RN 2 Degrees Cannot get hired...ANYWHERE. I am willing to relocate even!

[itsmeRNkt]

I don't know if I may be a unique case or not but here's a bit of background:

I am from California and wanted to get into nursing shortly after I graduated with my BA in Anthropology and finished my nursing pre-reqs. So I figured I'd move to another state and enjoy it for a couple years while I got my BSN. I ended up in South Florida, finished nursing school, took my boards for Cali and then transferred them to Florida. So I now have my license in two states. I lived with my boyfriend there for a while and worked very briefly at an addiction treatment center but things got bad and I needed my family. I had to return home and thought with all of my connections in California that I would get a job right away. Boy was I wrong! I accepted a job at a home health agency and feel that I am a glorified babysitter!

I have applied to over 300 hospitals, clinics, you name it and got ONE interview. The person that was hired, I later found out, had experience in that particular company and had been a tech. How was I to compete with that? I have tried networking and have met a couple nurses that were able to get my contact info but they are not hiring. I volunteer at my local hospital once a week and try to remain positive when people find out I am an RN and ask "so WHY are YOU volunteering?" (I actually really enjoy it, but lets be honest, volunteering does not pay the bills.)

Am I just a day late and a dollar short? I know I probably should have never left Florida since I'm now willing to go even farther for a job, but for myself at the time that is what I needed to do.

I have even contacted old classmates that I am still friends with and they tell me their hospitals are not hiring either.

I am an intelligent, motivated, young individual with 2 Bachelor Degrees and I cannot even get an interview!

I found the thread where the woman that got a job gave a detailed explanation of how to utilize your resources and e-mail nurse managers (aka "stalk") etc,. and I did that. Most of them just wonder where and how I got their contact information.

My mom recommends that I should just get a regular job and keep the home health on the side until something turns up. She doesn't believe that I cannot find a job even though I have applied ALL over the united states. She knows I'm looking but I think she's skeptical at times.

I am losing hope fast and know that's the worst thing a new nurse, or anyone who is job hunting, can do. I feel worthless and that I have wasted years and money. This is so much different from being in school where I could study hard and get the good grades. This is all out of my hands now (to a certain extent) and it is the worst feeling.

Aside from banging on the doors of the nurse managers' homes, I am at a loss. The longer I am not in acute care the less marketable I feel I'll be. I feel like that puppy that was never bought .

Anyone who has any insight or suggestions after ALL of this, I would really appreciate them! AND if you managed to read this far, thank you. I know there are many people and nurse managers who feel bad for us new grads that were promised a plethora of options right out of the gate, and for that I thank you for your compassion.

Lets hope this passes quick and my moral will return!

[Inori, BSN, RN]

keep applying for work, go volunteer, excercise, and believe in yourself you are a vaulable person and its not you its the econony. Stay positive, smile and shoulder on. Every day write down and repeat to self. I am a nurse, I went into nursing because __ and __. I have strong poitns in __ and __. I can help you. and SMILE. You're brain washing youself until true or not you believe it so will everyone else.