Nursing Jobs

canigraduate · Jul 5, 2015

Just waiting for the fireworks to start....

Is there any particular reason why you believe this? Have you researched the job outlook in your area?

Or are you trying to start a debate?

In many underserved areas, there are tons of jobs. In large metro areas, the market is often saturated for new grads and for those with minimal experience.

So, the answer is, "It depends."

Perhaps if you refined and clarified your question, you would get better answers.

Also, if you wish to remain anonymous, you should change your username and avatar. Chances are good that if you go into nursing, you will be recognized because your future coworkers, manager, etc., are likely to be members.

jojo489 · Jul 5, 2015

She might have a point though. I know a lot of ASN/BSNs that graduated and complained that they couldn't get a job...but when I asked them where they applied, the answer was one of the 6 hospitals in my area and nowhere else.

Some of the new grads I worked with have also told me that after 6 months of no call backs from hospitals, they finally started applying at nursing homes.

When I graduated, I applied for any and every position posted...I didn't care what or where it was, I just wanted experience and I figured if it turned out to be a terrible place, I could put a year in and head somewhere else. I must've put in 40 applications and within two weeks got called back and interviewed at two places within a week.

So is it really "My dream hospital and second best won't hire me," or is it truly that people aren't getting calls back from anywhere?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

Certain employment markets (NYC, NJ, Philly, Boston, DC/MD/VA, much of California, south Florida, Denver, and more) are overly saturated with too many nurses, which makes finding that first nursing job an uphill battle.

However, some new grads have tunnel vision and only apply for acute care jobs, or only for positions in 'dream' specialties such as the ER, critical care, NICU, PICU, peds, L&D, postpartum, and so on. Working at a nursing home or private duty case is seen as a deferred dream; therefore, many new grads turn their noses up at these jobs.

The reality is that some nursing employment markets are absolutely glutted with more new nurses than can be reasonably absorbed.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Jul 5, 2015

It depends. Florida is tough and the pay is low., people flock to the area for the environment and increase competition for new jobs. CA, NY, NJ, PA, MA, IL have higher costs of living so the pay is higher but there are significantly more opportunities for experienced nurses than new grads with BSNs...ASNs are relegated to LTC and other non acute settings. There is an over 40% unemployment rate for new grads in parts of CA. More rural areas of TX are searching for nurses but the working conditions may not be optimal nor might the pay be desirable.

I had classmates that presumed they would make double the average salary for our area because they didn't research the opportunities available. One thought private duty pediatrics would he easy like baby sitting with medication and quit once she found out how complex and medically fragile many children are, never mind the high technology equipment needs. I know a few who graduated from for profit private schools and paid hefty tuition fees then were upset they couldn't get jobs because graduates from the program had such a bad reputation resumes of grads from this high profit private school were discarded instead of considered

Research the market. Research the opportunities. You may be wrong you may be right. Those that assume without doing research are surely to be disappointed.

noelly10 · Jul 5, 2015

I agree in that it depends. I live in an area where there's a hospital within 45 minutes at least in every direction. The hospital back at home is 900 beds, so they hire about 200 new grads each year (mind you, they have a high turnover rate). So when I was doing my job search, I had the opportunity to apply to many many hospitals. I even broadened my horizons and applied at hospitals 2 hours and 3 hours away from home and got 6 callbacks. However, some of my friends were not so lucky and never got a call back because they didn't want to move, or they only wanted to work at one place. Also, the call backs I received were at smaller hospitals that were a couple hours out who were surprised with my clinical experience because their local colleges didn't have as much. So I do think it depends on the area, and how much you put yourself out there. If you apply to only your dream hospital, odds are you may not get a call back. I applied to my dream hospitals and actually got a love letter in my email from them telling me they didn't want me. Obviously they were much more polite than just saying that. Anyway..my point being...the experience is different for everyone. Some people have a hard time finding a job, and others do not.

Hope I didn't sound scatter brains. I feel like I was all over the place.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

I agree with all of the above. It depends on your area. You need to research your job market. That was something I did before entering nursing school. I live in an area where new hospitals are cropping up everywhere. The town I live in currently, the population is aging and sick. The people that worked in the heyday of auto production are retiring and turning 65. Nursing homes and retirement facilities are popping up everywhere. Rehab places are being added. But, no young people. The jobs have dried up. The mayor has been actively working to get companies back and he has been somewhat successful, so this town may come back yet.

