autumnd

oh boy...i graduated in dec 08 (accelerated bsn program), passed my nclex in the spring, and it's been tough being a full time job seeker all this time...literally tired of the computer and typing and sitting here 8 hours a day...i applied everywhere all over california, rural hospitals, metropolitan...by looking up all the hospitals through the online yellow pages to get all the community hospitals in addition to the main ones that have their own websites. it's an exhaustive search i know, but i was trying to broaden my search to expand my options and be open since i have no mortgage or any other obligations...it's been sooo frustrating and hard to hang onto optimism at this point in time. i feel burnt out by all of this. honestly i am hanging on by a thread...and altho people have said it's the economy and not me, right now, this far along in the year, it's hard to feel hopeful and optimistic anymore, and if you know me, i'm usually very chipper and positive..."too positive" as i've been called by friends at times...but that's been a little different now. :T the hiring freezes and cancellations of new grad residencies due to no funding is making it so challenging for new grads. we're not in the field yet, and they aren't giving us chances. they keep saying they want experienced nurse, acute care experience specifically. but how to get that i dont know bc i heard they dont accept nursing home experience as acute care...so i feel stuck between a rock and hard place...from what i heard, california is oversaturated with new grads right now. because it costs so much to train someone new, they are filling positions with experienced nurses from elsewhere who are very willing to move to california because of the weather, lifestyle, and because california is the highest paying state for nursing jobs, followed by new york. they use travel nurses too. i met many of them while i was doing my advanced cpr classes this year. i may want to think about military nursing too. no one has responded to my inquiries when i visited the website and tried to make contact for the us army and the navy...i wonder if maybe even they dont have the resources to train new nurses. i am now looking out of state...the effects may be spreading more slowly in other states, but it's been tough too...a lot of the same stuff - we want experience; you dont have the experience we are looking for; so you're a new grad - so you have no experience as an RN. i guess my clinical experience doesn't count. i could totally talk about my experiences there if given the chance, as well as my non nursing experiences...while searching and doing temp admin work in the meantime, i decided to get advanced life support certifications just to get it done since i had time, and it was a good way to add to what i had and show how motivated i was...well, after getting acls, pals, and nrp to cover adults peds and infants, that hasn't changed my search results somehow. and it cost a lot. i would have hoped to stay in california (i'm very familiar with many parts and esp love socal and the bay area)... i had hoped to find something in southern california, since i heard southern california has more ops than norcal, but no one has called for an interview yet. not the dialysis centers, clinics, community hospitals, or large hospitals. i applied to some ltc too, but nothing so far. i heard the sac/capitol area is tight, and the bay area is pretty much closed ...and haven't found anything in the upper central valley of lodi/stockton/tracey/merced/modesto...or bakersfield even... or riverside... of my class i was willing to go just about anywhere in california... didn't know i'd be lucky to get anything at all in california, including rural "not-so-desirable" places...our teacher did warn us as we were graduating, that it would be tough this year, unprecedented in all these years, and that just a year before, even while the market was tightening up, many places said they weren't hiring but most of the previous graduating class got their jobs created thru their preceptorship at the end. when she said this, a hush fell over the room. but she was referring to norcal, and said socal may be a little better but she wasn't sure. anyway, i just thought i'd share the reality of my experience to validate the other experiences shared here...i feel your pain too...it felt therapeutic to get some of the load off. it's been hard keeping it all inside lately. thanks if you've read this far.

Hi, Does anyone live in the Sacramento/Northern California/Bay Area of California and know where NET exams are offered? I need to take a NET exam this month to make an application deadline. I signed up for one June 25 but have a schedule conflict because I just got into a school for this fall that is 2 years long (Associate Degree) and their orientation is that week. The school I am applying to (Samuel Merritt) only has so many dates for exams on their campuses. I am applying there because the school is in the town I live and is accelerated (one year long! and Bachelor). I don't know where else NET is offered. I know that some schools require entrance exams, and it's either NET or TEAS. I need to take the NET somewhere else that has more dates availalbe for this month so I can have a score to submit with my application. I would greatly appreciate any help anyone can provide!!!!

i just needed some clarification, because i am not very familiar with the distinctions in advanced practice - both cns and np are advanced practice nurses i understand, but what is the essential difference between them?

I'm not in the nursing program yet, but my Nursing Preparation teacher told me that in California, even as students in the RN program, we will need malpractice insurance. I think it's $20 +/- a year, but for an RN she said it's close to $90, under $100, a year. That came up in class yesterday - that when it comes time for a malpractice suit, they look for those with money to sue. They try to find who can be found even partially liable, of everyone who was involved, whether it's doctor, nurse, hospital. If it is determined that what was done does not fall within that hospital's protocol, the hospital will not cover the nurse. They only cover the nurse under certain conditions. If the hospital's procedures themselves are suspect, they can really go after the hospital. Scary.

I think that old nurse was just holding onto old attitudes and beliefs. In today's world, there is more diversity, and the nursing field ought to reflect that diversity itself since it will be treating members of a more diverse society. If people were more openminded about male nurses, it would be easier to recruit them. There's no reason why men cannot be nurses, why women cannot become doctors, why men cannot be stay-at-home dads (I know of one who is proud of it, says it's the best job in the world), nor why women cannot be cops. If someone is happy doing something, they have a right to pursue that. Gender roles really are artificial - they are constructed by people.

Something I realized is that those people may be convicted, but sometimes you never know if you're treating someone who has committed the same acts but was never convicted or ever suspected in life. They say those people come in all forms - they look like the friendly grocer, your neighbor...sadly, there are many times family relatives commit these things to their own nieces and nephews. I know it's not a pleasant thought, but it is the reality. I know it must be hard to treat someone who you know has committed offensive acts that you feel strongly against, but I guess like some others said previously in this forum, they are there as patients to receive care, and we put ourselves at legal risk and have our ethics questioned as professionals if we don't treat them. I guess I can't speak for myself because I am not a nurse yet. I am applying to nursing schools and hoping I get in January (!)...I'm new here. A classmate who gave a talk about the importance for nurses to know how to deal with stress, told the class about this site - that it has forums to talk to others, and good for nurses to get support because it's a good way to handle stress. Thanks for reading. This was my first post. :)