What is keeping New Grads/less experienced Nurses from being hired and solutions?

Nurses Activism

Published

Im sure there is no simple answer to this question but people on here are quite insightful and I would Love to hear some of the responses. We all know that the job market is tough out there, especially for New Grads or those without hospital experience. However, we always hear about hospitals being short staffed or we see a million job postings for nurses (albeit they often say experienced). So, evidently that means that they DO need nurses! My question then is what is keeping the hospitals or other institution from hiring NG or people with little experience if they are so in need of staff? is it a lack of preceptors/nursing educators? is it that hospitals aren't willing to spend or don't have the money to spend on training? or is it something else? Im all ears.

My personal view is this: If it is a money issue, I would be willing to take a paycut for the first few months to offset the costs of training. What are your thoughts on that idea?

i am not bitter yes some of you have a lot of responsibilities but a lot of you dont such as psych nurses overpaid underworked. and i am in school i am tired of the board of nurses turning out money hungry no compassionate nurses. nursing is taking care of patients. icu nicu trauma nurses L&D ER nurses yes well deserving nurses and should be paid top dollars. I'm speaking to most of the nurse in longterm care unit in hospitals and longterm facilities dialysis nurses who for the most part think their job is basically come in and give out orders to the little people. I know a lot of them who would go and jump through hoops to find a cna to give a patient water rather then go and get them some water. I am in school so i can eventually change the way some of the jobs in hospitals run their facilities in longterm care you pass the pills you should pass the water. what task the medication that comes is faxed to the pharmacy the pharmacy prepares the orders you follow up on the orders I'm not knocking your duties as a nurse Its all about organizing your duties you have cnas and lvns or pn and a unit secretary that are assisting you as well so your job isnt that hard and you work 3 day wks.

wow.just wow.

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Hopefully part of what you are learning in school will be correct punctuation and grammar.

Here is the ugly truth about any job in the US. The more people who know how to do it, the less it will pay. This goes for any profession out there.

Nurses are responsible for everything the CNA does. CNA messes up, they lose their job. If the mess up is bad enough, the nurse in charge of overseeing the CNA loses her license....a.k.a. ability to support him or herself. The higher level of responsibility drives the higher level of pay. There is NOTHING shameful about expecting to be paid fair compensation for the level of the work. And expecting fair pay has nothing to do with the ability to provide compassionate, competent care. I expect both - to treat my patients with compassion and respect, but also to be paid fair market value for the responsibility I am accepting by agreeing to take care of said patients. It is not one or the other.

Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

Here is what I think:

1. There NEVER was a nursing shortage. There was a shortage of nurses willing to work at the bedside. Well, the tanking economy took care of that.

2. Hospitals are notorious for posting positions they have no intention of filling. This has been going on since time immemorial.

3. The previous new grads have screwed the following new grads. How? By taking jobs they had absolutely no intention of staying at and leaving as soon as a "better" opportunity came along. Often this was mere weeks after finishing an expensive orientation. The whole attitude of my employer is going to screw me so I might as well screw them first is resulting in nobody being willing to hire newbies. I wouldn't want to risk a new grad either if I was a hiring manager.

4. Many new grads ridiculous expectations (no weekends, holidays, nights, no jobs anywhere but L&D, Peds or Nicu) that they disguise as "sticking up for ourselves" while looking at us long-termers as "sheeple" for believing that people must pay their dues. Really, nursing is no different than any other job. You generally start at the bottom and work your way up and that often means less than ideal shifts, not working in L&D and missing Christmas with your family every other year.

5. This absurd notion of "my dream job". No job is a dream. You might have a good one but seriously it's not called "work" for nothing. The utter shock that some new grads have expressed here about how hard it is makes me want to thunk them on the head and ask them what did they think they were getting into. Even worse are those who actually quit because it was harder what they expected. "I have to do WHAT?" Personally I think all medical shows should be outlawed for portraying nursing as they have. Seriously, it isn't at all like "Grey's Anatomy". The end result is bitter, disappointed employees who want to quit as soon as possible so then you have to through all the interviewing and orienting all over again.

