Nursing layoffs or difficulty getting jobs? 2011 wages?

Preeps · Feb 26, 2011

I don't know if it is true that all the accelerated program RNs have jobs lined up before graduating. I have spoken to several and this is not the case at all.

There are nursing jobs avaiable in Central Fl but not necessarily for grad nurses. I would be very careful before starting school. First I would just read a lot of the posts in this forum. There are many regarding GNs who have been looking 1-2 years for positions. Not only are hospital jobs scarce but even nursing homes. I am not saying that GNs are not getting hired at all because of course they are-we hired a number recently. But the overall outlook is not good.

Experienced nurses are in demand but the nursing school have been flooding the market with prosepective employees for the past 5 -10 years.

TheLastTime · Feb 28, 2011

The Accelerated class of '09 had problems finding jobs immediately after graduation. This is no knock on them as Orlando Health and Florida Hospital had hiring freezes going on at the time. Naturally this didn't give those of us in the class of '10 a warm and fuzzy feeling. However, most of the '09 class found jobs before the class of '10 graduated.

Now did all the '10 grads have jobs lined up before graduating? No, although a few did have job offers in hand at graduation time. The vast majority of the class of '10 have found jobs by now - many of them in the immediate Orlando area - It took me a month from when I started my search to find my current RN position.

Salaries do rise over time, however, the steps are relatively small. The best bets for increasing salary are in either getting an advanced degree (depends on the discipline), going into certain specialty areas of nursing, or going into higher levels of management.

looking for work · Apr 8, 2011

I have been having a terrible time finding RN work anywhere. I have 10 years of experience and am finding that the job market is so over saturated that most jobs are either part-time , per-diem and dont even last more than a few months anyway. Benefits are really hard to find. New grads dont have jobs, but have student loans to pay. Even getting an interview is tough. I have had so many short term jobs, that my experience is discounted and I am called a "job-hopper." It couldnt be further from the truth. It just doesnt seem that any healthcare job provides any kind of job stability anymore. I would advise anyone thinking about nursing school to think long and hard before taking out those loans. I am in a terrible predicament because I still cant pay mine back, even after all these years. This field has been an overall disappointment.

elkpark · Apr 8, 2011

Every occupation is having employment problems these days while the economy is in such poor shape. Nursing, while not as hard hit as a lot of other areas, is not exempt. Nursing employment is not what it has been in other, better economic times, and is esp. difficult now for new grads. We are all affected by that, and having to ride out the current, difficult economy. And FL is not a great employment environment to begin with.

If you are going into nursing solely because you are looking for ease of finding employment, you're probably going to be disappointed.

ComeClarity · Apr 8, 2011

Even LPN jobs around the Central FL area are hard to snag right now (especially for new grads with no experience). Hospitals rarely hire us anymore, and even most of the nursing home positions I've seen are either wanting experienced LPNs or only offering per diem work. It's a bad time for -anyone- in any field to be job hunting.

laurdra · Apr 8, 2011

It's tough right now. Every industry has been affected by the recession and it takes time for things to get back to where they were. I have done a lot of research and the market for nurses is expected to turn around in 2014 after the new health care law is in full effect. The shortage will be severe in Florida in about 15 years. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but there will always be a need for nurses. I'm not letting the current job market deter me from being a nurse. Things will be different in 3 years when I graduate.

looking for work · Apr 10, 2011

I am just so concerned that by the time nurses are truly needed in this country, I will have long since retired my nursing clogs. Nursing schools got the push to crank out new grads by the thousands in anticipation of the babyboom needing more medical care. However, the push for more nurses in the profession, came way too soon, as older nurses are not retiring. Now the labor force is overwhelmed with nurses, and there are not enough jobs to go around. I think it may have something to do with the recession, but the frenzy to acquire more nurses happened way too soon. We are sitting in a saturated market and both new grads and experienced nurses are getting left out in the cold.

Kellythmma · Apr 11, 2011

I have been searching since October and haven't even gotten a call back. Graduated nurses with no experience are not finding jobs. I got told numerous times to come back in a year when I had experience.

looking for work · Apr 11, 2011

I have been searching since October and haven't even gotten a call back. Graduated nurses with no experience are not finding jobs. I got told numerous times to come back in a year when I had experience.

Dont get discouraged and keep looking. Not sure where you are from, but the job market in my area is dismal at best. I could blog on for days about why hospitals arent hiring new grads. Its complicated and very frustrating. Everyone needs experience somewhere. In my day, new grads were getting hired right into specialty units. This had many experienced nurses very upset. But now the new grads are having trouble even getting a med/surg job. Dont give up.

Purdue725 · Aug 23, 2011

I am in an accelerated BSN Program out here in NYC and before I joined the program this year, I thought long and hard about the profession. First of all, make sure you are really passionate about being a nurse and taking care of sick people. Second, its not just about the money but your dedication to the profession. I see a lot of kids in my program who just graduated from undergrad and joined the program who have absolutely no work experience and have never had any sort of responsibilities. They lack compassion and it scares me that this is going to be the future of our country...having nurses who are just in it for the wrong reasons. So think hard if this is for you or not...as far as jobs go, its tough finding one but I am not worried about it right now. You have to be flexible in moving and also be open to the idea of working in other places such as nursing homes, visiting home nurse, part time nursing, school nurse, prisons etc etc...if you need any information, do let me know and I would be happy to help! good luck with your search!

MursingMedic, DNP, RN, EMT-P · Aug 24, 2011

I'm a GN now in central Florida and have been lucky. I was in a transition program and am a paramedic so I had lots of connections in getting a job once school finished. If there was one piece of advice I could give, it would be to make connections and keep them up throughout school.

Many of my classmates who weren't working during school are having a difficult time. The only people who so far have picked up jobs are those who were already working for the facility they applied to, or have family and friends who got them interviews. When school starts, try to get an internship at the hospital where most of your clinicals are. It may be horrible work for little pay, but the networking will only benefit you when graduation comes.

Good luck!