RAWRRASDFAOJAD (Job Hunting)

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Just needing to rant.

1. I am getting so depressed. I'm embarrassed that I've actually cried over this crap.

2. It makes me so angry when job postings go up and I apply and 20 minutes later they are gone and I have been "not selected" because clearly it was for somebody who knows somebody and the post was a formality.

3. Throughout nursing school I thought I was going to do something really great - be a leader and change things. But I can't even get an interview and I'm just ready to give up nursing and go back to my job at the sandwich shop.

4. ( a little unrelated ) My classmates that have gotten jobs are talking about how they regret their decisions because their preceptor is awful and non-supportive. I don't understand why seasoned nurses don't understand that they are NOT advocating for their patients by treating new nurses like crap. They may think they are protecting them from new nurses, but they are just making them more likely to face a mistake from an uncomfortable new nurse. & if there were no new nurses ever then they would all have to work even harder than they already do and would be POed all the time and take it out on their patients. So STOP being this way - we want to be able to keep patients alive just like you.

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Have you tried out of state yet?

Classic question, I know.

But a lot of people have a better time when they expand their geographic horizons.

It's not always the first decision a person makes but it adds more to the numbers game.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

No, I haven't tried that. I know it's an option for some, but I have things keeping me here.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Jamuhh - re: your #4. At this point, you are only receiving half of the message... from your peers. There are three sides to every story - yours, mine, and the truth - LOL. Perceptions are never reality because we each have our own filters through which we interpret the events that surround us. Wouldn't it be interesting to hear what their preceptors are saying??

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Chin up. A lot of us, including myself, are sitting in purgatory with you. I keep wondering what caliber of RN we will encounter in hospitals, because hospitals here are not hiring new grads at all. The RN's that have jobs are not filling the openings. Who is going to replace all of the nurses due to retire in the next few years? Where I am, not only are the hospitals not hiring new grads, neither are the long term care, nursing homes, or rehabilitation facilities. So, who is going to train the new grads? At some point doesn't this have to stop? And not wonder so many "new grads" are green behind the hears. I am an ASN, filling time until I get my BSN. All of the skills I actually practiced during my clinicals to get my ASN are collecting cob webs. The opportunities presented for me to work, do not utilize those skills either. By the time I get my BSN, I will be like a new student, not a new grad.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

HouTx - you're right. I am only hearing one side of the story. However, having experienced similar attitudes from nurses during school I don't find it hard to believe. Anyway, my point was only that experienced nurses know what it was like starting out and should be supportive, rather than discouraging or non-supportive.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Thanks for the responses.

I've cooled off from the frustration of the other day... back to the grind.

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Chin up. A lot of us, including myself, are sitting in purgatory with you. I keep wondering what caliber of RN we will encounter in hospitals, because hospitals here are not hiring new grads at all. The RN's that have jobs are not filling the openings. Who is going to replace all of the nurses due to retire in the next few years? Where I am, not only are the hospitals not hiring new grads, neither are the long term care, nursing homes, or rehabilitation facilities. So, who is going to train the new grads? At some point doesn't this have to stop? And not wonder so many "new grads" are green behind the hears. I am an ASN, filling time until I get my BSN. All of the skills I actually practiced during my clinicals to get my ASN are collecting cob webs. The opportunities presented for me to work, do not utilize those skills either. By the time I get my BSN, I will be like a new student, not a new grad.

Whoa, you are me! O.o

I graduated in May and immediately moved out of state to be back with my husband and kids (long story short, hubby took a job out of state (much better pay) half way through school) and have found nothing but NO, you need experience, or just silence here! It's very frustrating!

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Specializes in medsurg, progressive care.

You are not alone! I held out for what I thought was a long time, job hunting and keeping a positive attitude. I started applying for jobs out-of-state and even got my license in a few other states to help the job search out. I was telling people that I wasn't worried and that I knew I would get a job soon. And then something in me just snapped. Ever since May I have been getting questions asking if I'd applied to certain hospitals around my home state, especially Yale and UConn Health (I live in CT so these are the two most well-known hospitals). The other day someone asked if I had ever looked into Yale Hospital and I just completely broke down. Its been 7 months since I graduated, I could name all 50 hospitals in CT and then some! OF COURSE I've applied to the most popular hospital in the state! I understand people are trying to be helpful but it's gotten to the point where I just feel patronized. Do people really think I'm not job-hunting, or that I'm only applying to one place?

Then I have the problem where I meet new people and don't know how to explain my life. I'm a nurse, I have a BSN and my RN license, but I don't work as a nurse... I'm an asst. manager at a fast food restaurant and people just stare at me like I have 3 heads when I try to explain this.

Just know that you're not alone in this struggle and you are definitley not the only person who finds the whole process degrading, embarassing, depressing, and horrible. Every night I wonder if I should just not bother with it anymore and move up in the company I'm with now. I got the letter from my state's department of health saying my license expires in 2 months and I needed to renew it - is it even worth it to do that? I paid so much money to get it and now I have to repay to keep it and I haven't even used it! I wish someone had told me that as difficult as nursing school had been, the aftermath was even worse.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

@rinskins: It's been 7 months since you graduated and your license is expiring in 2 months? You worked hard to get that BSN and pass that NCLEX, I wouldn't give up. It took me almost a year to get a job and during the search I was applying to nursing and non-nursing jobs because I needed an income. I also got licensed in another state (TX) just to widen my options. Luckily, I did get hired at the hospital I work at now. Hang in there.

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Ugh, I graduated 7 months ago as well. I have put in well over 200 applications, have applied everywhere in an hours radius! I get the same questions "Have you applied to XYZ?" "Have you tried home health/hospice?" "Have you tried Nashville?" Yes, yes, yes! Everyone wants experience, but no one is willing to give it :/ I am at a loss. I can't really relocate as my husband works on the base (he's a civilian) and he's the bread winner for now! Just really sucks and I cry often!

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Specializes in medsurg, progressive care.

@Glad2baRN Yup! Connecticut licenses expire on the last day of your birth month and must be renewed every year. I'm a February baby so my license expires on Feb. 28th - and I only got my license at the beginning of July. It's so stupid. Right now I'm lucky enough to have a full-time job at the company I've been working at since high school as an assistant manager so I have some sort of income, but nowhere near what I would be making as a nurse (plus definitely not what I want to do in the longterm). I just got licensed in Mass. and am looking into other states as well to broaden my scope. Thanks for the kind words! :)

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