6. Nursing schools that outright lie to prospective students about their job prospects, achievable lifestyle, job stress or lack thereof or any other real world facts resulting in scads of students graduating each month for precious few positions. I truly don't think there ever was a time when there would be enough openings to support the number of graduates we are currently seeing.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Community Care Nursing, CCM.

We nurses get paid more because we paid more, e.g. took out more students loans and gave up 4 years of our lives to get that BSN. It wasn't a cheap education. Who would graduate a BSN program, $20000+ in debt and expect to be paid what we were being paid to work as CNAs, a training program that only lasts 147 hours here in NC. I'm not knocking CNAs. I used to be one. I used to teach CNA1 classes. Working as a CNA was a stepping stone to becoming a nurse. Psych nurses have to put up with a lot of junk on their job-getting physically abused by violent patients, being spat at, bit, kicked, cursed. By the way that's what I deal with in long term care. They deserve every penny they make and then they are still not paid what they are worth. I heard something on the radio once about if lawyers were paid what they were worth and nurses were paid what they were worth, we would be drawing the lawyers' salary!

Back to nursing school, nursing students have to tolerate being treated like POWs in a prison camp the 4 years they are in that nursing program too! Our instructors had us scared to death the entire duration of the program that we were going to be kicked out for one reason or the other. That's not to forget that every semester, we all got automatically accused of plagiarism whether we were or not. It was like being on the Survivor show. You had to outwit, outlast, outplay. The sole survivor got the money.

I was a CNA before I became a nurse. I worked my rear end off as a CNA. I work twice as hard and have twice as much responsibility and grief to deal with as a nurse.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the CNAs I work with because they respect their job and they respect mine. As a team we provide the best care possible.

But if you are a CNA and your attitude is that we nurses aren't doing anything then you clearly do not understand the concept of a team -- where different people manage very different types of responsibilities.

If you are not aware of how those different areas tie together for the benefit of the patient, then I imagine it must be very difficult to be the nurse working with you.

I have talked to multiple managers and they all the say the same thing. It's not that they do not want to hire new grads because they do. It's that the new grads they interview seem rude, entitled, lazy, unpolished, etc. So sometimes when I see all the posts on here from new grads saying they can't get hired, it makes me wonder how they are presenting themselves. I know my manager held interviews for a long time for 2 positions before she was able to find good RN's. She interviewed mostly new grads and hired new grads she just had to go through tons to find good ones.

SOUNAPPRECIATED: I hope you are not going to school to become an Rn because it will be a HUGE wake up call to you because you have NO IDEA what the responsibilities of the nurse are. Plus, if you are going to school for something different I sure hope you never get a position where you having anything to do with making decisions regarding the RN role that you obviously do not understand. I will use your example with the meds from pharmacy. The nurse is not just passing the meds. She needs to be able to recall her knowledge about each medication and know why the patient is on it and correct dosages and be able to catch doctor/pharmacy orders of incorrect/non appropriate medications. There is a lot more to it than you think.

As an older "new grad", I'd like to put in my two cents here. I graduated in June, took boards in December. I followed my instructors' and preceptors' advice, and began putting in applications the month before graduation. Primarily at the hospital system where I did 3/4 of my clinical time. Here it is January. I've submitted over 60 applications to various facilities. I've gotten one interview, still no job. There are brand new grad RNs who graduated earlier this month and have yet to take NCLEX who are getting hired at the same hospital. I am willing to work any unit, any shift, though I prefer 7p to 7a. I will gladly work weekends, holidays, anything. I just want to get hired. I have wanted to be a nurse ever since I was a little girl and went to work with my (now former) RN mother at the local Health Dept. That being said, I'm not looking at this as being a curse. I decided that as long as I am unemployed, I will utilize this time to further my education. I'm applying to a RN-BSN-MSN program so that I can use this 'stumbling block' as a stepping stone.

