Old/new grad: Keep job hunting vs. rn refresher course?

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I need to get some advice from my peers, please...I've been out of nursing school for 2 plus years with only 4 months work experience due to family needs and moving to another state. I've been job hunting for 6 months now with no success and I'm getting very impatient to say the least! What would you do?? It's been suggested that I go to a RN refresher course--perhaps the exposure in the clinical section would help me get a job but it's quite an expense. On the other hand, should I just keep looking? I'm in a weird position, not really a new grad but not experienced, either. I can't help but feel that time's ticking away! Help!

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Specializes in Finally an RN!.

I think the refresher course is a good idea--it shows potential employers that you have gone that extra step to make yourself more marketable. Considering how competitive it is in some areas of CA to get a position with little to no experience, I would think the refresher course would pay for itself in the first couple of months. This, in addition to your previous experience, would at least give you a leg up on the flood of new grad RNs that are deperately looking for a position. Which would you prefer--1) spend the money for a course and get a job in the next 3 months, or 2) spend the next 5-6 months looking for a position? I know it doesn't guarantee a position, but it makes you appear more motivated.

Good luck!!

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Thanks for the opinion-that's the way I'm leaning but it's really good to hear other's thoughts on my options. I'm leaning in the direction of the refresher course, at the very least it's always good to brush up on the skills learned in school.

Any experiences out there with the UCSD refresher course? My options are CSUSM or UCSD. For some reason, Cal State is really expensive, more than twice that of UCSD.

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Specializes in ICU.

RN refresher course would probably look good, but what may also be beneficial is asking your peers in the course whether their unit is hiring. You might get a referral. Do both RN course and job hunting, wouldn't hurt.

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Four months of experience and then no work for two years and one is going to be considered a new grad.

If you have not found anything in six months, you may wish to look at a non-hospital setting to at least get some experience under your belt.

In most cases, you will not meet the requirements for the refresher programs as you have not been away from patient care long enough to need it.

Best of luck to you.

Also, which part of the state are you in? Certain areas and it is going to be almost impossible to get a job in a hospital setting right now.

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Thanks Suzanne,

Yes, I'm finding it really difficult to get anything in the hospital setting. The sad part is that even long term care facilities want at least 1 year's experience. I'm in the San Diego area, North County and from what I hear from the recruiters there is a new grad glut here but also a shortage of nurses. An oxymoron if you ask me. I can understand that it costs $$ to train but what about long-term? It's just so frustrating and depressing!!

So....I keep looking but that job at Home Depot or Starbucks is looking better and better.........

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Someone explain to me, why an older, experienced, nurse needs to pay out of pocket for a "refresher course", to get them up to speed, while hospitals are more than willing to fork over thousands of dollars to orient new grads who will take at least a year to even being close to up to speed as older, experienced nurses!! Where is the "refresher course for older nurses", paid for by hospitals, instead for the nurses? When are hospitals going to step up to the plate and start to offer these, like they offer new grad orientations?

I have filed an EEOC complaint against two hospitals here for this very issue. Not being able to get a job, when there are a half page ads in the paper for nurses, with a, "most jobs open to new grads"! If you know what I mean.

There is no reason, other than they would rather pay new grads half of what they will pay us. JMHO, and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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The hospital in Colorado that I started at as a new RN had "re-entry" nurses in with us newbies during our new grad program. I thought it was really great to get their opinion on how things have changed and how they thought they'd fit in after being either out of the work force or working in an office setting. We all learned something during that week together.

My issue is that as a new grad but having been out of school for awhile, it's truly tough finding a place to start. I'd be happy to work for less $ while training if that were the issue. But here in California, they're passing up new talent in favor of experience (when they can get it). Where the volume of future experienced nurses is going to come from is a mystery to me.

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I moved from the Sac area a year ago and just finished a refresher course here in TX.

I looked for a job a couple years ago and I was treated like I was less than human by the HR people. I had taken 5 years off to care for an ailing MIL...and I learned more than many nurses do on the job, about "the system", about body systems and things that can go wrong in them. But that doesn't count, so I was treated no better than a homeless person coming in for a free meal. Actually, I think they're treated better.

I couldn't even get an interview. I have 21 years of experience in many different areas. But I was told it was because I had NO "recent" experience. What? Have I forgotten 21 years of my life? I asked if it would make me more employable if I took a refresher course. She was so rude. She said, "Although you’ve probably kept up with your CEUs, you haven’t been working as an RN in a facility or for a company for at least 5 years. I would recommend a refresher course before trying to apply for an RN position anywhere. I realize it’s tough to get started again." This was not even for a job that required any bedside or advanced nursing skills, which I have...lots.

So, I called and asked around...do refresher courses help to get an interview...let alone a job? Well, my experience 2 years ago was no, not so much.

Anyway, here in TX, an out of state nurse with no recent experience has to take a refresher just to get a license [it's like that in many states now], so I have no idea whether it will help me get a job here. Time will tell...I just sent all my paperwork last week and it's a mystery how long all of that could take.

I gotta say, I don't feel too confident...but we shall see.

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Why is it the Nursing field insists on cutting its own throat? For years I have read of this terrible "Nursing shortage", which may in fact exist, but why is it that the dominant nursing organizations and for that matter, hospital nursing administration make it SO difficult for nurses to get employed, and reenter the field as experienced nurses after a break!! The "shortage" is due to administrative self-destructive tendencies! No other field is so self defeating and punitive as the nursing field. "Support" for nurses is imaginary and fleeting!! No wonder I left the field after 6 years of being over-burdened and underpaid as an RN! When will we wake up???

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Well, I did the refresher course in TX, got my license and guess what? They STILL don't want me. It is disheartening, especially when I remember nurses being out of the field with kids or whatever coming back after 20 years and orienting right next to me as new nurses. Being retrained by the hospitals.

NOW my new grad RN [passed the boards too] daughter can't find a job because she's not a BSN...wth? There is NO nursing shortage. It's a complete lie.

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