No jobs for new nursing grads?! Please helppp!

LaceElaine · May 20, 2012

Thanks you two! I'm still clueless and very curious. Thanks for the REAL info. And sorry to the OP for taking over your thread! :/

IndyElmer · May 20, 2012

Here's a May 2011 story about the nursing shortage (audio or transcript) - Sick Economy Means Nursing Jobs Harder To Find : NPR

Here's another article, this time from December 2011 about the "nursing shortage" - Young People Put Dent In Nursing Shortage : Shots - Health Blog : NPR

As you'll see, there is a POSSIBLE nursing shortage predicted, but not until 2025!!

IndyElmer · May 20, 2012

Here's an NSNA brochure (that is fairly current) about the Realities of the Current Job Market - http://www.nsna.org/Portals/0/Skins/NSNA/pdf/RealitiesOfTheCurrentJobMarket.pdf

IndyElmer · May 20, 2012

FutureNurse97, I don't think you should let it scare you off from your dreams, but just be aware of the realities. (Also, I've heard that new grad NP jobs are tough to come by as well, but I haven't seen any news stories on the NP job market so I can't say for sure.)

elprup, BSN, RN · May 20, 2012

Have you read the threads on here? Many people are still looking for work a year after graduation.

Yep, graduated when the downturn hit in 2008. First job did not work out & I moved 300 miles for it. Moved again and was no longer considered a new grad because of my 3 month experience. Only now am I finally getting my first RN titled job. It sucks right now, but do not let anybody stop you from your dream!!!

maddiem · May 20, 2012

I'm getting my CNA license this summer to get experience in the field. You will have an edge over the other new grads because you have patient care experience outside of clinicals. Don't be discouraged by the job market. Get good grades and take advantage of the networking opportunities when you are in clinicals!

ImKosher · May 20, 2012

Like eveyone said, it depends on the area. I know some frineds up north (PA and Ny) are having hard times finding jobs. They all evantually found one! I think you need to be willing to move where the jobs are. do your research and find out about your sorrounding areas. There are jobs throughout the states, you just have to find the one's that are demand at this point in time. Good Luck and keep going!

LockportRN · May 20, 2012

Well, statistically speaking, there will be a nursing shortage with all the boomers nearing retirement age. What you and others that are not in the healthcare field are hearing, is partly due to this fact but also a way to get students to sign up to nursing schools that make big money off of you.

But the reality is that our healthcare system is broke with more and more cuts being made to medicaid and medicare on a seemingly weekly basis so the hospitals and now more than ever, nursing homes are not hiring. Many states are months behind in paying their bills to these institutions. So instead of hiring, they just add more patients to an already overburdened case load. Add to the reality that many nurses at or near the retirement age got hit by the economy just like the rest of the country and cannot retire thereby no new openings for jobs.

It is just a travesty that places like yahoo and msn still are trying to push (trick) people into signing up for nursing schools when we in the field know that while there is a nursing shortage, it is only a shortage because there are so few places actually hiring. Many nurses have degrees and licenses and want to work but can't get jobs. That leaves how many hundreds of new nursing grads with high student loans and no way to pay them back? I am just surprised that so many young people take the plunge and get such high student loans right in the middle of the healthcare debate, in nursing when the prospect of actually landing a job is slim. Though I too see these ads advertising the nursing shortage and telling everyone what a great job outlook there is for nurses nearly every single day. I wonder if the recruiters at the schools are telling prospective students the facts or telling them the same thing as the advertisers are? For myself, I think that I would have to do my due diligence and research this type of endeavor much more fully than just relying on what an advertiser has to say. And as for yahoo and msn, look carefully at who is writing the article. It could be anybody these days.

rockstar11 · May 20, 2012

Well, I'd say go for it. It sounds like you have an awesome goal and will learn what it takes to get there.

I started pre-nursing classes in 2005, nurses were in very high demand and programs were very competitive. Come today where jobs are few and far between, hospitals are being shut down and merged, hiring freezes at every other hospital. So just in 6 years time, a lot has changed! But that's not to say the same is true for you - a lot can change in 6 years! I graduated in December and just landed a job... so five months... it was a hard wait but it was worth it.

While I do think that there's somewhat of a flood of people entering pre nursing and nursing courses because it's advertised as a cheap and fast way to get a career... for every one of the people that are seeking a career, there's one who is seeking a calling. And that sounds like you!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 20, 2012

Like I said, maybe I'm wrong. That's just what I've always been told. I'm new to the site and somewhat new in nursing school. I'm
Still learning. This is news to me. This sucks to hear

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 2011, even as the overall economy saw a modest increase of 139,200 in online job listings.

Organizations that are hiring may simply have positions for fewer new grads than in the past.......the article continues.

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/NRS-254907/Has-the-Nursing-Shortage-Disappeared.html

The Big Lie?

Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated 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. T

The article continues......

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/755051?src=top10 requires registration but it is free.

http://www.job-hunt.org/careers/nurses.shtml and this was data gathered before the market crashed.

I am not saying don't follow your dream and we all pray for the economy to turn around....as that will bring back demand. But in education there is power.

I wish you the best.....:loveya:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 20, 2012

Contrary to what the media says, there is no true nursing shortage. Click on the recent links below to read about the struggles of newly graduated nurses who remain unemployed despite their degrees and training.

No Jobs for 43% of Newly Licensed Nurses Responding to Statewide Survey, According to Report by California Institute for Nursing & Health Care - MarketWatch

New nursing graduates north of Boston confront weak job market - The Boston Globe

The nursing job market shortage is most likely a myth

Why Can't New Graduate RN's Find Jobs - Is Nursing Shortage Over? | Suite101.com

Stephalump · May 20, 2012

Teachers have had a similar problem. The entire country was going on for YEARS about a teaching shortage. Then the economy went under, but the myth of the shortage didn't disappear. Companies were (and still are) making tons of money off of people going back to school to get alternative certifications, while many of their students were left with huge tuition bills and no jobs waiting for them. Who would choose a zero experience teacher with a degree in something completely unrelated over all the retired teachers coming back to the market or the constant onslaught of new teachers with education degrees flooding the market? Thats not to say you shouldn't continue your education if you're passionate about it. Just be aware. There is nothing I'd rather do, and I'd rather job hunt for a year than find some other kind of sure thing. But I do have that choice...no loans and a husband who can pay the bills on just his income.