Prospective Nursing Student

[CandiceP]

I am starting my second to last semester of pre-requisites for Nursing School and I am currently trying to decide on where I would like to attend Nursing School.

I am seriously looking into Hawaii, but I am slightly contemplating it because many people have said that new graduate students are having a a hard time finding jobs. I was wondering if since I am considering attending Nursing School in Hawaii (Hawaii Pacific, UH Manoa or Hilo),would it would effect my outlook for a job? I see that some people graduate from other Universities (Florida,Texas, etc.), then go to Hawaii for a job, but is it more logical to go to Hawaii for your education?

If nobody can really answer that, do you know where I could find out?

[koi310]

There is a backlog of new grad BSNs from UHM and HPU dating from 2009 at least. Most of the ward clerks, aides, and techs are new grad BSNs. Most hires for new grads are internal. Hope that helps.

[HAL_APRN19]

If I coukd do it all over again, I would chose another career in the health field. Nursing is OVER RATED! People advertising there is a nursing shortage is only taking advantage of poor souls trying to stay afloat this HORRIBLE economy we have. We end spending thousands of dollars in school only to find NO ONE will hire new grads. (at every level). And this fact is not only happening to Hawaii, it's across the nation. Get out while you have a chance and find another career in healthcare that you can actually benefit from.Don't get me started on working condition if you get lucky enough to find a job..... Save yourself the trouble and money!

[Rachel85]

I agree with the bitter RNHal11. I'm currently switching from nursing to speech pathology due to his/her exact reason. They'll run you into the ground if they can get away with it and unfortunately since people are dying for work, they get away with it. My current place of work is understaffed, underpaid, etc. and there are no plans to improve the situation.

[hazer]

I agree with the above posters. There are no nursing jobs here unless you have experience. The best you can hope for is a nurse aide/unit secretary/ward clerk position, and even then you're competing with 20 other BSN RNs who can't find work.

Only one person from my graduating class has found a nursing job and that was in Alaska. Everyone else, if they've found work, are working as techs or nurse aides.

Get out now while you still can.

I wish I hadn't bought into the hype 5.5 years ago about "nursing shortages." What a joke. I was in too far before I realized it was just a marketing scam pulled over us by nursing schools wanting to swell their ranks combined ignorant news stories about "best careers."

It's even worse in Hawaii than on the mainland, as two major hospitals here just closed, putting 500 experienced nurses out of work and looking for a job. Add to that the *600* new RNs created each year in the state (since every school now it seems has a nursing program). To the schools this is a business, they're selling nursing educations because consumers are demanding them. They are not offering job placement assistance afterwards, they've made their nice bundle of $$ on you already. They gloat about their NCLEX pass rates; try asking them what their 6 month job placement rate is. They won't even know, but from my anecdotal experiences it's about 3%. At 6 months out, 1 to 2 people from a graduating class will have an RN job; at 12 months out, maybe 5. And usually (always) those are people who'd already been working for years as a tech or aide at the institution they got the job at.