Nursing students not happy to hear about how tough it is to get started as a nurse

[dnsonthego]

I teach fundamentals and M/S clinical in NYC. I have a mix students in my class. My current group of 10 students are all young adults working on their first degree. The students have spoken with the unit nurses and have been informed about the competitive environment nurses must navigate to get a job and to progress up the career ladder. The students have expressed shock about the job market as they believe that we are still in a nursing shortage. When they asked me, I told them that new nurses are having a difficult time getting positions and that it is their responsibility as adults to investigate potential careers opportunities. The students expressed that they were told that their are jobs for everyone upon graduation and that hospitals are begging for nurses. I told them that was a while ago, for now hospitals and other employers are being selective about who they hire. The college usually discusses how to search for a job towards the last semester as part of their leadership class. My question is how do other educators or schools handle student unease with the current job market for nurses?

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I tell the students all the time to get a job before they graduate. A few did become CNA's and at my hospital they are hired as a nurse if they work as a CNA. Also we need telemetry monitor techs so if they do that job they are better prepared to work telemetry.

I never took it seriously in school that clinical time was like a job interview but now that I'm a nurse I can see that it really is.

[VANurse2010]

Well I'm still in nursing school and already know this. I try to tell my classmates but they don't want to listen. People have advised to get a tech job in order to make connections in the hospital. Some students know about the employment problem but don't want to believe it or think it won't happen to them.

Just to let you know, getting a tech job is not some golden ticket. I've known more techs to NOT be hired on their units after obtaining RN than have. Now, it may help with obtaining a job, period, but there have been plenty of techs aiming for ICU after graduation who are now on the floor (some in very undesirable units).

[kidzcare]

I left teaching for nursing. It only seems like the same schedule. I taught high school English at a competitive school, and I was always working nights and weekends trying to keep up with the lesson prep, parent emails, and a never-ending pile of grading. I was never able to get out from under the mountain of essays. The only way I could sort-of keep up was a really awesome husband who took on a lot of the child care and household chores so I could work many, many off-the-clock hours my job required.

But at least I had a job. There is definitely no teacher shortage, either. At least in my area, there are more nursing jobs than teaching jobs, and I know education grads who have spent years working low-paying no-benefit sub jobs.

Full-time nursing is way fewer hours per week than full-time teaching. And if you work in a hospital, starting pay is higher. The grass is always greener, eh?

I can see how HS level English papers would take up personal time.

My father retired from teaching jr high math and always had plenty of free time. Much more than my mother who worked NOCs as an ICU nurse. My sister is also a HS level teacher as well as a department head for her department and spends less than 2 hours of her own time per week on work related things. Many of the teachers I work with tell me the same.

Also, the benefits of most school districts trump any (non government) job, any day. I'm consistently astounded by my benefits at the school.

[VANurse2010]

I think it's fair to expect nurses to have looked into the field enough to know that it's nota 9-5 etc. etc. type of deal, but expecting people who have limited contact or connections, family or otherwise, with higher education to be savvy about the post-grad job market may be legitimately expecting too much.

[johsonmichelle]

Just to let you know, getting a tech job is not some golden ticket. I've known more techs to NOT be hired on their units after obtaining RN than have. Now, it may help with obtaining a job, period, but there have been plenty of techs aiming for ICU after graduation who are now on the floor (some in very undesirable units).

Like I said , it was just advice , I NEVER said that a tech job would guarantee me a job. Nothing in life is guaranteed .I have no plans to work in the ICU as of now, I do not know what unit you consider as undesirable, but I happy to take a job offer on any unit that will accept me.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Just to let you know, getting a tech job is not some golden ticket. I've known more techs to NOT be hired on their units after obtaining RN than have. Now, it may help with obtaining a job, period, but there have been plenty of techs aiming for ICU after graduation who are now on the floor (some in very undesirable units).

I suppose this just goes to show how the job market can vary considerably by region. Where I live, it would be very rare for a new grad RN who was a tech not to get a job on the floor they worked on at the soonest opportunity. Worst case scenario, they'll have to wait a while for a spot to open, but most managers will "hold" a spot for a staff tech they know will be graduating soon.

Perhaps not on the ICU, though. But, really, any student who thinks they're going to be hired to the ICU fresh out of school is likely not being realistic. I'm sure there's some ICUs somewhere that hire new grads, but the majority prefer experience.