I live about 30 miles north of a major metropolitan area. The city has seen massive growth over the years. Especially the northern suburbs. When I first moved here, these little towns were full of cornfields, now they are rapidly growing cities. One town just added 2 brand new hospitals in the past 5 years. Medical plazas are popping up everywhere. I will be moving down here next year to the south side and I don't see a problem finding a job.

Keep in mind that many people saying it's impossible to find a job, only look in certain areas, and they may have awful resumes and interviewing skills. People with spelling and grammar errors, no eye contact, limp handshake, dress unprofessionally, etc. They don't prepare. It happens all of the time.

Some areas are truly saturated. The media and for profit schools hype it up that getting into the medical field is your ticket to happiness and contentment in life. It's not. It's a job like everything else. You are not guaranteed a high paying job. Just look at the market in your area.

Tumbler · Jul 5, 2015

New grads say that because it can be, and the more restrictions someone has (location, specialty, hours), the tougher it is. I happen to live in an area where it's pretty easy to get a job; however, with a push for magnet status in full swing, the search is easier for someone with a BSN. But even with that credential, a job seeker shouldn't have tunnel vision on a handful of hospitals or specialties.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

There's no over-exaggerating in my area.

When you have at least 2-dozen schools pumping out 100 graduates, that comes down to at lest 1200-2400 grads; at least 50-60 percent are from the area; 60% from that 50 percent have either NO desire to move or don't have the funds to move to a less saturated area; there hasn't been a nursing shortage in about 15 years due to area hospitals closing and larger health systems merging, thus decreasing hospital beds.

Fast forward to the present-now healthcare is more out of the hospital, pts are sicker in the hospital and the community, so experience and expert nurses are desired in order to meet the demands.

amglover93 · Jul 5, 2015

I get what all of you are saying about location. I really asked because when I graduate I'm pretty sure I'll have a job at the hospital I work for as a Tech, however I want to move to GA after I pass the NCLEX. I guess I'm fishing for advice if this would be a good decision, even if I only find work at a nursing home. Or would it benefit me more just to say here for experience? A nurse at my job told me that there is a shortage of nurses everywhere because a lot of older nurses are retiring.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jul 5, 2015

I get what all of you are saying about location. I really asked because when I graduate I'm pretty sure I'll have a job at the hospital I work for as a Tech, however I want to move to GA after I pass the NCLEX. I guess I'm fishing for advice if this would be a good decision, even if I only find work at a nursing home. Or would it benefit me more just to say here for experience? A nurse at my job told me that there is a shortage of nurses everywhere because a lot of older nurses are retiring.

There will be at some point when the baby boomer nurses do retire. Many do not have the funds to retire yet. The economy took a major hit in 2008 when the housing market collapsed. The economy is slowly but surely recovering, but people who were close in retirement around that time are having to stay in jobs instead of retiring. Many of the nurses will be forced to retire in the next 5-10 years just because of health reasons alone. I can't imagine having to work when I'm 70-75. I don't think my body will last that long. How our government allowed what happened in 2008 to happen, is beyond me. I worked in the insurance/mortgage industry in the early 2000s and even I could see then what was going to happen. And people are realizing that social security may not be able to support them. When Social Security was instituted nobody could have forseen the baby boomer generation coming. Nobody could have predicted that at the end of WWII, we were going to see a huge increase in population like that. The US's population has been declining for the past decade which means there are not enough laborers out there to support social security the way it was intended.

You will have to look at the job market in Georgia and compare it to where you are currently living in Florida. I'm sure going to a new area without many connections, it will be harder as a new grad. But if you had a couple of years experience under your belt, you would be considered an asset and find it easier to get a job. As LadyFree stated, the shortage is most often in the experienced nursing area.

socialworknurse · Jul 5, 2015

Are you completing ADN or BSN? Moving to Atlanta or somewhere else in Georgia? In my last semester of BSN program in Atlanta, four hospitals have already come to recruit new graduates. Hospitals that would not hire new grads when I started my program are now actively recruiting new grad BSN nurses. My practicum site is also recruiting new graduate BSN nurses. One of the hospitals is moving away from ADN nurses to BSN nurses and that is why they are now recruiting at my school.