New Grad= No jobs?

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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I completed an associate of science in nursing program at a private school in march. Since then I have received my registered nursing license in the state of massachusetts. Im starting to see a lot about how associate nurses aren't wanted and especially new graduates. Is this true? I was told by my instructors that I'm marketable because i have been an EMT for four years where i worked on city and town emergency ambulances, I was president of the student nurse association and i also volunteer at a local hospital. I have put out over 30 applications all over massachusetts for various hospitals and departments. Do I have a chance?, Any associate nurses who had good luck? Anyone who can give me an idea on how long it may be for me to land my first job?

Any advice will help

Thank You!

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

It's not just you as an ASN, it's all of nursing. Your area is saturated with RNs and you need work experience to shine

To be blatant, your first job is likely not going to be found in a hospital.

Good luck.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I'm an LPN and work in a hospital. But I had to spend my first year of nursing in a prison setting.

If I, an LPN, can land a hospital job after just one year's experience; then by George, you definitely can as an RN with one year.

Stay away from LTC. Try a rehab, SNF, or LTACH. Work in a non hospital environment that most closely mimics your dream setting. For me that was the prison. All the Chest pains, diabetics, seizures, and trauma that happens there is awesome experience to prep for the ED, thus why I believe I am now an ER nurse, despite being a "non-RN"

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Specializes in NICU.

I am an ADN and I put out hundreds of applications. I moved across the country to Texas. I was told the job opportunity sucked in Texas, but I just wanted to see another part of the country (I am NOT a fan of Texas). I passed boards last June 4th. Moved to Texas June 26th, and got a job June 27th. I was very lucky. There are people that have been nurses for over a year that got their first nursing job when I got mine. Some of them were BSN's too. I was a phlebotomist for 7.5 years before becoming a nurse so I think that helped me. Your EMT experience will hopefully help you too. I started out in a Hospital setting right away. Not on a unit I liked, but it was experience. I was able to transfer to a different hospital and unit 8 months into my career. I am now in the NICU and I love it!

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Specializes in School nursing.

The MA market for new nurses is tough! I'm in MA myself; I'm doing a direct-entry program and got my RN late January and while I will have a MSN at the end, my program doesn't award me a BSN (long story).

I'm odd though - I never had a strong interest in working in a hospital setting. But that being said I applied everywhere, 50+ applications. Through a connection (my non-medical husband, interestingly) I landed a substitute school nurse job and worked almost full time for a month covering a nurse on leave. Loved it. Switched up my strategy and added more LTC, psych, and school nursing jobs to my application pile. Three months in, I got three interviews in row: 1 for LTC, 1 for a psych hospital, and 1 for a full time school position. I got and accepted the school nurse job and love it; I have previous academic administrative experience and I think it helped.

That being said, I do have a few friends in the same boat that did land hospital jobs. One applied for and got a position in a new grad position about 40 minutes east of the city (her aunt is a nurse and let her know about opportunity), and another applied for and got a night-shift position about 40 minutes south of the city. Others in my class also got licensed in RI (which is part of a consortium of 22 states) and got LTC and acute-rehab (which can be a good place to fine tune hospital skills) positions there with no connections.

Your EMT experience is great and needs to be highlighted! Another student got an ER job as a new grad in a hospital outside the city that he worked with for 5+ years as an EMT. Don't give up even though it is very easy to get discouraged in our over saturated market!

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I have put in a few different applications for a rehab hospital that specializes in orthopedic, amputation and spinal cord injuries in the boston area (i dont want to mention the facility). My ultimate goal is to be in labor and delivery, in my last quarter of school i did a three month internship with on an L&D unit in a hospital that specializes in high risk pregnancies and i absolutely loved it! I understand though that there is an extremely small chance that i will receive a position in that because the majority of those units want 1-5 years in med/surg. So i have only done a couple L&D apps. I have been focusing on med/surg floors, PACU and ER's.

I went to school in RI and the hospital i volunteer at is in RI and im still living here (but massachusetts is where im from and i want to get back there) but I know their two largest hospitals currently have a hiring freeze!! And my classmates are having a very very tough time even finding applications to fill out

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My facility is in need for RNs. They hired new grad - as long as you have a great attitude. Newport beach area please inbox me if you are interested.

B-

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