RNs tell your hospitals to hire new grads

[DedHedRN]

There are so many unemployed new grads out there that pretty soon we are going to be willing to work for minimum wage if things don't change soon. I bet hospitals would be willing to hire lots and lots of us at that price. That might even translate to loss of jobs and decreased wages for those experienced nurses already employed.

You might want to encourage your hospital to give new grads a chance instead of requiring experience for every job posting they have. Maybe be a little more enthusiastic about helping to train them.

Anyways, its worth thinking about.

[nohika]

If I had to choose between working as a nurse for minimum wage and working at Walmart...I'd choose Walmart. Far less stress and responsibility.

[Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Yes it costs a fair bit of $$$$ to properly train a new nurse, and then what happens?/ Some leave to find another job!! I know a few new nurses that did that to their employer, so I can't blame a hospital to hire already trained staff!! I have been told on my unit that the director won't hire new grads--would be nice if she just hired someone,lol

[mazy]

Wow. Kind of a threatening tone to that post. So the lack of Nursing Jobs is the fault of experienced nurses who won't step aside for new grads? Now on top of everything nurses have to do to advocate for their patients and to advocate for themselves they now have to advocate for new grads who feel that a degree entitles them to a job?

Because if you think that any nurse has any impact at all on what administrators do then you are missing the very first learning experience of the job: once you get out there and start working you are going to have to give up any notion that you have a right to anything in terms of what happens to you in your professional life.

It will be a fight to overcome one obstacle after another from here on in, and from the tone of the post it sounds like you are not yet up to that struggle. So I don't see why any experienced nurse, who has fought to get where they are, should just step aside so that you don't push them out of work because you'll work for less.

Ya get what ya pay for in this life, so less, I think in this case, would be less.

[noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP]

If I could work for minimum wage at wal-mart, or doing what I spent many years training to do, what do you think I will choose?

As for it costing X amount of dollars to train a new grad nurse, if they were working for minimum wage, that figure would shrink considerably.

Was I not clear in my original post? The point was, if new grads are increasing every year exponentially, and they are not being employed, they will be induced to work for less, perhaps even minimum wage. That in itself will cause more experienced nurses to lose employment, because as we all know the mighty dollar is king. Hospitals will see the benefit of hiring people for less and will let nurses go who demand more.

So, to avoid all this unpleasantness, it would behoove experienced nurses to look out for their jobs and wages now by encouraging hospitals to hire new grad nurses, before it gets to that state of things.

Thanks for clarifying IsisC. I understand what you are saying but I really don't think hospitals will fire experienced nurses and replace them with cheap new grads to the extreme you are predicting because that would lead to a lot of patient deaths and ultimately lawsuits and financial troubles for the hospitals. A new grad getting paid minimum wage isn't a better value than an experienced nurse who gets paid more because experienced nurses know a lot more and can provide better/safer care.

Also, some hospitals are hiring new grads at this time. If relocating is an option for you, you might want to give it a shot. I sincerely hope for you to find a nursing job soon.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

In theory, it might seem like a good idea to hire new grads for minimum wage to get them working. However, for facilities which have a union, this will never be allowed. I also think for the nursing profession in general, this is not a positive move in the right direction. I spoke to a friend the other day. Last year's graduating class is still currently unemployed or underemployed. Until the economy improves, the schools should limit the number of applicants. But, of course, schools won't do that, since they are also in the business of making a profit.

[DC2RN]

If I could talk to administration, I would advocate for the 700 existing jobs that they are talking about cutting. It's rough out there, kids!

[shhhh]

As long as the nurses at hospitals continue to be members of their state's nursing union (and that's majority) then what you're threatening won't ever happen. Wages and benefits are under contract that is agreed upon between the hospital and the union, and will not drop down a ridiculous amount unless the negotiation committee (who are nurses employed there) allows it. And if they are lackadaisical, they will have to answer to all the other nurses who work there. I think we might see a future where employers will freeze wages for a while, but that will be the case with every job in the US, not just nursing. Sorry to tell you this, but there's about 3 million nurses working in the US, but that many people won't stand for minimum wage after making $30+ an hour for years, and there's not enough unemployed new nurses and foreign nurses to cover for all of them. There's also an highly advanced skill set required in OR, ICU, ED, Endo, Cath lab, etc., and a hospital will not set itself up for catastrophe by allowing their experienced critical care nurses to go elsewhere and hire nothing but new grads for minimum wage in these highly specialized areas. Hospitals will retain their experienced nurses at the wages we are earning because there's no one else who can do the job.

It's pretty presumputous for you to assume that staff nurses have a direct say in who their managers hire and that job postings state that experience is required, and it's VERY presumptuous of you to assume that every nurse out there is a Nurse Ratched who won't help train new grads. There ARE new grads being hired out there. We recently hired four new grads into our hospitals ICU internship program, and they're successful and working well amongst everyone. I assume we're treating them respectfully. I know quite a few new grads who have had to move to different cities to get a job, but they are working. Some new grads work in rehab facilites and long term care before they have enough experience to move onto a hospital. You seem pretty angry and bitter about your situation, and I would feel the same way if I was in your place, but you're not getting anywhere on this board. The best advice I can offer to you is to be proactive and get your BSN if you don't have it, find volunteering opportunites to help increase your experience, and to lower your standards and work in a long term care center (from reading your two posts in this thread, you made no mention of long term care or rehab, and wish to only work at a hospital).

[WittyUsername]

The problem is hospitals live in the moment, meaning the current fiscal year. Over the next decade, there WILL be a huge increase of older Americans needing care. Schools graduate nurses and then wash their hands of them, hospitals are reluctant to take on the burden of spending months training new grads.

The key to solving this will be internship/residency programs. Collaboration between local school and hospitals to establish these program will be beneficial for both parties.

[hnt1987]

Old nurses seem to forget that they once were new grad back in the old days. And, they had to look for a job just like today new grad, so you guys have to support us, btw the degree is not free, u know!

Walmart is not justify for all the times and hard work we dedicate to the nursing school.

[backatit2]

Old nurses seem to forget that they once were new grad back in the old days. And, they had to look for a job just like today new grad, so you guys have to support us, btw the degree is not free, u know!

Walmart is not justify for all the times and hard work we dedicate to the nursing school.

you're right - it doesn't, but neither does being unemployed.

you have every right to be angry, depressed, bitter - all of those things that i was (and still am a little bit) but eventually you have to ACCEPT the situation (hey, it's much like the grieving process - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) and then DO something about it. doing something about it might mean moving, getting more education, or in my case - getting a degree in another field all together.

being upset about it is getting you (and i) nowhere.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Old nurses seem to forget that they once were new grad back in the old days. And, they had to look for a job just like today new grad, so you guys have to support us, btw the degree is not free, u know!

Walmart is not justify for all the times and hard work we dedicate to the nursing school.

We looked for jobs, and no one "supported us." What do you mean, "Old nurses..."?

You're really 61 years old?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Let's not forget that these things seem to run in cycles- first a shortage and then over saturation of nurse vs jobs. Yes, right now it is hard for new grads to get jobs, but that won't always be the case. However, life doesn't owe anyone anything. Just because you have the degree doesn't guarantee that you will have a job, and it certainly isn't just nurses that this is happening to. What have you done to help yourself? Have you looked into jobs other than the hospital setting? Have you looked at relocating to an area that is in need of more nurses? Personally, I enjoy orienting new grads but after seeing 90% of those who go through orientation at my OR either not be able to handle the job (which should have been figured out long before the 9 month orientation ended) or leave for another facility that offered higher pay but no positions for no experience, I don't feel that I owe anything to a new grad.