who were told, often repeatedly, that a global nursing shortage practically guaranteed employment for them.

consider, for example, the situation faced by new graduates in california. a survey of hospitals by the california institute for nursing & health care found that as many as 40% of new graduates may not be able to find jobs in california hospitals, because only 65% of the state's potential employers were hiring new graduates and generally planned to hire fewer new graduates than in previous years. overwhelming numbers of new graduates submitted applications for the few available positions for new graduates. it wasn't that the hospitals weren't hiring at all, but that they wanted nurses with experience.

what happened to the jobs?

most experts blame the crumbling economy for ruining the job prospects of new graduate nurses around the country, but as usual these days, the truth is more complex.

uneven distribution. the demand for nurses was supposed to exceed the supply by the year 2010.the question of whether we truly have a nursing shortage right now is a fair one. the answer, it seems, is "it depends." apparently, it depends on where you live and where you are willing to work. neither the distribution or supply of nurses, or the demand, is uniform. some geographic (mostly rural) areas have a shortage of nurses, whereas some urban locations are witnessing an oversupply of nurses. new graduates seeking jobs in these regions will face a very competitive job market.

economic recession. the shrinking job pool is widely believed to be a consequence of the declining us economy. temporarily at least, economic pressures and job losses in all industries have induced thousands of experienced but aging nurses to forego retirement and even increase their working hours to support their families.

medscape: medscape access again requires registration but it is free no strings...

"praemonitus praemunitus" forewarned is forearmed.

pinaytoh · Jun 21, 2012

This is the day to go to jail FOR A JOB INTERVIEW:nurse:...never been to one, so dont know what to expect..didnt get enough sleep because my husband is oppossed to the idea of working in jail...I believe that there is nothing wrong with it and I should stick to my guts!!!! :idea:

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2012

This is the day to go to jail FOR A JOB INTERVIEW:nurse:...never been to one, so dont know what to expect..didnt get enough sleep because my husband is oppossed to the idea of working in jail...I believe that there is nothing wrong with it and I should stick to my guts!!!!

Good luck! They will probably tell you what kind of facility it is, such as men-only, women-only, or co-ed. And how many inmates they can house, etc. It's a pretty exciting atmosphere. Be sure & ask how many hours they offer new nurses. The facility I'm going to gives 40 hours (5 8-hour shifts).

goodkarmaluv · Jul 10, 2012

Thank you for your replies! I appreciate the feedback. I am still applying like crazy :bugeyes: , still no progress. I may try the jails now, as well as home health care. I really hope someone out there gives me a chance to work as an LVN.

pinaytoh · Jul 10, 2012

Thank you, didnt get the job at the jail, it was a group interview and 4 other people have many years of experience...I am to the point of giving up and just focus on working as a tech while getting my RN...but Its kind of scary to think that once I get my RN Lic, job will be available either!!!!!!

BrandonLPN, LPN · Jul 11, 2012

Why is the SF job market so tight for nurses? I've noticed this a lot on these boards. There must be a lot of nursing schools in the area or something? Where I live, a nurse can always find a job somewhere.