Jobs are very hard to get, with 300 or more applicants for each position at some places. It can take years to get your first nursing job. So, if the school is selling you the idea that your going into a "guaranteed" job, your not.
There are thousands and thousands of unemployed new grad licensed nurses who are scrambling to get a job, and the hospitals are upping their standards every day, almost all flat out tell you not to apply if your a new grad, some say if your a new grad only apply if you have a BSN and a 3.5 GPA or better. Almost all positions all the way down the the lowly LTC centers are requiring BSN degrees, and even home health care wont touch you if you don't have 1 year of acute experience, which you cant get unless you have a BSN with a 3.5 average.
If you do not believe what I am saying, then Google "No nursing jobs" and take a look at what people are saying.
That being said, if you still willing to go into nursing, spend years in the most stressful program and then not be able to obtain work when your finished, then god bless you.
You mean one of the 6 people hired out of my class of 60? Yeah, maybe your right. I guess that myself and all the other 54 of us are all mean, angry, bitter people to not have jobs yet. I am sure that my friend who went to school in a separate RN ADN program from me, her class has a handful of people are employed, but the rest of them all have some sort of problems that none of you will suffer from. I am sure that none of us tried to make contacts in the hospital. Or are applying for jobs in the way that "you" will. I am sure that you have some sort of edge that none of us have. In fact our class president who is not yet employed must have some soft of chip on her shoulder as well. The girl who spent all her time volunteering and works at a magnet hospital as a patient lift tech and has contacts up the wazoo must be doing something wrong as well, because she is not yet employed either. I am sure that none of us have applied in person, or tried LTC centers. I am sure that my 3.6 gpa, is also part of the problem, because your going to do better then that right?
Heres a bit of advice for those looking to be RNs in the future, go to a BSN program, because I will tell you right now that they do have it easier. I am from a ADN program and this is the very real state of things "right now" and has been since 2008. Like I said in my original post, most employers want BSN's. Even the post with the link to the BSN new grad employment rates support it, BSN have like 80% employment, and ADNS had like 25% at the end of 6 months. So by all means, go for your dreams. Just be smart and go to a university! I wish I would have, and I probably will have to just to find employment.
IF I had a BSN, I wouldn't be sitting here unemployed, complaining about not having a job.
*stepping down off my soapbox now* let the flame war commence.
I didn't realize your situation meant that was going to be everyone's situation. The hospital I work at doesn't discriminate between ADN and BSN nurses, and actually just hired a bunch of GRADUATE nurses which includes a good mix of ADN and BSN nurses. They also both start at the same pay rate. Most people I know from the local ADN program who graduated were able to find jobs, and no, not just at the "lowly LTC" centers. (Which I find highly insulting. LTC may not be everyone's cup of tea, but someone has to take care of your grandparents.)
I am sure that in some parts of the country it is very hard to find nursing jobs, but unless you have been to all 50 states please don't assume that that is how it is everywhere.
While I am also an advocate of higher education, many BSN programs are super expensive and competitive to the point that anyone with less than a 3.9 GPA isn't going to get in. In my area all of the BSN programs are either 40,000+ or super super competitive, and discriminate against people who don't go full time, and not everyone can go full time, work 30+ hours a week and maintain a 4.0 GPA. I'd rather get my RN through an ADN program, be debt free, and bridge over to a BSN. Which there are MANY inexpensive bridge programs out there.
I hate to harp on the California thing again, but it could be that their preference for BSN's is a regional thing. My sister moved to Southern California last year and figured she would apply at her local school district to be a substitute while she went to school. Here in TX, all you have to do is take a two day training class. But she said that in CA, you had to have a Bachelor's.
You know, y'all don't have to jump all over Isis...
S/he's expressing his/her frustration at his/her personal experience... one which, in my experience, is far from uncommon and one which is still largely overshadowed in many sectors by continuing claims of shortages and abundant opportunities.
If you don't like the message, ignore it. If you don't like the messenger, check out the nifty little "ignore this poster" feature that Brian so graciously offers to each one of us.
isis, have you thought of moving maybe? i know the idea is pretty drastic but it might be the solution. i am not even in a nursing program yet and am already considering different cities or states that i would like to move to in case i don't find a job within a couple of months of graduating.
i just applied as a cna to an ltc and if i get the job, at least i will have some kind of health care experience. it might help to take a cna position until you can find something open.
