New Grad: How can I get experience if nobody will give me a chance?

Dear Nurse Beth Advice Column - The following letter submitted anonymously in search for answers. Join the conversation! Nurses Nurse Beth Nursing Q/A

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I got my foot in the door by applying for per diem positions- if that is an option for you financially. I got a full time orientation for 3 months and now I am able to pick up hours in another area of the hospital. I know per diem can be different everywhere but I have found there are always hours if I need them.

I also had my resume revamped to highlight my qualities instead of my lack of experience.

I live in Australia... So even though we live so far away we definately have a lot in common.

In this country the training for RN is 3years. Then after you graduate you apply to a site called computer match...which is a year paid internship... which is a mad scramble and will make the best of friends enemies....

when applying you pick 3 hospitals you would like to work at go on interviews then only if you were liked enough you can be picked...If you dont get this graduate year you are basicly out of luck beacuse you need one to work... . there are private hospitals as well for people like me who arent residents of Australia... im from America so I could only apply to certain hospitals..

I am a naturally nervous person.. so i can be bullied quite a bit... I can be intimidated very easily and when it comes to the pressures of interviewing I can come accross as not so smart.... But when it comes to getting on the ward and doing my job i excell... Thats why I prefer agency nursing thats how I got offered jobs... they saw me working....the nurses were helpful and always told me not to get discouraged...

My point is you can have the best resume.... the best interview.. the drive .. the smarts the best of everything... what I found is just being myself and not really trying so hard and keeping myself open to anything... even vein clinics!

I dont really ask carreer advice to nurses who have been nursing for over ten years beacuse they didnt have competion like we do...hospitals want you ready to go.. they are all about money.. they dont want to have to train you.. So the biggest thing is confidence...just fake it till you make it. You did your 4 years you know your stuff!!!

Hello fellow nurse! I have been a nurse for 6 months. I got my first job out of frustration that the rest of my classmates were getting jobs as nurse and I wasn't. Unfortunately I didn't like it. It was a horrible hospital environment that left me crying every end of my shift to the point I had anxiety the day before I had to return (and this was a new grad program). I decided to leave the program and landed a job in a long term care facility. It's not great and unfortunately all other hospitals don't want to give me a chance to work because of being in long-term care (its almost as if it doesn't count as nursing). My suggestion to you is, don't rush it! Find a field that interest you and that you feel you will have the stamina to learn and grow. I realize now the mistakes I did and if I would have just "chilled-out" I probably wouldn't be so frustrated in my new career.

Dear Discouraged, Nurse Beth posted some great suggestions. If you are like me ( I hope not) I live in an area that has approximately 5 Nursing training programs. In such areas the demand for nurses go up and down regularly. The class that graduated before mine all had jobs before taking boards NCLEX. But when we graduated the demand was in a slump. I had years medical experience in EMS and supervisory experience. It took me 6 months to get my first RN job. The wait was worth it although not the dream job. I was hired more for my supervisory medical experience with hugh starting salary for a new grad. as a 3-11 House supervisor in a brand new long term care facility. No opportunity to strengthen my nursing skills and completely out of my comfort zone, considering all the LPNs inm my charge had years of experience. I let them know upo front that I respected their experience and ask them to teach me and work together to become a great team. Great results and respect was shared. But I took a $3 / hr cut when offered a job as a floor nurse in Neuroscience. Loved every minute of it. Grew so much. Be patient. one step at a time. Continue to keep your mind fresh in your Nursing training (all areas) and nursing skills. Even if you volunteer with Red Cross. or similar. That gives you experience. As does learning to do IVs in a Blood Center. These improve your readiness for Hospital work. Stay alert. I traveled with my graduating peers to surrounding towns with hospitals and clinics to complete apps and turn in RESUME You do need a strong Resume. Make a list of all, the jobs or volunteer work you have done, no matter how insignificant . FRom that list search thoroughly for any personal/ or people skills you may have started building., people skills are very important in working with people especially those injured or ill. Look also in yoiur lkist for any skills that you obtained that are applicable to a nursing career. A former boss I had i industrial medicine took such a list he had me make up and included my EMS and industrial EMT experience and created a great Resume for me. Not exaggerated but all true. I grew tremendously in that field when 2 RN walked out on the job and the entire first aid department (for over 3000 employees) when they did not like our new director of Safety. The company Dr saw the same thing in me that the original boss I had had seen. They taught me one on one like a medical student. (work related and non work related) I grew so much. Eventually the elderly Dr turned the whole department over to me and was always available for immediate assist if/ when I needed him or his wife or son. The entire crew of 3000+ trusted me, a 25 year old EMT. I did return to EMS later after last project. I made the department better, updated. and I worked for less job loss by fighting for the employees. These attributes in your list can carry you a long way. Take every chance to grow. Every class that interest you offered by doctors at most hospitals. As a professional healthcare worker you will grow to be the best nurse you can be. I still have and use my nursing books as references of course we have the web now. Hang in. Be patient. Good luck I miss my patient families. as I am disabled. My brother (decease now) was a self taught nurse, my sister retired from nursing after 35 years. My mother a private duty health care . I love it and miss it. I found my nitch as a Psych nurse ( only nursing class I aced every quiz and every test) I told my psych nursing professor I was a RN (registered nut) as well. as a registered Nurse. I loved psych nursing bc I loved my patients I could spend time with each patient in psych nursing. Not able to do so as a floor nurse. But in Mental Health facilities as in long term care facilities you lose valuable nursing skills .

