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.

[bagladyrn, RN]

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.

Federal Gov. Nursing Jobs pay for relocation.

[bagladyrn, RN]

First, military nursing requires a BSN from an appropriately accredited school (or an RN and a bachelors degree in something else). These folks are less likely to be desperate for employment.

Second, military nursing has a TON of requirements that not everyone meets (including a maximum age for entry of 35).

Third, some branches of the military are competitive for nursing spots right now due to overstaffing.

You know, I am not an unemployed new grad, but a lot of people are either unable to uproot (eg employed spouse), unable to serve in the uniformed services, or view moving to the end of nowwhere as less desirable than working at Walmart. For those whom radical relocation or serving in the military is an option, good on them if they choose it.

I can say that if my only choices to get a job as an RN were to move to a Native American reservation in Nevada, Pt. Barrow Alaska, or go to Iraq in uniform for 4 years, then I'd take a job in a different profession because those things aren't for me MORE than being an RN is for me. Everyone has their own priorities. If a giant flashing sign was placed in front of all RN schools stating that getting a job required moving to the Louisiana swamps or the mountains of Afghanistan, I think there would no longer be an overabundance of applicants.

As I said, then these persons are not "desperate".

[backatit2]

I would never, ever allow myself or a loved one to set foot in a hospital which paid their nurses minimum wage... and this was true even before I graduated from nursing school 18 months ago.

Minimum wage workers rarely value what they're doing. I don't care too much if they get my order wrong or overcook my burger... that can be easily fixed. Injuring somebody due to a careless error, however, is not so easily remedied.

The problem here is with the schools who are pumping out so many unneeded nurses and with the new grads themselves who foolishly jumped into a program believing all the obviously false "nursing shortage" crap.

CNA's are paid minimum wage at hospitals all day long. i say all the time how crazy it is that someone taking care of ill/hurt people makes less than someone starting out at mcdonald's. it's insane.

[Jenni811, RN]

Okay- i'm a new grad, and i have to say that i TOTALLY agree with the experienced RN's. Here is why...The hospital is a business. They are in this for money, they don't care about "giving you experience" it is up to us to set ourselves apart from the experienced nurses. I was ONE of the new grads to get a job interview out of many experienced nurses. How did i get that interview?? Because i had something that those experienced nurses didnt have. What did they have on top of me? Experience.

But its about making myself stand out.

Every new grad has one thing in common: a degree! we ALL have that. So What do i need to do to make me stand out from the other new grads??

...i volunteered for 3 different agencies. I coached special olympics in soccer, I got certified as a dementia care specialist, i applied and got an internship, i worked as CNA on a hospital, my senior year i tutored junior level nursing students. All of this while i was in nursing school. This is what made me stand out. And i'll tell you this....it has been working for me!!!

i busted my butt in school, as well as busted my butt to make my resume look good and worth looking at.

The only thing that really makes me kind of upset is, looking at some of the nurses that are still hired. I can think of 5 that work on my floor that SHOULD NOT BE THERE! Yes, they are very experienced. but 4/5 are very very overweight, very lazy, very old (they have grandchildren in nursing school). It's to the point where anytime a patient has to be turned (we turn our patients every 2 hours), they CANNOT do it. So who ends up doing their physical work and labor? ...the new grads? Why??? because we are young and are able to do it.

i often here these nurses "Oh i can't walk this patient. I have a bad back and need to take my pills. I have to go sit down for a while and rest" ok..totally understandable you have a bad back-- but its not fair to the patients. Not saying these people shouldnt be nurses, just saying that they should be nurses somewhere else where they can do the work. WHen i got tested for my job, i had to show them that i could lift 50 lbs. I want them to test these nurses for lifting 50 lbs, because its clearly one of the requirments that they cannot fullfill.

[Jenni811, RN]

Also...

I'm sick of hearing new grads saying "there isnt anything out there. No one wants to hire new grads" well MAKE them hire new grads. Don't just get a degree. I still apply for jobs even though it says experience required, and i've gotten 2 interviews both of them "required experience" but heck...my application stood out enough for them to atleast look at me and give me an interview, and that is all i ask.

If an experienced RN gets a job over me, than thats fine...its their business and they are in it to make money. Clearly i'm going to cost more to train, but its up to me to find that job that will be willing to put that money towrads training me.

As far as minimum wage goes, i refuse to accept anything around that. It isnt fair and i would not work for minimum wage. I would continue looking for someone who would give me a chance.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

CNA's are paid minimum wage at hospitals all day long. i say all the time how crazy it is that someone taking care of ill/hurt people makes less than someone starting out at mcdonald's. it's insane.

