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.
Wow, that's crazy! Have you looked into getting a compact license? Not sure how to go about getting it if you aren't in a compact state though :/ I have one for being in TN, but got my NV license first, which is not compact.
@SunshineDaisy Yeah, CT wasn't compact either. I thought about getting a compact license but the only state on the list that I could conceivably move to is Rhode Island (at least from the lists I googled - no NY, Mass, Vermont, Pennsylvania, or Georgia, which are the states I could possibly/would be willing to move to at this point, for family and financial reasons). I recently got my Mass license and am working on my Georgia license, so hopefully those two states open up some options.
You can do it. Keep trying. It took many of us 3 -24 months to find a job. It took me hundreds of applications, many rejections, and 6 months to land a job.
@SunshineDaisy Yeah, CT wasn't compact either. I thought about getting a compact license but the only state on the list that I could conceivably move to is Rhode Island (at least from the lists I googled - no NY, Mass, Vermont, Pennsylvania, or Georgia, which are the states I could possibly/would be willing to move to at this point, for family and financial reasons). I recently got my Mass license and am working on my Georgia license, so hopefully those two states open up some options.
Don't bother with NY. That's where I am; it's the same nonsense here. What's scaring the life out of me, is that so many that commented here are BSN's already. But, let's all put positive energy out there. It's got to influence something to change!
@ceebeejay The only reason I would consider NY is because I went to nursing school there and did a labor and delivery preceptorship there, and the nurse I precepted under has said that while the unit manager couldn't convince them to put me directly into L&D, she would almost definitely be able to get me a med/surg job in June 2014. But I agree, out of my entire graduating class I can only name 4 who got jobs - one already worked as a CNA at their hospital, one got a job through their mom, one got a job through her internship, and one just got lucky out in the Hamptons. It's brutal. Good luck with your search!
If you can't find a job as a nurse, you really need to reevaluate your location. I know way more nurses and nursing students that are from other states than from here. I'm not from here, and I found out first hand there are more jobs. People need to think about why they say they can't move. This is a global world now. People aren't tied down to living in the place they grow up. Lots of people relocate, with kids, all the time. You can sell houses. When I was growing up (too many years ago now), we moved to several different states because you go where the jobs are. I know there are going to be times it isn't practical to move,
but I know a lot of nurses (and even more non nurse friends) that have moved here to Arkansas (including 2 nurses from UK) because of the available positions. If fact, very few of the people I've made friends are actually from here. Most are transplants like me.
Here is part of a post I posted this morning in reply to people saying they couldn't find jobs.
Here are 4 hospitals in Little Rock that I have RN friends working in that say they are actively hiring. Most were offered jobs as new grads before graduation. There are a couple more large hospitals, like the VA, UAMS, ETC that have advertised positions, but I don't have any friends working there to know how actively they are hiring. There are also a ton of positions advertised in other areas, like Mercy in Fayetteville/Springdale area, St Edwards in Fort Smith. Pretty much anywhere in the Delta region of the state like Pine Bluff is hiring or the many rural areas (a lot of time with sign on bonus').
Arkansas Children's Hospital
8 RN 1- these are new grad positions. Several specialty ones like surgery and cardio ICU are listed. NICU wasn't listed today, but I've seen it listed most days when I check. And my peds rotation last month had me working with a ton of new grads in their 100 bed NICU.
19 RN 2
6 LPN
Baptist Health (most are the hospital, some are the nursing home or satellite clinics). My OB rotation here a couple months ago had most of the LD nurses I worked with being new grads. I was paired with several that just graduated last May and several others were just 1-2 years.
8 LPN
23 nurse assistant 1 (CNA without license)
5 CNA
61 RN1 new grad positions.
56 RN 2 (12 months experience)
10 specialty nurses like Unit specialization nurse.
Arkansas Heart Hospital
11 RN positions
2 LPN
5 CNA
St Vincent Hospital
141 RN in all states with a St Vincent hospital
132 RN positions in Arkansas St Vincent locations.
You can do it. Keep trying. It took many of us 3 -24 months to find a job. It took me hundreds of applications many rejections, and 6 months to land a job.[/quote']
This.
I had cobwebs for my first job-I still had my job as an LPN; preceptorships for new grads at my first job have a 50% chance for working; left in good terms ; found another job in 4 months-I'm a nursing supervisor for a unit. The nursing knowledge and role transition grown pains have stopped...it comes back to you, no matter how long you are out of school. Keep looking, remain objective, formulate plans on your career, CEUs, refresher courses, certs for nurses that have less than two years, etc to keep in mind for the near future.
It's difficult to move when you have a family (husband and kids) it's hard to pick up and move My hubby is the bread winner, and, while he is a teacher, where he works isn't everywhere (he works for the government).
SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN
1,295 Posts
Wow, that's crazy! Have you looked into getting a compact license? Not sure how to go about getting it if you aren't in a compact state though :/ I have one for being in TN, but got my NV license first, which is not compact.