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.
I live in the NY Metropolitan area and we've never heard of new grads having as difficult a time finding work as they have had until the Fall 2008 when the banking world collapsed. It was the first time in 5 yrs that not all new grads were able to find work prior to graduation. This area is saturated with new grads looking for work. Hospitals which are trying to attain Magnet status need to have a certain percentage of nurses with a BSN. From my experience, the hospitals I've looked into won't hire a nurse with an ADN.
I just returned from attending the Advance Healthcare Job Fair in NYC today. This is what I was told by the hospital representatives so please don't shoot the messenger. When you approached a booth, they would ask if any new grads were present and then speak to you as a group. Memorial Sloan Kettering stated that they hired 100 new grads last year and that they are not hiring new grads currently. They feel very badly about the situation as did all the other major hospitals, but did encourage us to consider applying out of state in order to get the mandatory 1-2 yrs experience. They said in the past nursing has had its ups and downs where hiring was concerned, but this time due to the economy it hasn't rebounded. They said things do not look good this year nor next. In fact, they predict that the current situation will last until at least 2015 (not a typo)! I asked if they would consider it experience if someone worked in LTC (I'm guessing not really by her facial expression but she was trying to be nice.). Staffing agencies (e.g. Bayada, White Glove, and Winston Staffing) including VNS will not consider you either without 1-2 yrs of experience. Another example from today...a gentleman who was an LVN approached a recruiter from Mt. Sinai which is a Magnet facility. He asked if they hired LVNs. The man told him absolutely not. He told him that he personally hired the last LVN to ever work there and it's so long ago he had forgotten when it was.
Again, this was the reality reiterated by various major hospitals (e.g. North Shore-LIJ, Mount Sinai, Greenwich Hospital in Conn.) Many of the new grads I spoke with were very disheartened, discouraged and genuinely worried about not being able to repay their student loans. NYP (Weill and Columbia) were not in attendance. Most hospital recruiters wrote on top of resume "New Grad." They encouraged you of course to apply online, but you know what happens when you receive thousands of applications via email. In all fairness though, they were very sensitive to the plight of new grads and treated us with kindness while lowering the reality boom.
Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to move since my husband has his own business here. I graduated in Dec. 2009 with a BSN (3.87 GPA) and have heard most of my graduating class (150+) have not found work yet. When the economy took a turn for the worse, I was already in my 3rd year. I would have needed a crystal ball to have predicted this outcome. Good luck to all and I hope this post has shed some light on the job search in this area.
I think it really depends on where you are. My area(rural upstate NY) is in the middle of a huge nursing shortage, and most graduates have jobs before graduation. However, I do know that non-degreed RNs are not getting as many interviews, but those with an associates or BSN are basically walking into jobs.
I have a leg up in that, because I've worked as a paramedic for years, I already have a lot of hospital contacts as well as ACLS, PALS, trauma life support and burn life support certifications. I think right now so much of it is who you know instead of what you know.
Seems like nursing jobs for New Grads are hard to get in some areas of the country. I think the first poster was giving a laudable heads up to prospective and current nursing students. I would add that working in a hospital as a tech or CNA while in or before nursing school will give you connections (and valuable experience) for getting a nursing job when you graduate. That seems the way it works here. In my area of the country LTC and home health require at least 1 year hospital clinical experience too.
So listen to her. You have nothing to lose by working for a hospital before you graduate and you might get a job more easily when you graduate.
In the AAS RN program which I am completing, recruiters hold a job fair just for the soon-to-graduate nurses. We are told within the next 5 years as boomers retire we will need to expand the program to accommodate more students.
You might consider relocating to an area where your choices are broader.
Hi again....sorry for the many posts. I have a suggestion for all posters. Would it be too much to ask all RNs who were able to secure employment to provide at least a city/state so that people who are considering relocation have an idea where to start the job search? Most posters just say "in my area...." Thanks for hearing me out
I'm in an ASN program and know at least a doxen people that have graduated within the last year and all of them have jobs, some with NO PRIOR MEDICAL EXPERIENC! It all depends on where you live and (surprise, surprise) the attitude that you bring into the interviews, and job search process. Will you get the hours you hpoed for, or that great job at the best hospital with the best benefits? NO, and good because I wouldn't necessarily want an ER or OR or ICU staffed with all new grads if myself or my family was ther being cared for. LIke another poster mentioned: nothing worth getting or wanting comes easy. Sounds like you're already sour and burnt so good luck when you do get a job!
Yes we are all very aware of the lack of jobs and how screwed all of us ADN students are even with another degree under our belts. HOWEVER it does nothing to help other people or yourself to spread all that negativity around! Maybe that Debbie Downer attitude is what's keeping you from getting a job?
Please keep all that toxic hate to yourself and try just for a tiny bit of positivity. Whatever energy you put out comes back to you so all that negativity isn't good for anybodyl
Sorry for wanting to open some peoples eyes to the reality of the situation. I wish someone would have told me the truth before I went into nursing school, and I would have done something else.
I am just the messenger, so don't bite my head off if you don't like the message. If you spent any time at all researching it you would see that what I am saying is true, it has nothing to do with who you know, what you did, or who your momma is.
I'm not being toxic, I'm not being negative, I am just presenting the truth as it stands.
