No room for re-entry nurse?!

U.S.A. California

Published

I graduated in 2007 with a ADN and worked for 8 months as RN, had to quit to stay home raise two little kids; However, I continued for my BSN. Now I graduate and apply for jobs, I was told that I have less than one year experience to qualify for a non newgrad RN position. And when I apply for newgrad, they want RN with NO experience. I feel really bad...was hoping to get a job with my experience and other license as RT. Only few years, I feel like I have been totally left out by the world. I should have changed my major when go for BS...lol Anyone has the same issue?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Experienced nurses are having the same issues with being unable to find work. Many new grads are having an even tougher time. In California, some new grads from the graduation classes of '08, '09, and '10 have not yet found their first jobs. To keep a long story short, there are more nurses in the state than there are jobs available.

The economic situation is partly to blame, since many experienced nurses re-entered the nursing workforce in droves after the 2008 economic meltdown due to losing much of their retirement money. They cannot retire, so they continue to work. In addition, lots of second-career folks enrolled in accelerated nursing programs after having been laid off, which further flooded the market without the corresponding demand.

Also, since California has a high unemployment rate, many people no longer have health insurance, so they stay away from hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities. Less patients equals less work for nurses.

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During the time I was in school for BSN, I met people gave up jobs as a sale manager, accountant...and some even pay $30K to $50k to go to private school for nursing...sigh

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Specializes in Med./Surg., Diabetes, Med. ICU, home hea.

California has "punked" us nurses. Hospital administrators have learned to use the Nurse/Patient Ratio Act to lure nurses in from all over the world, looking to ending full time employment, and have almost ended "new grad" hiring for the present. Nurses re-enetering the workforce or trying to change specialties are in a bad position, also. Even skilled nursing facilities and psychiatric facilities, famous for taking advantage of nurses for glutonous profit are in the position to be able to demand current experience of their staff and are unwilling to "orient." Of course, this is the point of it all... to destroy nursing, especially Registered Nursing as a full time, decent paying position and to demote it to a part time lesser paying postion filled by immigrants.

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As I know the available visas created by the nurse relief act for foreign nurses have been used up by the year of 2006. The new wave of people get into nursing are actually more of "made in the USA". They were blew into nursing by the massive advertisements on media about "the promising job".

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