Qualified New Grad RN, No one wants to hire!!!!!

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Hello everyone,

It feels as if just yesterday I was poping out the bubbly and doing a celebratory dance in ode to passing the NCLEX, but now that celebration is over and I am facing an even bigger challenge. I am a new Grad RN from a BSN program and i'm having a hard time finding work. I am a scholarship recipient for one of the biggest healthcare systems in South Florida, yet they do not have any position for us "scholarship interns" since they gave out more scholarships than available positions. I am being told that the hospital has 120 days to place me before the contract becomes null/void. Problem is, i do not have 4 months to spare. I have a mortgage and a child. I am willing to repay the scholarship if i am able to find a position within another hospital, but I have already applied to over 40 jobs within ALL the hospitals in South Florida as well as Central Florida and they all are NOT hiring new grads!! Every position is requiring EXPERIENCE!!!! Even a Med/surg unit where new grads are SUPPOSE to earn their experience , is requiring 2+ years experience. I am really running out of options and i'm considering relocating out of state if push comes to shove. Does anyone know where is hiring new grad RNs, even if it isnt in Florida?:crying2:

Ok I am seriously outraged right now. What kind of morales does a person have to have to tell someone to pole dance until she can find a job as a nurse. That is absolutely DISGUSTING. This was a thread asking if anyone knew where they were hiring, not a thread for a filthy pig to suggest a woman sell her body. That post is so far out of line its not even funny. Tyler- Why do you keep saying if there is a job in another state take it, when clearly the OP was asking where they were hiring, as she had no problem moving if needed. Please go to therapy for your serious anger issues.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Geriatrics and dialysis.

Tx border towns are still hiring with some offering relocation and bonus.

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Specializes in Med/Tele.
Here we go again with the "Woe is me" cries after one graduates...And I'll say it again...did you do your homework BEFORE you became a nurse? In other words, did you ask nurses, recuiters, employees in the field about how your job prospects would be once you graduate? Did you do a simple (AND FREE) Google search to see what the hiring trends were? Take a look at your diploma--where does it say "I am now ENTITLED to a job?"

This is the problems the nursing field faces today--everyone and their frickin' brother wants to be a nurse...The result? A glut of new nurses and low turnover, hospitals closing and/or on hiring freezes, etc. If you have a good GPA, well, good for you. It doesn't move you to the top of your list. On graduation day, the person with the highest GPA and the lowest GPA will both have diplomas at the end of the ceremony. Passed the NCLEX on the first try? Oh joy! So did thousands of others---and they're out of a job, too.

Wait tables, pole dance, work retail until you land your nursing job--it's not beneath you--it's called opportunity and managing to stay alive and afloat in these tough times. Do what you have to do. If you have to work overnights as a nurse, well, people are sick overnight, too. So many grads think that they have to have a 9-5 schdedule so their jobn doesn't infringe on their social lives....If you have to move out of state, well, then do so. You're an adult, and if you're otherwise legally barred from leaving the state you reside in, it's time to look outside your comfort zone. (Last I heard, people in California, Montana, and Colorado get sick, too. Shhhhhhhh.).

First off Tyler, you do not know anything about me or my life aside from the few facts in this blog that i've just posted. You seem to think you have a gift that allows you to analyze a persons entire character by a few sentences they post for advice and not judgement. No where in my post did i ever say some one owes me a job!!!! Rather only that I can not find one!!!! Sure "everyone and their frickin brother" wants to be a nurse, and I am one of them because I have always wanted to help others and not just my pocket (from what you are probably assuming) and like many others Ive worked hard for it and have made many sacrafices. And so what if someone did become a nurse for financial gain, according to the Occupational Outlook handbook published by the department of labor and bureau statistics, this career is an idea one to enter for someone who shares the similar pleasure of helping others! In addition this career has had an optimistic outlook since the past 6 years when i decided to take this road and when I have gotten feedback from several nurses who are in my family and who i share close acquiantance with (so yes I have "done my homework"). Never have I mentioned certain jobs being beneath me or my stanards, but I must say that as a young mother of a little girl who have certain reliogious and moral beliefs that "pole dancing" as you suggest is one that I WILL NOT submit to, with no disrespect to those who do. Now its my turn to analyze you! You seem to be a bitter and lonely person with no regards to other people situation and whose parents never loved him so now you grew up to be a hateful person who go on blogs to post nasty and UNHELPFUL comments all in the purpose of lifting the pebble-sized self steem that failed to materialize during your miserable life-time. I may be wrong, but its a lot easier to take the low road which i see you have chosen to do. May God bless you and I hope that whatever chip you had on your shoulder is now gone! Your negativity has not changed who I am nor deter me from my goal, but I sure hope my post changes who you are!

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I totally understand where you are coming from.

I graduated in May 2009 with a BSN, had a scholarship with my nursing school that was affliated with a great hospital, and they had to end up buying me out because they could not find me a job.

Just the year before (2008), each new grad had 4 job offers on any floor within this same hospital. Little that us 2009 grads knew, the hopsital system had a system wide hiring freeze to save money. That meant they went with agency nurses who they didnt have to spend tons of money training them. They offered overtime and extra bonuses to the nurses that were already there because it was cheaper to pay them overtime than it was to hire and train a new grad fresh from nursing school.

For the first time in my adult life, I had to learn how to network.