With only about 6 people from my graduating class of 60 employed, I think things are worse now then they were last year when they did this survey. Take it however you want it, but at least you have been warned about the state of things, and when you graduate and your eyes are opened, don't say no one ever told you.
WOuld have been nice to know that there were no jobs back when I started but now I only have 1 class left so it would be stupid for me to stop now when I'm so close. Course I should be used to the no job thing as there were no jobs for my old degree either. That's the plight of the fresh grads these days: no jobs anywhere
I really hope things get better for you. I know the job market is rough in so many professions. I am currently in school and even though I read posts from time to time I won't be discouraged. It's so many aspects to nursing, I just have to trust and believe I will have an opportunity when I graduate.
If your post was made because you are discouraged, I pray you find a job and or some encouragment that you need to successfully continue your search.
If your post was intended to make other's feel bad because of their career choice, then shame on you. You will never get ahead by pushing others to the back.
It is about a year average for new grads to find jobs. But they eventually do. And then they're making 100K+ (depending on where you live) and doing what they love. If you're willing to stick with it, it will reward you. Don't let posts like this discourage you or get you down!!
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I'm in an ASN program and know at least a doxen people that have graduated within the last year and all of them have jobs, some with NO PRIOR MEDICAL EXPERIENC! It all depends on where you live and (surprise, surprise) the attitude that you bring into the interviews, and job search process.
Will you get the hours you hpoed for, or that great job at the best hospital with the best benefits? NO, and good because I wouldn't necessarily want an ER or OR or ICU staffed with all new grads if myself or my family was ther being cared for. LIke another poster mentioned: nothing worth getting or wanting comes easy. Sounds like you're already sour and burnt so good luck when you do get a job!
I don't think attitude in interviews has very much to do with why new grads in general are having so much trouble getting hired at all. In fact if you think about it, they are handling the unexpected pretty gracefully in most cases. It's kind of hard to have a spring in your step if you've gone to school to be the breadwinner for the family at great expense of time and money and find yourself staring down no job and loan payments coming due in 9 months. Somehow I am sure they pull it together enough to present a positive attitude to the interviewer.
If hospitals aren't hiring new grads Miss Congeniality herself will not be hired. It's great that all of your friends got jobs so quickly, but most are busy busting their tails taking extra classes for certifcations, flying out of state at their own expense for interviews, or moving away from friends and family to an area with greater prospects. They aren't picky about hours and benefits. They don't expect to start in ICU, although if they did I don't think you need to fear substandard care as their orientation progams are quite extensive. I feel these types of posts blame the victim unfairly.
I still wouldn't tell someone not to be a nurse, though. That is something only the individual can decide and hopefully with as much knowledge about the job and the demand for it as they can possibly get for their area.
My4Girls
17 Posts
Hi all,
I live in the NY Metropolitan area and we've never heard of new grads having as difficult a time finding work as they have had until the Fall 2008 when the banking world collapsed. It was the first time in 5 yrs that not all new grads were able to find work prior to graduation. This area is saturated with new grads looking for work. Hospitals which are trying to attain Magnet status need to have a certain percentage of nurses with a BSN. From my experience, the hospitals I've looked into won't hire a nurse with an ADN.
I just returned from attending the Advance Healthcare Job Fair in NYC today. This is what I was told by the hospital representatives so please don't shoot the messenger. When you approached a booth, they would ask if any new grads were present and then speak to you as a group. Memorial Sloan Kettering stated that they hired 100 new grads last year and that they are not hiring new grads currently. They feel very badly about the situation as did all the other major hospitals, but did encourage us to consider applying out of state in order to get the mandatory 1-2 yrs experience. They said in the past nursing has had its ups and downs where hiring was concerned, but this time due to the economy it hasn't rebounded. They said things do not look good this year nor next. In fact, they predict that the current situation will last until at least 2015 (not a typo)! I asked if they would consider it experience if someone worked in LTC (I'm guessing not really by her facial expression but she was trying to be nice.). Staffing agencies (e.g. Bayada, White Glove, and Winston Staffing) including VNS will not consider you either without 1-2 yrs of experience. Another example from today...a gentleman who was an LVN approached a recruiter from Mt. Sinai which is a Magnet facility. He asked if they hired LVNs. The man told him absolutely not. He told him that he personally hired the last LVN to ever work there and it's so long ago he had forgotten when it was.
Again, this was the reality reiterated by various major hospitals (e.g. North Shore-LIJ, Mount Sinai, Greenwich Hospital in Conn.) Many of the new grads I spoke with were very disheartened, discouraged and genuinely worried about not being able to repay their student loans. NYP (Weill and Columbia) were not in attendance. Most hospital recruiters wrote on top of resume "New Grad." They encouraged you of course to apply online, but you know what happens when you receive thousands of applications via email. In all fairness though, they were very sensitive to the plight of new grads and treated us with kindness while lowering the reality boom.
Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to move since my husband has his own business here. I graduated in Dec. 2009 with a BSN (3.87 GPA) and have heard most of my graduating class (150+) have not found work yet. When the economy took a turn for the worse, I was already in my 3rd year. I would have needed a crystal ball to have predicted this outcome. Good luck to all and I hope this post has shed some light on the job search in this area.