Passed the RN board exam this year... I have a situation... Need advice Please!!

Hello Everyone! (sorry if this is long)

So I passed the NCLEX-RN in April 2010 (my first try). I got my BSN Diploma August 2009. But I walked for the graduation ceremony May 2008. (I went to a private school >30k/year). In 2008 w/ the economy my dad lost his job, our family lost our house and we couldn't afford to finish paying my tuition = hold on all my records (official/unofficial transcripts + diploma, etc.) Luckily my church and relatives helped us out and long story short, here I am.

I haven't had clinical experience (let alone professsional exp.) in 2 years. I live in the Los Angeles County and (w/ the nation in debt, esp. the state of CA) there has been this hiring freeze... most if not all places look for at least 1 year of professional experience and I don't know what to do. The hospital nurse recruiters tell me not to go to home health or clinics... that I should keep trying for smaller hospitals before going to bigger ones because I need that baseline HOSPITAL experience. My goal is to become a CCU nurse... But how can I convince even the smaller hospitals to consider me?

Should I take a refresher course that also offers additional clinical experience refresher help? Should I take all the refresher courses possible? IV & Wound courses? Also, does anyone know any quality refresher courses that can help me? I just turned 26 this year. I still want to go to grad school and become a nurse practitioner. I just need that one chance in the hospital to prove that I can and will be a great nurse. (I hope ^_^)