rnofsunshine

OP, I’m really glad you had an easy time finding a job! That’s good to hear, but as a recent new grad who finally just landed a job, sometimes there is a “no jobs.” I’m not sure where you’re located, but where I live, every New Grad Residency I applied to (pretty much the only way to get a job) got cancelled. I had to start from scratch. I was accepted at a hospital that didn’t have any positions open but kept me “on hold” for a position they finally had for me 3 months later, when I had already secured another job. I had been applying since beginning of February (May grad) and didn’t get my job offer until early August. Thankfully by end of July I had my pick of the litter with jobs, but for a solid several months I was hoping I’d already be working, I was met with either no responses or actually ‘no’s. Meanwhile, everyone I went to school with (in a different state) were able to secure jobs quickly because their state wasn’t in a hiring freeze, while mine was. Especially with COVID, states have reacted and acted differently. My friend lives in NH and any jobs she applied to in the NE region had, in big bold letters at the top of their job postings, NO NEW GRADS WELCOME, for nearly every hospital she applied to accepted the one she worked at, where she moved internally. For people who aren’t able to do that and have a state in a hiring freeze, it’s hard. Especially with point #3, a lot of people can’t just leave where they live, say if they have a dependent like a child or a sick parent they have to take care of. While several people probably aren’t spreading out their options to other specialities, some may be, or some may not be due to future career goals, like MSN-NP or DNP which require a certain number of years in different specialities. It’s easy to think of all of your points in one way, but oftentimes there may be more to the story, like me or my friend. What might be best in these situations where people are complaining is just offer your best advice but not assume any other points unless you know them personally ? ~RN of Sunshine

For anyone wanting an update, I actually kept on waiting and waiting because no job felt right and got offered (and accepted) my dream job in NICU! Thank you all for your helpful words! ~ RN of Sunshine

This isn’t the only hospital I’ve applied to. I’ve applied to like 7. I haven’t been offered the LTAC job yet. The reason I’m worried is wanting to get into NP school within 2 years of working full time. So whatever job I take now may very well be my only job considering many hospitals in my area require 18 months to stay on one unit before moving internally.

I thought that too! But I asked the HR person and it turns out it’s the only unit in the whole hospital that has open positions. Either way, I appreciate your input.

That’s the whole thing — I didn’t apply to the LTAC job. I applied to a residency program at a larger hospital and they asked me my 3 ideal units and said they would contact me when a position was available there (cardiac stepdown, neurology, and oncology), but they called me about LTAC instead and I interviewed on the phone because it sounded different than when I visited the unit. I’m not sure if I explained that well enough before.

I had a clinical where we were in a patient’s room for 3 hours because it was shift change and the patient was really unstable. I’m honestly just terrified of choosing a job and realizing that I hate it and becoming a nurse that complains about her job/doesn’t do it well, as I’ve seen so many times. It could just be my generation. I was up for a NICU, PICU, and Peds ER residency before they got canceled because of COVID, so honestly everything has been a disappointment after that.

I honestly don’t know what I would do if I didn’t get the residency. They do it 3x a year, in Jan, June, and Sept. So I honestly don’t really know. It’s in a community hospital and in their June cohort they took 32 NGs. I’m not sure how competitive it is. I definitely would not take the LTAC job only to leave and do the residency. The LTAC job starts only 2 weeks before the residency does, and I haven’t been officially offered the LTAC job yet. I can afford to wait it out as I’m living from home but I am getting married soon. Most is paid for but it would be nice just to have funds coming in to put aside. I just honestly had not heard about LTAC before this position came up. I’ve been on a waiting list for a position at the hospital for 2 months and they told me about this one popping up. I spoke to a few nurses and they said night shift is a lot slower and I just really prefer to be busy, so in my mind there’s so much to monitor with ICU patients that nights would still be fairly busy. I’m not sure about other LTACs but this one the patients are usually trached with or without a ventilator, have wound vacs, and on dialysis, but not CVVH/CRRT, and no hemodynamics monitoring, ratio 1:4-5. I think when it was described to me it just sounded different than when I went, but it might just be me. Like I said, I only learned about it like a week ago.

Hi there! I could use a bit of advice as a new grad. I shadowed a position in an LTAC today and was a bit disappointed, but it is the only job that has interviewed me since the end of April. My state was hit pretty hard with COVID-19, and I just got licensed middle of June. I was told LTAC could be a great learning experience, but I want to become an Acute Care NP within the next 5 years. Would LTAC give me enough experience for ACNP? Furthermore, there is a new grad residency that I want to apply to as well which starts in September and new grads get to cycle through ICUs and choose which they like best and get a permanent FTE (0.9) position there. I love this idea but it starts so late and I feel a lot of pressure from my family just to get a job and stop being so "picky." But when I was at the LTAC, it just didn't feel like me. I like being in a patient's room for 3+ hours because of their acuity. I didn't get a good feel of the LTAC patient's acuity, but I just feel pressure to say yes and stop being so picky. So does LTAC give good experience or should I hope I get into the ICU residency? ~RN of Sunshine

Hi there! I could use a bit of advice as a new grad. I shadowed a position in an LTAC today and was a bit disappointed, but it is the only job that has interviewed me since the end of April. My state was hit pretty hard with COVID-19, and I just got licensed middle of June. I was told LTAC could be a great learning experience, but I want to become an Acute Care NP within the next 5 years. Would LTAC give me enough experience for ACNP? Furthermore, there is a new grad residency that I want to apply to as well which starts in September and new grads get to cycle through ICUs and choose which they like best and get a permanent FTE (0.9) position there. I love this idea but it starts so late and I feel a lot of pressure from my family just to get a job and stop being so "picky." But when I was at the LTAC, it just didn't feel like me. I like being in a patient's room for 3+ hours because of their acuity. I didn't get a good feel of the LTAC patient's acuity, but I just feel pressure to say yes and stop being so picky. So does LTAC give good experience or should I hope I get into the ICU residency? ~RN of Sunshine