Cna's are not responsible for meds, IV's, lab values and critical thinking.

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

The only thing that really makes me kind of upset is, looking at some of the nurses that are still hired. I can think of 5 that work on my floor that SHOULD NOT BE THERE! Yes, they are very experienced. but 4/5 are very very overweight, very lazy, very old (they have grandchildren in nursing school). It's to the point where anytime a patient has to be turned (we turn our patients every 2 hours), they CANNOT do it. So who ends up doing their physical work and labor? ...the new grads? Why??? because we are young and are able to do it.

i often here these nurses "Oh i can't walk this patient. I have a bad back and need to take my pills. I have to go sit down for a while and rest" ok..totally understandable you have a bad back-- but its not fair to the patients. Not saying these people shouldnt be nurses, just saying that they should be nurses somewhere else where they can do the work. WHen i got tested for my job, i had to show them that i could lift 50 lbs. I want them to test these nurses for lifting 50 lbs, because its clearly one of the requirments that they cannot fullfill.

Oh boy, the monkey poo is really going to start flying now.

[KyPinkRN]

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.

Ask around, there are a lot of older nurses out there who had just as hard a time finding a job as some of the new grads now. I had instructors who graduated in the 80's who said they were lucky to find a job. While nursing is a very versatile degree to have, they don't hand out jobs with your diploma like everybody seems to think. The thing to think about is setting yourself above other new grads (competing) for the few jobs that are out there now.

[DNS on the go]

Let me start by saying that you can not tell your hospital what to do. This statement or request, shows you have no awareness of the world.

Hospitals are businesses. They are there to make money not to train you or to give you a job. Hospitals, nursing homes etc do what is in their best interest...not yours. If they need nurses in order to make money, they will do what it takes (which includes training new inexperienced nurses).

Today, their is a glut of nurses. Adding to the problem is the fact that nursing school (AAS or BSN) do not prepare you to work as a functioning bedside nurse but rather teach you some basic theory and a few basic clincial skills. It is the employers job to do the real work-train you to function as a bedside nurse.

Unlike doctors who leave medical school not ready to practice but to enter a residency (which is a formal and government supported training via graduate medical education fund), nurse are left to the market place. A market place that is brutal and only getting worse.

In another time, a hospital would have borne the cost of training you and hope you did not bolt after a few months. Hospitals did this not to be nice, but because it was in their best business interest.

Today, as you know, the world is different. Nurses are an expense that is not billable to the patient or their insurance. The cost of nursing is bundled into the daily bed fee. While many nurses have theorized how to bill out nursing services, the reality is that nursing, like therapist are pharmacists are non billable services.

The profession of nursing needs to develop a model of education that incorporates both the academic training with a formal residnecy. As to who will pay the cost of the residency, that is the question. Adding to this is the fact the unions are their to protect their members so anything that challenges the union members pay will be aggressively blocked.

I would tell you to look towards LTC or Home Health but those areas are saturated as well.

I would also tell you to wait this out but that is not pratical. The problems is health care are not being addressed with more money but rather being exacerbated by the budget cuts at the state and federal level. Employment is not going to expand but rather stay the same (shrink???) with technology and other advances helping deal with patient flow and needs.

Please do not believe the hype that the aging population will require more nurses. The health care system will address the patient's needs in a cost sensistive manner. Obama-care and state funding challenges will be directing the health care system not rosey forecasts based upon obvious demographic data that are recited as gospel.

Please take with a grain of salt the advise to go back to school for a BSN or other degree. Their are many BSN's out of work. The key is not education but getting real paid work experience.

For those in nursing, the future is not going to be like the past. Wage increases are going to be less and the cost of benefits will take more out of our pay. The peeks will have will be reduced/eliminated as budget cuts keep coming. Adding to this, experienced nurses are also having a tough time in the job market. Working in healthcare is becoming less forgiving. If you were fired, you could go get a job, now black marks are following nurses and preventing them from working.

If you want to make a go of nursing , start by giving up your false beliefs about what nursing is. Nurses are shift workers who are expected to be flexible and get the work given to them done. If you have applied to the hospitals and have not gotten a call, try HH or a nursing home. Be prepared to work nights, weekends, holidays etc. Expect to be on call and to come to work at a moments notice. The more you give, the chance of getting a nursing job goes up. The reality is nurses have little leaverage and as a new inexperienced nurse you have no leaverage. You must take what you get. This is hard to hear but I am telling you the reality of nursing today.