She isnt warning us because she cares really...she just wants to bring doom and gloom because thats how she feels...which is fine she can feel like that..she didnt do her own research and look at the job market in her home town/state. Most of us that replied told her that we had done our research and there are jobs in our areas and she still didnt believe us and went on and on about how we wont find jobs just like her.
Her message has a "tone" to it...and as such we replied with our own "tone"...and the ignore button works two ways...she doesnt have to read our responses and neither does anyone else for that matter.
I hate it when nurses consider LTC's to be 'lowly'.
Agreed. A couple of days ago, there was a thread in the nurses section about why I love LTC. It was quite refreshing to read. I don't know what direction I want to take my career yet, and I know the patient load in LTC is demanding, but I'm not ruling it out. So far in clinicals, I've really enjoyed working with older patients.
Agreed. A couple of days ago, there was a thread in the nurses section about why I love LTC. It was quite refreshing to read. I don't know what direction I want to take my career yet, and I know the patient load in LTC is demanding, but I'm not ruling it out. So far in clinicals, I've really enjoyed working with older patients.
It is our greatest generation in those lowly nursing homes. People who lived through the great depression, WWII, people who helped give us the life we have today. I honestly hope to maybe start my career off taking care of these people, for their lifetime of wisdom is invaluable. They deserve to spend their last years in dignity with people who care. God bless our elderly- I can think of no better honor than to take care of them as they did our parents, and then us.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I wouldn't take what comes from the AACN as an objective source. They have a vested interest in painting a rosy scenario, and they are quite proactive in that endeavor. Surveys don't really mean that much, either.
On the other hand, I'm in California too, and I know that new grads are hired in home health, and I know that nurses with associate degrees are being hired here. That doesn't mean they are hired more than BSN nurses, just that it is not 0% I don't think anybody has a handle on hard and fast numbers, though. It's a very dicey thing to make such generalizations about the entire country. The variables are just too many to make that possible.
When there actually was a nursing shortage students could practically write their own ticket right after graduating. Now I don't think there is too soon a time to think carefully about geography, objective data about in-demand specialties, and opportunities for post-graduate studies.
Here is a reality check for you.........people are here because they are excited to learn and become a nurse. Being a nurse isnt just about the paycheck. Most not all but most go into nursing bc we enjoy helping people. Maybe instead of posting negative comments you might want to try looking at your local classified section and see whats out there instead of trying to be a giant rain cloud. Seriously tho spend more time seeking employment and less time being mean. It really doesnt benefit anyone.
♪♫ in my ♥;4825112]you know, y'all don't have to jump all over isis...
s/he's expressing his/her frustration at his/her personal experience... one which, in my experience, is far from uncommon and one which is still largely overshadowed in many sectors by continuing claims of shortages and abundant opportunities.
if you don't like the message, ignore it. if you don't like the messenger, check out the nifty little "ignore this poster" feature that brian so graciously offers to each one of us.
really, though... retract the claws.
i think you are right but this is just pure negativity that we don't need. most of us students come to this website for support. if we can't get that here then where can we go. is it not bad enough that others say that they can't find jobs? then we have to read posts like this pretty much just bashing the major/career choice as a whole. i am all about expressing yourself but there is a way you go about it and this isn't it.
I hate it when nurses consider LTC's to be 'lowly'. 
soxgirl2008
382 Posts
I didn't realize your situation meant that was going to be everyone's situation. The hospital I work at doesn't discriminate between ADN and BSN nurses, and actually just hired a bunch of GRADUATE nurses which includes a good mix of ADN and BSN nurses. They also both start at the same pay rate. Most people I know from the local ADN program who graduated were able to find jobs, and no, not just at the "lowly LTC" centers. (Which I find highly insulting. LTC may not be everyone's cup of tea, but someone has to take care of your grandparents.)
I am sure that in some parts of the country it is very hard to find nursing jobs, but unless you have been to all 50 states please don't assume that that is how it is everywhere.
While I am also an advocate of higher education, many BSN programs are super expensive and competitive to the point that anyone with less than a 3.9 GPA isn't going to get in. In my area all of the BSN programs are either 40,000+ or super super competitive, and discriminate against people who don't go full time, and not everyone can go full time, work 30+ hours a week and maintain a 4.0 GPA. I'd rather get my RN through an ADN program, be debt free, and bridge over to a BSN. Which there are MANY inexpensive bridge programs out there.