I feel compelled to add this to all new grads and new nurses in general. These are things we were all taught. And these are things, (mistakes) that are easily made as we get accustomed to our nursing routines; that I have witnessed as a patient more than as a nurse. Implant the basics in your brain so as they become your routine. Don't forget the basics.

One basic that was instilled by my nursing professors is one I've seen as very commonly forgotten or left out of nursing routines. "LISTEN to your patients" pushed by all my professors. Then another added, Listen and observe; and finally my psych nursing professor added, Don't just listen to your patient but listen out for your patient while you observe.

The reasoning: Your patient generally knows what is normal for them and knows when they no longer feel that normality (whether physically or mentally).

As a patient rather than the care provider this concept has revisited me frequently. One example: March 2014. After lying on a gurney in the ER hallway (extremely busy ER that day) for approximately 8 hours with bilateral pneumonia (which turned into bacterial) I knew my body. I knew each of my medical conditions extremely well. With stage 2 COPD, and a very rare trachea disease called adult TracheoBronchoMalacia, (all one word if searched online) I was prone to aspiration pneumonia and also when on corticosteroids I generally ended up with a candidia infection and when on long term steroid regimen I experienced pulmonary edema. (Type 1 diabetic 53+ years pump 20 yrs. diabetics are prone to candidia infections) And well experienced with controlling blood sugars on or off steroids. And a history of CAD. No MIs. I had to learn when my SOB was from bronchitis, pneumonia, pulmonary edema or associated with a coronary situation. (long term diabetics rarely experience the normal symptoms of a MI due to neuropathies) I knew on the day mentioned above that I not only had pneumonia but pulmonary edema as well and was almost begging for some IV lasix, without results. (this is not a med I like taking)

Finally, being admitted to a room in the pulmonary unit, again I ask the admitting nurse for IV lasix and an order for KCL with the lasix. But apparently she felt it was too late to call for such an order. I had the classic signs of pulmonary edema. (had been taking lasix 40mg qd with 20mEq KCL with lasix at home.) I was not able to lie down without severe respiratory distress, I had pillows stacked on bedside table attempting to breath and rest throughout the night. Early the next morning the treatment team with my treating pumonologist's PA came into my room where the PA ask how I was feeling. Barely able to speak the words I spoke were "lasix...pulmonary edema hx." Immediately The PA Ms Edith, obtained the lasix and it was administered immediately. I laid back against a raised head of bed and slept for hours, despite the excessive fluid in my lungs. (with the trachea disease I would not hear crackles but literally sloshing of fluids in my lungs ppl with this disease experience aspiration of secretions, saliva and sinus drainage into the lungs) I was placed on a high pressure O2 delivery system. The doctor removed and I quote "2 full cups of fluids" from my lungs during the first bronchoscopy and said he had to go back in the next morning to "remove the rest of the fluid".

Point being; the ER nurses (2 shifts) nor the admitting pulmonary nurse listened to their patient. They all knew I was a RN but that was not the point. I knew my body and my medical conditions but they still did not listen so I spent literally hours in unnecessary misery as the result. Listen to your patients. I could also give you all many examples as a RN when listening to and listening out for and observing my patients have made a huge difference. This is not a new concept. Unfortunately not everybody with my conditions has the training to be able to auscultate their own lungs and make the determinations I have been able to make. But they do know when they don't feel right.

DON'T forget the basics. Yes I know I have been guilty at times of doing this as most have. We are human and we as nurses have more than one patient to care for.

