sweetrvr

Hey, at least we can laugh at the situation, right?

new grads and the nursing shortage: a tragedy pretty much sums it up!

New grads and the nursing shortage: a tragedy good for a laugh or two..

BS, BS, BS....

Funny thing- when my little sis graduated (2004), they announced the place where every new grad was working as they handed out the diplomas. She was offered a job in the PICU at UCLA over spring break... So how did we get here? First off, the "for profit" colleges/universities cashed in on the nursing school craze. It seemed as though the for profits greatly increased their advertising budgets and subsequent enrollments. And can you blame them? People were practically beating down the doors trying to get into nursing schools, student loans in hand. Next, the media orgy surrounding "the nursing shortage" reached an all time high, and the two worked hand in hand. All of the sudden there was a market to exploit- the potential nursing student. Student loans were not too hard to come by, after all. There were even federal grants to advertise nursing as a more attractive profession. Public awareness regarding the nursing shortage was at an all time high thanks to campaigns by Johnson & Johnson and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (however well intentioned). And lastly, the economy tanked. Toss in a serious recession and a 10% unemployment rate and viola!- way too many new grads! I question the morality of the situation as well, but in the end, it's capitalism, right? Supply and demand...

Perhaps I should be more specific: It's improbable that the typical new grad will get a job for at least 6 months. And you're right the situation is not hopeless, but again for emphasis, new grads and nursing students should know what they are getting into! Yes, I'm sure you know people who have new grad jobs. As I said earlier, employment varies by region. But clearly your experience is the exception, not the rule, as 90% of the new grads on this forum can attest.

I just want to re-emphasize that the reason I posted my experience was to let potential new grads understand the reality of the situation. I don't think that getting a new grad job is impossible right now, but it is very improbable. It's also important to note that markets are still very regional. Even though I feel like I've applied everywhere, most likely there is someplace, somewhere that hires new grads. As many of the veteran nurses out there have correctly pointed out, nursing (as many jobs) runs in cycles. I do believe this, but no doubt there will be still be an enormous glut of new grads when the market improves. Also wanted to point out that in my op, I said that I simply did not want to work in a SNF, I certainly did not want to imply that this is beneath me in any way. It's a call that I have made and that many (more flexible types) will be more lenient with. And Suana, when I started my BSN is 2007, the RN's in my family were overwhelmingly supportive. They all like their jobs very much and feel as though the security is as good as any career out there. I got the spiel from about "we need male nurses" and "male nurses have an advantage" from everyone I met. That certainly is not the case in my experience (and I'm glad it's not the case, honestly). My spouse was a travel nurse at the time, and we were traveling all over the country making great money, living for free. I wanted to be an ER nurse, as I had some experience as a volunteer EMT. I figured that if we could both be travelers...well it seemed like a great deal. Lastly, know that my intention here is not to create a negative vibe, or ruin anyone's career aspirations. I'm definitely not trying to complain, I'm old enough to know that there's a much bigger picture out there. I'm overall very impressed by how positive the overall tone is on these forums. Nurses are good people.

I know this topic is getting a lot of ink these days, but here's my experience on the issue. I post this because I think that there are still an abundance of people struggling to get into nursing schools, and uninformed soon to be new grads. I graduated in May 2010 from the BSN program in Colorado. I worked as a nurse intern ("ACP") at University hospital hoping to get a little experience before I graduated, as my program consistently provided me with poor clinical experiences (preceptors who didn't wan't to be there, let alone teach). Simply put, there are very few jobs out there. I'm sure many of you have combed this site and seen the carnage, and it's pretty much the real deal. I know of people who have applied to literally 100 jobs with not one call back. I'm at about 50 over the past 4 months. I've pretty much stopped at this point, as it's become demoralizing. And just so I'm clear, I've applied to 12 different states, all over the map. The one thing that I have not done, (that may hold promise for some), is apply to nursing homes or SNF's. Even If I landed a job in this area, I didn't want to start off my career hating it. Oh yeah, I think it's possible to go Navy or Army, but I've been in the military before and...no thanks. What's worse, is that I'm married to an RN (charge), my sister is an RN and many of my friends are RN's. I've worked every angle I can think of. Yes, there are some new grads getting jobs, but it's clearly the exception at this point. The advice that I've seen posted in just about very forum is to call the nurse mangers on specific units, be proactive, go to the hospitals and hand out resumes. Whatever. I suppose that could be beneficial for some, but I have seen no results with this. I guess I just wanted to put one person's story out there, as it may help those thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of eager students or potential students. Definitely not trying to make people bitter, but it's good to know the real deal. As for me, I'm pretty much done, trying to get back into my pre-nursing school career. I consider myself very lucky in this regard, as I have something to fall back on (although it's definitely going to be a while).