RNs tell your hospitals to hire new grads

Nurses Job Hunt

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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.

Well, I personally think that volunteer work is more about character than experience. I'd hire a new grad who spent a few weekends over 6 months working with Remote Area Medical over someone with 2-3 years experience for instance. Character still counts for something in my book. I'm not in HR or any longer in a role to have any decision making influence, however.

well, i personally think there's more to consider. i'd hire someone who had 2-3 years experience because they had to pay off student loans and/or support a family and would've been foolish to turn down the job that gave them 2-3 years experience over someone who did volunteer work because their parents paid for everything and they had no job opportunities and no bills to pay anyway.

seriously, even if i couldn't get a job in my field (like i haven't) i'd still have to work SOMEWHERE even if it was making minimum wage (like i'm doing) because i have a family that would be pretty ****** if they were starving while i was doing volunteer work.

Hey everyone,

I am a new graduate RN and I about choked on my grape from laughing at the survivor comment. Haha. If "survivor style" was the way to secure my chance at finally caring for patients you better believe I would sign up for that in a heartbeat! I too am facing challenges in my Job Search but know that it is only making me more resilient and stronger in the long run. (I do not believe that I am automatically entitled to a position post licensure, but I sure would like the opportunity to begin my nursing career and I am working hard towards it.)

My question to the currently employed RNs:

When I finally do secure a position and I work alongside you, what do you want to see? I cannot wait to start caring for my patients, building relationships with my team (you), and get going in my nursing career. I want to make sure that I hit the ground running and have the support of my fellow seasoned RNs along the way. After all, we are all in it together. Happy team=Happy patients, right?

Have a wonderful day,

InTime.:redbeathe

I'm so tired of everyone acting like this situation is unique to nursing. EVERYONE is having a hard time finding a job without experience. This is across the board, not just nursing, not just healthcare. You think you can find a better career with a different degree and an equal lack of experience? Good luck.

Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

Agreed, no one is obligated to "ask" their facilities to hire new graduates. Currently, my hospitals has NO open positions, we are overstaffed and nurses average getting called off once every couple weeks.

This is a rough economy for everyone, regardless of your profession. There is no recession proof job. And while the overabundance of nurses could drive wages down, it's not strictly because of unemployed new grads, there is plenty of experienced nurses not finding work as well.

Specializes in geriatrics.

Just to throw this out there...I have a friend with 13 years of hotel mgmt experience. Before the economy tanked, she had multiple offers within weeks of a Job Search. This time, it took her 4 months to find a job. I've been through this before myself. Almost 20 years ago, the economy tanked. And it took me almost a year to find a job in my field back then. This is not new. If you want a nursing job, they are there, however slim. It means that you have more competition, and you might need to move. Or take that nursing job you don't want. Many many others here had to do the same, at one time.

Specializes in Peds, Psych, Medical Home Case Manager.

Hospital management will do what is best for the hospital, and not what staff nurses think is best (for the most part).

The "market" will take care of either a shortage or surplus of nurses. The nursing field is one giant see-saw as far as that goes. There's a shortage, leading to nursing schools increasing capacity or new ones popping up, and then when there is a surplus, you find them scaling back on the number of students or closing their programs.

Not to sound harsh, but completing nursing school and passing boards does not entitle one to have a job. That's a cold hard fact.

Speaking from experience, I started out as a teacher. When I graduated, I worked my butt off trying to find a job, but couldn't find a decent one; there were hardly any in my geographical area, and some that were much lower paying in other parts of the country. I did teach briefly, but it was more like a baby sitting job with low pay, as well as being in an undesireable area. I chose to come back home and work in a psych hospital full time will going back to be a RN.

I've been through several "cutbacks" and layoffs since I started out in the nursing field, and now am in a field of nursing that seems to have a lot of job security (as much as one could expect, although nothing is truly secure).

My advice is to hang in there, take any nursing job to get experience (even if it's in a SNF or with a home care agency), and keep plugging away at getting your foot in the door of the facility you wish to work in. Good luck.

Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
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.

Nursing has always been up and down. I was very close to being unemployed as an LPN. Hence going back to school. My hospital does hire new grads. As a matter of fact, we have eight interviews coming up.

As for having a pay decrease? We are union.

This is my opinion on this situation...

I agree that new nurses are being rapidly processed. But, at the same time, how many of those new nurses are actually skilled in the field? I have been around some newer nurses that make me wonder how they even passed the NCLEX.

I know the job market is rough right now. And I know I am just a nursing student so I dont know what it is like to be job hunting. But, everyone has a shot at getting hired. Regardless on being a seasoned nurse or a new nurse. You have to show them what you've got.

Plus, being positive never hurt.:D

Im sorry if I might of restated something that was already said, I got half way through the posts and felt the need to throw my 2 cents out there. I'm still a newbie at posting.

Specializes in OB.

How many of you unemployed new grads have gone to the extreme of applying in remote underserved areas (Alaska or one of the reservations for example) or the military to have a job?

If you are not willing to uproot, change your lifestyle, go to a less desirable location you are not truly desperate.

I did that early in my nursing career to gain the type of training I wanted (as a single parent, far from family) and have been able to continue working as a traveler throughout this downturn precisely because of willingness to go wherever the jobs may be.

Harsh words, yes, but think it over.

Specializes in LTC.

I had the older nurses and the unit manager pushing to get me hired as a new grad, but the people who hang out at in the offices far away from the actual hospital units weren't willing to invest in a associates degree new RN.

So I went and got a job at a TCU. I've learned a lot, gotten to brush up on some skills, and have learned how to juggle 27 sub-acute/rehab patients.

Now I am counting down until my year of experience.

And I absolutely refuse to work for minimum wage as an RN. I understand that as a new grad I will be making less than seasoned RNs, but I refuse to take on the responsibility of an RN and make $7/hr.

Specializes in ER/ICU/STICU.
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.

Yeah that's a great concept have a hospital with nothing but new grads. There is a reason why hospitals aren't just replacing everyone when supply is greater than demand. The cost to train a new grad is substantial and I would think it could create a huge liability for the hospital. The job market is tough and this is not the only profession where new grads can't find a job. The job market is tough in today's economy PERIOD.

How many of you unemployed new grads have gone to the extreme of applying in remote underserved areas (Alaska or one of the reservations for example) or the military to have a job?

If you are not willing to uproot, change your lifestyle, go to a less desirable location you are not truly desperate.

I did that early in my nursing career to gain the type of training I wanted (as a single parent, far from family) and have been able to continue working as a traveler throughout this downturn precisely because of willingness to go wherever the jobs may be.

Harsh words, yes, but think it over.

How can one relocate if I dont have a job to pay for a relocation? I'd love to join the military but you'd be surprised on the disqualifying factors.

The nursing shortage doesn't exist.

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