RN jobs for a new graduate

[Sabrina1]

I graduated from a nursing school of a community college last May. After graduation I spent a couple of months to prepare for NCLEX test and I finally got a state RN license in July. I travelled to Europe for a couple of months to visit my family. After I came back to the US, I responded to many ads hiring RN's. Most of hospitals hiring prefer experienced nurses. Some local hospitals advertize they welcome new graduates, so I applied for. Still I can't get a job! It's been almost two months since I tried to find a job and five months since I graduated. I am frustrated!

When I entered nursing school, hospitals paid $10,000 to $30,000 sign-on bonuses. Now I can't see such bonuses anywhere and they don't hire new graduates! I have all the qualifications and foreign language skills. There are many evacuees from Louisiana in my area and the local hospitals definately are interested in hiring experienced nurses from Louisiana. One hospital had a special job fair recently for that special purpose.

I spent a lot of time, money and efforts for more than three year and half to become a registered nurse. I have heard about the nurse shortages all the time. But hospitals seem to hire only experienced nurses. If they hire only experienced nurses, where should the new graduates go? Where did the experienced nurses get experience from the first place? The hospitals may prefer to import experienced nurses from the Phillippines or India. Why do they not want to hire and train new graduates from the U.S.A.? Are they lazy? Do they not have any long-term plan for recruitment?

I am very angered because I feel I wasted too much time and money and all my young life for nothing. What should I do? Should I go to the Phillippines and to start RN jobs there because nobody wants to hire me in the US?

[suzanne4, RN]

Take a deep breath.:)

The biggest issue is that many new grad programs begin in Janaury and July. That is when most facilities do their hiring or just before. You still need to have a complete orientation and not all hospitals start these all of the time for new grads.

Perhaps you need to check out another location to find what you want. And you stated that the hospitals in your area are hiring nurses that came from Louisiana, etc. and with experience.

Hospitals operate as a business, the more time that they spend training you, the money has to come from somewhere. If you were the owner of the hospital, what would you do? You have a choice of hiring a new grad with no experience, or an RN who already has experience...........and a proven track record. There is a cost of approximately $10,000 for every new nurse that is hired, in terms of training, etc. Nurse educators need to be paid, as well as your eventual preceptor, and your salary.

And how are you marketing yourself? What are you able to offer to the facility that hires you? Try thinking of it in those terms...............