Before I became a RN, I spent years in coporate where getting a job was based on testing into that particular job, your attendance was taken into account, and your yearly evaluation was taken into account. It didnt matter WHO you knew, it was WHAT you knew.

Not in nursing.

So, I learned how NETWORK. I went on 5 interviews before I landed my first RN job. I learned to market myself and play up my strengths. I joined organizations where I rubbed shoulders with hiring managers, other RN's, HR managers, and doctors. I put my name out there. And I had a really good friend who had major pull put my name out there.

Fastfoward to a year later.

And I'm an ER nurse in a Level I Trauma center. I have joined committees for the retention and recruitment of new nurses. I have been approached by a couple of instructors at my nursing school to come and "tell my experience" to the class that is about to graduate. I plan on getting SANE and Forenisc certified.

Keep trying. Learn to network. Get your name out there. You may not get the first nursing job you want, but as long as you get your foot in the door and get the experience, it's all good.

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Specializes in Med/Tele.

To everyone else on this blog, you have provided me priceless information. I have applied to Bethesda as recommended and I am currently looking into the rural areas, LTC and out of state positions. The sky is the limit and i will not stop until I reach it!!!!!! Thank you again to those who lend out a helping hand of advice and not one of criticism and judgement. I pray that we all find what we are looking for, even if it disguises itself in what we would not consider our "ideal" position/hospital/location:)

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Specializes in Med/Tele.

Thank you afrocentricRN!!! Your story is an inspiration and I will defnitely take your advice to heart!!!! Continue to excel in your career, wishing you the best!

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
Here we go again with the "Woe is me" cries after one graduates...And I'll say it again...did you do your homework BEFORE you became a nurse? In other words, did you ask nurses, recuiters, employees in the field about how your job prospects would be once you graduate? Did you do a simple (AND FREE) Google search to see what the hiring trends were? Take a look at your diploma--where does it say "I am now ENTITLED to a job?"

Here it is, another snide remark from some one that thinks they know what they are talking about. When most of us started nursing school there were a lot of jobs, especially those of us in BSN program that started 3 and 4 years ago. I graduated last year and the class before me all had several job offers. It is only recently; long after people started nursing school that the jobs almost disappeared. Your comments are unwarranted and nasty. Sure it can get tiring hearing new grad woes over and over; but if you are going to make a remark about people doing their homework then do your homework yourself!

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Afrocentricrc- Your story really is inspiring. My husband has his degrees in the business field, and he is always telling me that in most job markets networking is key. I am a pre-nursing student and I am volunteering as much as possible with the hospital that I would really like to work for. Good Luck to all on your job searches :)

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
To everyone else on this blog, you have provided me priceless information. I have applied to Bethesda as recommended and I am currently looking into the rural areas, LTC and out of state positions. The sky is the limit and i will not stop until I reach it!!!!!! Thank you again to those who lend out a helping hand of advice and not one of criticism and judgement. I pray that we all find what we are looking for, even if it disguises itself in what we would not consider our "ideal" position/hospital/location:)

Brownie,

You are wise to be looking at rural areas. When I expanded my job search to rural areas, the flood gates opened and I had several job offers.

Good luck!

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Thank you afrocentricRN!!! Your story is an inspiration and I will defnitely take your advice to heart!!!! Continue to excel in your career, wishing you the best!

You are welcomed! Something will come up, you just keep trying. Like you, I have a mortgage and a child to support. I almost lost my house because I ran out of savings. With God's help, I landed my first RN job and my mortgage company worked with me. Everything is falling into place. Not in a million years I would have dreamed of being an ER nurse. Never had an ER rotation in nursing school. But I LOVE IT!

I am very active in nursing outside of the hospital. I am on the healthcare ministry at my church. This is where I met a pharmacist who was friends with a great clinical instructor at a great nursing school, who is in the same nursing organization as I am, who is friends with a great staff nurse, who is in good with the director, who was also in good with my friend who got me my first RN job!

So you never know who knows who.

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Here it is, another snide remark from some one that thinks they know what they are talking about. When most of us started nursing school there were a lot of jobs, especially those of us in BSN program that started 3 and 4 years ago. I graduated last year and the class before me all had several job offers. It is only recently; long after people started nursing school that the jobs almost disappeared. Your comments are unwarranted and nasty. Sure it can get tiring hearing new grad woes over and over; but if you are going to make a remark about people doing their homework then do your homework yourself!

Totally agree with the above!

When I started my nursing school journey (2004 including pre-reqs), the newspapers were flooded with openings for RN's.

I graduated in 2009 with a BSN and just the year before (2008), each new grad in my school had atleast 4 job offers for any floor they wanted. With the new year (2009), the hospital system put a hiring freeze on all their hospitals. In fact, the other nursing school in the next state over that is affliated with a great hospital did the same. This caused an increase in job applicants for positions in the hospital system my nursing school is affliated with.

This class that just graduated (2010) is having a very hard time. They only hired 20 people out of 60 and these were people who already worked as techs on their floors. This didnt help me when I graduated because I worked as a tech and my hospital didnt have any openings for RN's at the time.

Nobody seen this coming, no matter how much "research" was done.

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I was just wondering have you considered military nursing or the Public Health Service Corps. I graduated this year also and many of the students in my class are having some difficulty finding a job. Just a thought. Good luck on your future endeavors. You will always have some people on blogs posting negative comments don't let the negativity bother you. Keep the faith and something will come to you in due time.

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