As for CNAs, I have the utmost respect for CNAs and LPNs. I have been fortunate enough to work with wonderful ones who were happy to share their experience and knowledge with a nursing student who wanted to learn. Each of us has a role in the health care team. Some of the best nursing knowledge was shared with me by a LPN with 35 years experience. I learned the best and most efficient way to give a bed bath from a CNA who had been at the same facility for nearly 30 years. We all have knowledge to share, and we can all learn something new from someone else.

To sounappreciated: I'm sorry that you seem to have had bad experiences dealing with other members of the health care team. Unfortunately, sometimes in life we have to learn to deal with the bad situations and the difficult coworkers. Please, do not make the mistake of painting all nurses with the same tainted brush. You wouldn't want to be lumped into a category with "those lazy do-nothing CNAs", so please have the courtesy not to lump all nurses together in the same pile.

I'll get off my soapbox now. Thank you all for your understanding and for allowing me to vent just a little bit.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
As an older "new grad", I'd like to put in my two cents here. I graduated in June, took boards in December. .

I am curious ... Why did you wait so long totakethe NCLEX? That delay might well be the cause of your trouble finding a job. That long waiting period is a red flag to employers, suggesting that there was/is some problem.

I have talked to multiple managers and they all the say the same thing. It's not that they do not want to hire new grads because they do. It's that the new grads they interview seem rude, entitled, lazy, unpolished, etc. So sometimes when I see all the posts on here from new grads saying they can't get hired, it makes me wonder how they are presenting themselves. I know my manager held interviews for a long time for 2 positions before she was able to find good RN's. She interviewed mostly new grads and hired new grads she just had to go through tons to find good ones.

This is so interesting to me... I recently graduated with my ADN in nursing, passed my NCLEX-RN out of TX and have been looking for work as a new grad. It has also been extremely difficult for me to find any hospital that will hire a new grad let alone one with an ADN and not a BSN, but the biggest difference is my attitude. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I grew up very poor with only the bare minimum. I joined the Navy right out of high school for a few years because I knew I could never afford to put myself through college and ended up working as a Medical Tech for the Navy Divers. Several years later I decided to go back to school to become an RN. Getting through school and passing my boards was one of the hardest things I have accomplished to date, but after almost loosing faith a few times I pulled through and made it happen. I truley believe that my life experiences and struggles have made me who I am today and appreciate what went into becoming a nurse. I would never turn my nose up if given a learning opportunity at a hospital just because it was not in my field of interest. The most important thing at this point is getting my foot in the door and gaining experience and if I have learned anything it is this...Success in life comes from hard work, perseverance, and a positive attitude!

The pursuit of happiness lies within. Loving yourself, finding balance in your life, and never loosing sight of what it is that you are fighting for. Everyone’s dreams and aspirations come at different times and in different forms but remember, it's not about how long it took to get here but the drive to never give up no matter what. So here's to the beginning of the next great chapter... Let the journey begin... :)

I waited to take NCLEX because I had no choice. The day before graduation, my husband got laid off. With 3 kids, his last paycheck had to go to stretch as far as possible. That wouldn't have been possible if we had spent half of it ($320) for my test, fingerprints, and background check. Believe me, it isn't that I wanted to wait. The one interview I had, it never came up. All they wanted to know was if I had my license.

On another note, with so many nursing schools in the area graduating all at the same time, the majority of my class had to wait up to 3 months for a test date. That was after the BON took over a month to approve testers to take the NCLEX.

I don't think the length of time between graduation and boards should make a difference, especially not in this economy where people are hanging on by their fingernails just to survive. I have my license, I am an RN, that should be all that matters.

Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

several posts have been moved from view as they were off-topic. please keep your posts and comments centered around the thread topic which is troubles and challenges new grads and less-experienced nurses are facing in getting hired.

if you want to discuss another topic such as unappreciated and underpaid cna's, please start a new thread.

further off-topic posts will be removed. if you have questions regarding this, you are welcome to post in the help desk where you may address the 6 administrators.

thanks for your cooperation.

carry on with the topic at hand.

tnbutterfly

co-administrator

+ Add a Comment