LISTEN! LISTEN OUT FOR, and OBSERVE! Every time you enter a patient's room or area if in the ED. I respect all of you nurses out there dedicating your lives to caring for the sick and injured. I know without doubt the stress involved in nursing. As well as the lack of respect and disregard we may receive from some Doctors, I also know the respect and joy felt when you are recognized by a doctor and a patient for a job well done. If you ever have another nurse or as I have had a physician as a patient, remember to treat them as a person, your patient not a doctor, politician, or a nurse. Some nurses are afraid to care for a doctor as a patient. Be yourself and treat them as you would all your patients. They will generally respect you for doing so. God bless each of you. For the sacrifices you make as a nurse.

cdthorste said:

It was hell for me to find my first nursing job. I did everything suggested in nurse beth's response. And more.
Started applying and networking from the very first day of nursing school.

I even sent out resumes and spoke to the nurse managers at my clinical rotations (kindly, respectfully, non-aggressively).

Paid a lot of money to have my resume professionally rewritten.

Went to every single clinical instructor I had and said "I would love to get hospital experience before I become an NP. Do you have any advice about how I can land a job?"

I I went to ceus in what little spare time I had

Got to know other nurses at my internship and felt like I fit in

Applied to jobs that I felt that fewer, experienced nurses wanted (nights/weekends)....Always low balled it when the application asked me how much I wanted to make. Even if it meant living in poverty and renting out a shoe box

Several times I dressed up nice, office-casual and made my hair up into a perfectly coiffed bun. Applied some light makeup, put on my heel-scraping dress shoes and walked from hospital to hospital. Going into any med surg unit that would allow me access. I handed my resume to nurse managers with a warm smile and a handshake. One of them was and said she'd get back to me. One of them told me to come back in a week. When I returned exactly 7 days later, she blew up at me. Threw the resume in my face and yelled at me for being so arrogant as to come back and ask about job opportunities. I smiled warmly and said "If you know of any. You have my number."

Went to job fairs for nurses

Went to professional career counselors who led classes on finding work and perfecting your elevator pitch

Emailed and called my old professors and explained that I was still six months unemployed. They were sympathetic but had no ideas for me (one told me to apply to be a travel nurse.....With no experience.)

I sent 500 resumes out. Nothing

Then I moved to texas and got 4 job offers in a week.

Quit giving out stupid career advice and just cut to the chase: go where the jobs are.

If I could give you multiple likes (without making multiple accounts), I would.

As one of my siblings would say, "No causality."

Seriously, you can do everything "right" but still get no job. Just go where the jobs are.

Oh, and the whole "this type of RN experience will block you out of that type of RN experience" is BS. Any type of RN experience (whether it be hospital, SNF, LTC, clinic, doctor's office, etc.) is valuable. There are hiring managers out there who will take nurses who have RN experience in something rather than those who did nothing for months on end because they were waiting for that "perfect" job; you just have to go out there and find them. Be "One Piece" about it.

Side note: Though, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that you should accept just "any" job offer. At least, do not feel compel to stay in a place where you feel uncomfortable and constantly depressed, especially if you can afford to move on.

Specializes in ICU/Flight Nurse.

I could not agree more. I secured a critical care position a month before graduation. I was the ONLY person with a job. How? I relocated. I wasn't about to be that one person 6 months out of school without a job...nope...I got bills to pay!

I applied to 6 different states, and took the first job offer...packed my clothes, threw the dogs in the car, and set off on a new journey. I have never once regretted that choice, and now I'm 2 years in, and the opportunities are absolutely endless! YOU GOTTA BE WILLING TO RELOCATE! Especially if you live in a big metro area.

Specializes in ER.

Hopefully you have already found a wonderful job but for others that experience this problem here is my 2 cents. My best friend had a really hard time finding a job due to lack of experience when she first got her license. She was told several times that she just didn't have enough experience. She would consistently complain to me that it was unfair. I reviewed her resume not as her friend but as a boss and she had next to no experience listed. I immediately started asking her what skills she has mastered and would feel comfortable performing right now. She started telling me all sorts of procedures and skills she had done and feels comfortable with. I asked why she had not put that stuff down and she said because it was in nursing school! I explained to her that she needs to list that stuff under experience since that is exactly what it is. She listed all of it as clinical experience and is now working in a small hospital!

(btw-my wife would write on our bathroom mirror positive reinforcement phrases each day that were helpful... Try it!) xoxo

Your wife is AWESOME!!!

Cdthorste I am curious as to what state you started looking in before texas?

Specializes in Psych-Mental Health, Geriatrics/Dementia.

The VA hires newly licensed RNs into the New Grad "Residency". You can go on usajobs.gov and look through announcements throughout the VA.

Are you kidding? There's a nursing shortage for heaven sakes! They should take you for an internship- anywhere!! Your job is around the corner, but add, when posting, or looking, 'internship'. Please don't even think twice about 'ever' getting a position. You will!!

Chris

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