(Realistic) Encouragement, please!

DixieRedHead, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2012

Where in North Carolina are you moving?

nursegirl75 · Mar 17, 2012

Its not uncommon now a days for it to take a nurse up to 1 year to find work, any work like LTC. After a year, most hospitals don't even look at you because you been out of school for too long. It won't be for another 5 years or so until most of the Baby boomers will retire and then perhaps there will be lots of job openings. This really is the reality of the nursing world right now. It sucks.

charlo81 · Mar 17, 2012

I have been back in Raleigh for a year now-I lived here for most of my life (I lived in Virginia til I was five, and was in the Raleigh/Cary area for 20 years before moving to NYC).

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2012

I really do think it depends on where you live, foremost.

Although, compared to getting a job in social work or teaching (in my area, at least) -- I would say that you do have a better chance of landing a nursing job. Same goes for a lot of those other middle class jobs like cops and firefighters. While, yes, hospitals are cutting costs left and right, government and ancillary services are cutting costs even more.

But that's just a general observation from my part of the country.

I dunno...I mean...there are a LOT of factors that play into whether it will be easy or hard for you to find a job. I don't know if the statistics that you'll find are that nuanced.

allnurses Guide · Mar 18, 2012

New grads are averaging 6-12 months to find a position and are not finding them in their first choice of places. Factors that influence how long it takes to get hired:

1. And this IS the number one factor....how well connected are you? If you have NP and/or RN friends, you may have a better chance than most. Having people on the "inside" who will pass your resume on by hand is huge. Most new grads are lost in the online applicant shuffle and never even looked at. This surpasses what type of degree you have, what type of grades you made, etc. Networking is absolutely key to finding a job in this economy regardless of what profession you are in. Nursing is no exception.

2. Working at a hospital during nursing school. Still remains one of the best ways to get a foot in the door. Of course, this means that those types of positions are just as hard, if not harder, to get than that coveted first RN position.

3. Flexibility. The less specific you are about what type of RN job you want to have, the more likely you are to find one. If you lock your dreams into a certain area and will only consider that area...if you MUST only have day shift.....if you don't want to work weekends or holidays..if you ONLY want to work in the hospital and not anywhere else....all factors that will weed you out of the pool of applicants.

4. BSN. It is just fact that employers can be picky at this time. Many of them choose then to hire a four year degreed person over a two year degreed.

5. Willingness to relocate. The wider you cast that net, the more likely you are to find someone, somewhere who is looking just for you.

6. Persistence. Those who don't give up tend to prevail eventually.

Damask · Mar 20, 2012

Hi, Charlo.

I don't know much about NC but I know you want to see some statistics. Here you have them. Region seems to matter tremendously, though.:

Center on Education and the Workforce - Georgetown University

billyboblewis · Mar 22, 2012

Do you really want to be a nurse or are you just looking for another way to make money. If nursing is your passion you will have no trouble finding a job.

tokyoROSE, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2012

New grads are averaging 6-12 months to find a position and are not finding them in their first choice of places. Factors that influence how long it takes to get hired:
1. And this IS the number one factor....how well connected are you? If you have NP and/or RN friends, you may have a better chance than most. Having people on the "inside" who will pass your resume on by hand is huge. Most new grads are lost in the online applicant shuffle and never even looked at. This surpasses what type of degree you have, what type of grades you made, etc. Networking is absolutely key to finding a job in this economy regardless of what profession you are in. Nursing is no exception.
2. Working at a hospital during nursing school. Still remains one of the best ways to get a foot in the door. Of course, this means that those types of positions are just as hard, if not harder, to get than that coveted first RN position.
3. Flexibility. The less specific you are about what type of RN job you want to have, the more likely you are to find one. If you lock your dreams into a certain area and will only consider that area...if you MUST only have day shift.....if you don't want to work weekends or holidays..if you ONLY want to work in the hospital and not anywhere else....all factors that will weed you out of the pool of applicants.
4. BSN. It is just fact that employers can be picky at this time. Many of them choose then to hire a four year degreed person over a two year degreed.
5. Willingness to relocate. The wider you cast that net, the more likely you are to find someone, somewhere who is looking just for you.
6. Persistence. Those who don't give up tend to prevail eventually.

This. All of my classmates who worked in the hospital during school got jobs lined up before graduating.

Skiles311 · Mar 24, 2012

I agree with TokoyoROSE. The only people in my class that graduated in December that have jobs now are those that worked as CNAs in hospitals during school.

charlo81 · Mar 27, 2012

Thanks so much for the replies! I thought about becoming a nurse when I was younger, and graduated from a Medical Science academy within my high school (I was then certified as a CNA and EMT-B but never used either, mostly because I went to college full time and did work study). I am NOT doing this just for the money :) I have more than a handful of friends who are RNs/NPs, and one who currently works in a hospital in Raleigh (Wake Med) says the nurses they hire now worked as CNAs there when they were in school, although she did not (she was hired several years back though).

I was discouraged about job prospects, and how long school will take after consulting with someone from a BSN program in NC, who was not especially helpful, and got pretty down about my sub-par GPA from 10 years ago haunting me now.

Thanks for all the encouragement! Nice to have a dose of realism that doesn't make me want to cry. I am totally willing to work hard for what I want, and finding out that it is actually attainable is awesome.