Reality Check for Nursing Hopefuls

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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.

Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

I am 18 and have my mind set on nothing other than nursing. I really want to be a nurse, so much that I can't even explain. I can't let a little situations stop me from doing what I want to do. I just have to be smart in my choices and get to networking. I am glad I already work in a hospital as a CNA, though! It's like that old quote says "when the going get's tough, the tough get going". I feel taht endurance and persistence is going to play a big role in many new grad nurses, or anyone else for that matter, landing a job. Keeping pressing forward guys we can overcome these troublesome times!

I am a new grad (2 yr) and I am back in school to get the BSN. Through contacts, I have a job in an outpatient surgery center. It is not impossible to get a job. Some fellow classmates got a job as a CNA at the hospital they wanted to work in while going to nursing school. That got them an in as soon as they passed the boards. The hospitals here say a BSN if you come in from the outside. It is tough, but it is just as tough in other fields for new grads. I think the important issue is the nurse/patient ratio, patient safety and nurse burn-out from.

True, the job market isn't so hot right now but it shouldn't discourage the younger generation from pursuing their dreams, in whatever field they want, in this case nursing. I am of the "younger generation" and I am not letting the bad job market and economy deter me from my dream. If I have to, I will deal with the extended unemployment. By the time I graduate the job market will hopefully be better off :)

True, the job market isn't so hot right now but it shouldn't discourage the younger generation from pursuing their dreams, in whatever field they want, in this case nursing. I am of the "younger generation" and I am not letting the bad job market and economy deter me from my dream. If I have to, I will deal with the extended unemployment. By the time I graduate the job market will hopefully be better off :)

Just dont go to a for-profit school thinking its ok to rack up a huge debt because you will get a job after you graduate. I have no issue with people making informed decisions (afterall thats how I came to choose nursing), but understand that the market is just going to get more saturated with "New Grads" as time goes on. Schools are graduating record numbers of nursing students and there are still tons of qualified nursing hopefuls that get turned away from schools each year (in CA there were 2 qualified students turned away for every 1 admitted, and the schools there are running over maximum capacity).

I have wanted to post on this topic for a little while. I will apologize up front for the length.

While I LOVE coming to this board and reading all of the awesome things that people are up to and how inspirational most stories are.. sometimes I come across threads like this.

If your OP was a vent.. cool.. if it was meant to really, and truly discourage people from the nursing profession.. shame..

Yes, the economy is horrible. Yes it is not "bouncing" back like everyone thought it would. Yes, the schools are competitive and are turning away "qualified" students. Yes the school is hard to get through. Yes, there are not 10k bonuses flying around for new grads. Yes it may take you awhile to find the job you want. Yes, people are entitled to whatever opinion they may have.

I for one have wanted to be a nurse for a VERY long time. In my case, I started school 20 years ago and life got in the way. I raised my family and my husbands siblings and now I am finally able to go back to school and finish what I started.

For those of us who want to be a nurse regardless of the economy or the stories of how horrible nursing can be...

Keep on going to school. Keep on taking your classes. Keep volunteering. Keep taking care of your patients. Keep talking to others here and in your communities. Keep after your dream.

If you really want it.. you will find a job. Keep at it. Keep moving FORWARD, even if sometimes you have to put one foot in front of the other. Just keep moving and know that at some point, the economy WILL improve, jobs will be there, health care will change again, and boomers will retire.

For all of you new grads that cannot find jobs. I am truly sorry. I truly send good wishes to you and for you all to keep up your search, do what you can and keep getting educated if possible. Don't give up!!!

Whew.. Thanks.. off my soap box now... I feel a little better now..

This reminds me of an article I read in the New York Times about how the market is being saturated with law school graduates - just because a law school exists, or that it accepts you and your money, or that it gives you a degree - none of that means that you will be able to find a job as a lawyer.

Now, while it is true that we might not necessarily need more lawyers anyway, it is true that we will need more nurses - it's just that hospitals and clinics can't necessarily afford to hire more now.

Just think, at least you're not a law student!

This reminds me of an article I read in the New York Times about how the market is being saturated with law school graduates - just because a law school exists, or that it accepts you and your money, or that it gives you a degree - none of that means that you will be able to find a job as a lawyer.

Now, while it is true that we might not necessarily need more lawyers anyway, it is true that we will need more nurses - it's just that hospitals and clinics can't necessarily afford to hire more now.

Just think, at least you're not a law student!

Kind of off topic, but I'm engaged to an attorney - graduated 2 years ago and he's had 3 good job offers in the last few years and works at a great firm now. Just goes to show the same thing is true for lawyers and every other field, if you work hard, you have talent and are willing to send a lot of resumes, there are jobs out there.

If you want a job you have got to fight for it! Keep looking, keep applying keep fighting!! They are there!!!

Why should you have to fight for a job in a healing profession?

Specializes in Pediatrics, Step-Down.

TO ALL NURSING HOPEFULS: I will be graduating in a month with my BSN and, while the economy is pretty awful right now, I will never consider changing my profession. I consider nursing to be one of the best and most fulfilling careers a person can have. In nursing school you will get to witness the beginning of life and the end of it, you will get to be a part of peoples lives in a way that most people never get to experience, and you will leave nursing school knowing that you will spend the rest of your life doing something you love. There is a reason people are willing to give up their nights, weekends, and holidays for this career. So if the economy is still bad when you get out of nursing school, keep trying and don't let yourself get down (apply early to residency programs, ask your clinical instructors for recommendations well before applying, and let your love for nursing guide your interviews). Don't let anyone discourage you from nursing, it's definitely worth the wait.

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