[johsonmichelle]

I suppose this just goes to show how the job market can vary considerably by region. Where I live, it would be very rare for a new grad RN who was a tech not to get a job on the floor they worked on at the soonest opportunity. Worst case scenario, they'll have to wait a while for a spot to open, but most managers will "hold" a spot for a staff tech they know will be graduating soon.

Perhaps not on the ICU, though. But, really, any student who thinks they're going to be hired to the ICU fresh out of school is likely not being realistic. I'm sure there's some ICUs somewhere that hire new grads, but the majority prefer experience.

I agree, I'm in adn program so the job market is even tougher for us, but I will say that past graduates who were techs almost all got jobs upon graduation. I spoke to two nurses who graduated from our program recently ( one works in the ICU and the other one works on the labor/deliver unit), they both told me that they only got their jobs because they were working as techs on the units prior to their graduation.

[VANurse2010]

I suppose this just goes to show how the job market can vary considerably by region. Where I live, it would be very rare for a new grad RN who was a tech not to get a job on the floor they worked on at the soonest opportunity. Worst case scenario, they'll have to wait a while for a spot to open, but most managers will "hold" a spot for a staff tech they know will be graduating soon.

Perhaps not on the ICU, though. But, really, any student who thinks they're going to be hired to the ICU fresh out of school is likely not being realistic. I'm sure there's some ICUs somewhere that hire new grads, but the majority prefer experience.

my unit (ICU). Has been overrun with new grads and people with less than 2 years experience, which is partly why I'm leaving. Lots of hospitals hire new grads in ICU, both large teaching hospitals and community hospitals. Do I agree with that, not really, but it's how it is

[strawberryluv, BSN, RN]

It's crucial to get a way in by working at a facility. At the long-term care facility where I currently work, I am a shoo-in for a position

there as I have been working there as a CNA for one year and two months. I am grateful that I sought this facility out

before graduating because the job market where I live is also very tough.

[seconddegreebsn]

I graduated in NYC last fall. 75% of my class has found jobs. It's not as bad as you're making it out to be.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

This is the advice that I would give students:

There needs to be a way to make yourself marketable. And for some, that means a minor in something. Sometimes the "extra" classes that are taken as part of a bachelor's degree can make a really good minor.

In my area, foreign language is a great minor, computer technology, business....all those things that would make a nurse more marketable.

Also, summer classes--as a CNA, EMT, Medical Assistant. Even a part time job in a facility as a ward clerk, medical translator, patient greeter...all things that will get you some seniority within the facility, and experience.

I have a good friend who went to nursing school. In the pursuit of her bachelor's degree, she took as "electives" a great deal of legal courses. And could be a legal assistant in a law office at the amount. So received a minor in legal studies. In any event, the summer after high school, took the EMT basic, which was a "boot camp" variety--a matter of weeks. Got certified as an EMT. Worked very part time for an ambulance company mostly in the summer. The ambulance company had tuition reimbursement. Went on to Paramedic the next summer. Paid for by the company. Went on to become a CPR instructor, ACLS and PALS instructor--all on time off from school. So graduated with a BSN, a minor in legal studies, and was already an EMT-P. (and BTW, ambulance company had a great deal of reimbursement for one's BSN as well).

School has a definitive end. It is overwhelming I am sure to many kids to take on so much. But you need to be sure you are time organized. School will come to an end, and you will be marketable. You could do BSN with a computer applications minor. BSN with a minor in Spanish (or any other language that would compute well in your area, or the area in which you would like to work). You can also do a BSN with some education classes, and then be able to sit for your teacher certifications. It could be a job that you get is teaching high school health.....you never know.

Motivate yourself while you are young. If you CAN take up to 8 credits a semester, take them. IF you can live at home and commute to school, do it. Money saving, and gives you the focus of being able to deal with multiple classes. At the end of the day, you may want to go on to get an MBA (which is encouraged in some facilities) go on to informatics, do legal nurse consulting, or to work specifically in a foreign language as primary language area. Don't limit yourself.

[dnsonthego]

May I ask what school in NYC has 75% of the graduates working? I teach in NYC and I have colleagues all over. Everyone is seeing very few openings for new nurses. NYC is undergoing a serious change. Hospitals are merging, units consolidating and a push for more out patient care. Plus, NYC is glutted with nurses---both American and foreign trained.