Unemployed and frustrated new LVN graduate! Please help! What am I doing wrong?

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I graduated from an accelerated LVN program in 2007. I took the NCLEX mid 2008 and passed the first time. But since then I have been looking for an LVN job and it seems nearly impossible! I mean everybody is always saying how nurses will always have job security and everything so it must be something I'm doing wrong! It seems that everybody wants experience these days which I do not have. I do have clinical experience but only about 3 months in total. I'm so frustrated because I know that I can do a good job and I'm so eager to be a nurse but it has been so long since I got my license and have yet to find a steady job! Any advice will help me. I look on CraigsList everyday, Monster, I've applied to Kaiser, St. Jude, multiple nursing homes in my area, I've sent so many resumes I can't even count! I used to just drive around dropping off resumes to different facilities in Orange County that I come across, (that's where I live) but nobody seems to be hiring. I'm so tired of searching everywhere but the qualifications is always "minimal 1-2 years paid experience" What is going on?! Please help! I've even gone to different facilities and asked them if I could do volunteer work (like an internship type) just so I can gain more experience..But they tell me that I need to be backed by a school and that I can do regular volunteer work ( like cutting paper or cleaning bathrooms) but not actual LVN work. I'm working as a food server right now full time and I just feel like everyday I'm wasting my time when I could be out there helping people, not serving them overpriced food:crying2:

Is it my resume? Am I not going about this the right way? I'm in need of any real advice.. I'm so discouraged and anxious.HELP!

drop the L and change the V to an R. a lot of plaves are now looking to hire RN's and the lvn position is gradualy being phased out. espesialy since there was a huge influx of rn's when they anounced a shortage. nursing homes are probly the best bet as an lvn

The RN's are having just as hard if not harder time getting jobs in California especially SF Bay area and LA. Going back to school and accruing more debt with a bad job market is risky at this time. Exception would be to go the city college ADN route because it will be less than $5k, however wait list is ridiculous. So I think the OP should probably try to get in the process of getting on the City College wait list (1 year - 2.5 year average) while looking for LVN work.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Do the dialysis centers in ca use lvns? If so its paid training at any one of the big companies.

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I thought that prisons only hire RNS? i was looking on the websites for the orange county and la jails and it was talking about employment opportunities for RNS but no mention of LVNS.

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Where can I take classes for ACL,PALs etc? I think that it would help spruce up my poor little resume haha (Thanks for the advice btw!)

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I really want to be an RN but to put it frankly I have no money to go to school. With the bills that I have and living expenses I have to work full time right now:crying2: I did try to go back to school by taking a few classes at community college but it is JAM PACKED because of these budget cuts! I would go to a trade school but I'm already in debt with all these loans from going to school for my LVN.. I don't mean to sound like such a whiney pants. But from reading everybody's response I think that going to school may be my ONLY choice. So I'm going to try to figure SOMETHING out. I really appreciate the advice!

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Thank you! I'm definitely going to try these places and I'm going to keep trying!!!

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GOOD TO KNOW! I actually sent a resume to them too! hahah

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SORRY GUYS I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD TO QUOTE THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE-_-;; I THOUGHT THAT MY MESSAGES WOULD AUTOMATICALLY BE POSTED WITH THE ORIGINAL. AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DELETE MY POSTS..SORRY I'M NEW TO THIS ALLNURSES THING:confused: BUT THANKS SO MUCH EVERYBODY FOR YOUR RESPONSES!!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Is it my resume? Am I not going about this the right way?
It has nothing to do with you. It has plenty to do with California's horrid economy. Although it is easy to picture yourself in a vacuum and think that it is just you, be aware that masses of new grads are jobless at the present time. I completed an LVN program in southern CA in 2005 and moved to Texas immediately after graduating because I saw the writing on the wall with regard to California's LVN job market.

The employment picture for LVNs in California has been atrocious for the past few years. It is extremely difficult to get hired as an LVN in most parts of California due to multiple reasons...

1. The state has more than two-hundred LVN programs. The vast majority of these are for-profit trade schools that accept new students all the time and produce masses of new nurses that enter their local employment markets when there are few, if any, jobs for new grads. Also, new LVN programs are opening up for business all the time in CA, which is worsening the situation.

2. Since California has many higher cost-of-living metro areas, displaced workers enroll in these for-profit nursing programs because they assume that an LVN license is an automatic ticket to a guaranteed job, good income, and enough cash to maintain their standards of living. It seems that everyone in California (and their mama) has been enrolling in these programs because they actually think there's a nursing shortage.

3. The economy is still crappy. We see less patients during rough economies because there's more unemployed people than ever. Unemployed people are unlikely to have health insurance. People without health insurance are unlikely to visit the doctor, go to a hospital, or schedule an elective surgery unless it is an absolute emergency. If less patients are seeking healthcare, then healthcare facilities can operate with less nurses.

4. Healthcare facilities are running a tight budget with what they already have. The people who oversee hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, clinics, etc., would rather work their current employees to the bone (and sometimes overwork them) than hire new grads who cost valuable time and a plenitude of money to train.

5. Many facilities would rather hire experienced nurses. The truth is that an experienced nurse can be up and running with minimal orientation, whereas the new grad needs time to get trained, costs money to train, and often quits before the facility can recoup any return on their human investment. This is why you see requests for nurses with at least 1 year of experience.

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Wow, I know it is not easy for new grad to find a job, but I think some states are a little better than others. My step-daughters god mother graduated in may last year and passed the boards in sept. She started working full time this january in a group home for $25.75/hr. Another person that just graduated got a weekend position in a nursing home recently. Maybe you should consider searching out of your area. This is in NYC. Good luck!

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Specializes in Psych, OB-GYN.

You can move to Houston? The facility I just left has an opening :) The pay was excellent for a brand new LVN. (I only left because an area I WANTED to work in opened closer to home)

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I am having the exact same problem...i live in visalia ca and cannot find a lvn job i have been applying for over 4 months now and getting upset! Everyone who is hiring is looking for someone with experiece...it s a catch 22. Im working full time as a bartender and going to school to finish my RN. But i really wanted to lvn experience before starting my rn. Can anyone help us new grads?????

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