Please do not believe the fiction of a nursing shortage or that you are in the drivers seat with yor RN license. Today, many professionals that are highly educated and trained are out of work. Lawyers (both new and experienced), Ph.D's, business professionals, etc are out of work. Too much drama about nursing has been circulating with reality much different from what you were told. As a nursing student, your head was filled with all this drama about how many jobs are out there, that you are indispensable etc. Guess what it was all a hoax.

I am ending this as I began. The fact that you are asking us to tell hospitals to hire new graduates shows that you have a serious disassociation from reality. Please think about what you want to do and be. If nursing is it, please be prepared to move to a new region, work under almost unbearable conditions, give up your ability to plan your life for the "coveted prize" of being a bed side nurse.

My advise is cut your loses and move on to something else.

[Music in My Heart]

I'm a new grad...

The only thing that really makes me kind of upset is, looking at some of the nurses that are still hired. I can think of 5 that work on my floor that SHOULD NOT BE THERE! (They are:)

• very overweight
  
• very old.

Question for you... how old is too old; how fat is too fat?

I think I see your point regarding "able to do the job" but that's an individual thing, not based on someone's perception of "too old" or "too fat."

I've known and still know several nurses who are "old" or "fat" or "old and fat" who I'd still choose over someone young and/or inexperienced.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Okay- i'm a new grad, and i have to say that i TOTALLY agree with the experienced RN's. Here is why...The hospital is a business. They are in this for money, they don't care about "giving you experience" it is up to us to set ourselves apart from the experienced nurses. I was ONE of the new grads to get a job interview out of many experienced nurses. How did i get that interview?? Because i had something that those experienced nurses didnt have. What did they have on top of me? Experience.

But its about making myself stand out.

Every new grad has one thing in common: a degree! we ALL have that. So What do i need to do to make me stand out from the other new grads??

...i volunteered for 3 different agencies. I coached special olympics in soccer, I got certified as a dementia care specialist, i applied and got an internship, i worked as CNA on a hospital, my senior year i tutored junior level nursing students. All of this while i was in nursing school. This is what made me stand out. And i'll tell you this....it has been working for me!!!

i busted my butt in school, as well as busted my butt to make my resume look good and worth looking at.

The only thing that really makes me kind of upset is, looking at some of the nurses that are still hired. I can think of 5 that work on my floor that SHOULD NOT BE THERE! Yes, they are very experienced. but 4/5 are very very overweight, very lazy, very old (they have grandchildren in nursing school). It's to the point where anytime a patient has to be turned (we turn our patients every 2 hours), they CANNOT do it. So who ends up doing their physical work and labor? ...the new grads? Why??? because we are young and are able to do it.

i often here these nurses "Oh i can't walk this patient. I have a bad back and need to take my pills. I have to go sit down for a while and rest" ok..totally understandable you have a bad back-- but its not fair to the patients. Not saying these people shouldnt be nurses, just saying that they should be nurses somewhere else where they can do the work. WHen i got tested for my job, i had to show them that i could lift 50 lbs. I want them to test these nurses for lifting 50 lbs, because its clearly one of the requirments that they cannot fullfill.

Who was it that posted about being afraid she might code at work and the younger nurses would just step right over her? It may be no joke!

[mazy]

Some of the topics I have seen on this forum lately make me really sad for the future of this profession:

Obese people should be shamed, guilted, denied access to healthcare, and removed from their jobs because they are "disgusting, lazy, slobs" and a burden on society. And they're making it hard for new grads to find work.

Smokers should be shamed, guilted, denied access to healthcare, and denied access to nursing school and should not be allowed to be nurses because they are hypocrites and they stink.

Etc, etc. alcoholics, drug users, people taking certain prescription meds, and the mentally ill.

Old people should be thrown away like trash, and most definitely not valued for their wisdom but rather pushed aside by young nurses who are entitled to work because they made it through school -- as if that's something that the rest of us haven't managed to do.

Experienced, i.e. "old" nurses are mean bullies and should be nicer, even though it seems like a lot of new grads don't really respect them anyway or have so little respect for the job that they think any minimum wage worker can do it.

We are nurses and our job is to speak and act for people who do not have the ability to speak for themselves. We need to start paying more attention to the consequences of the words we speak and of our actions. Compassion is not easy. It's complicated and messy and sometimes scary and can make us feel icky.

If it were easy everyone would be doing it.