Unemployed New Nurses Would Be Wise To Remember These Equations
Many newly graduated nurses dream of landing their first positions in certain nursing specialties within the acute care hospital. However, what if the recruiters and nurse managers are not calling to set up interviews? Should you accept employment outside the hospital?
As a newer nurse (RN or LPN / LVN), you should feel very proud of the milestones that you have worked tirelessly to achieve over the past year. For starters, you have successfully completed a challenging program of study that would perplex the majority of adults in the United States. Moreover, you have passed the NCLEX and attained professional licensure that allows you to lawfully practice as a nurse. After all the hurdles you have jumped, I am assured you are excited to begin your career in the vast field of nursing.
Many new grads dream of landing their first positions in certain nursing specialties. Labor and delivery, postpartum, the intensive care unit, the emergency department, and pediatrics seem to be popular specialties where numerous new nurses would like to work. Also, countless new grads are willing to start on medical / surgical floors to establish the foundation upon which the rest of their careers are built. Anyhow, you are eager to start working, so you begin submitting employment applications to various hospitals in the area where you currently reside.
Six months have elapsed since you first received your nursing license. You have submitted so many applications, resumes and cover letters that you do not have enough fingers and toes to accurately keep count. Not one single callback. You might have thought aloud, "What is going on? I heard there was a critical nursing shortage!"
At this point you might be feeling a little sick to your stomach because the student loans will be due for monthly repayments rather soon. Even though deferment is a possibility, this option will only add more interest and slowly increase your overall balance. Preferably, you need a licensed nursing job. After all, you graduated from nursing school because you wanted to actually work as a nurse. Right?
Meanwhile, a company that hires new grads into private duty nursing cases is constantly advertising on websites such as CraigsList, Monster, CareerBuilder and Indeed. A home health company has placed an ad in the local newspaper for nurses (no experience necessary). An assisted living facility within reasonable commuting distance seeks a full-time RN to complete tasks such as wound care, assessments and taking call every four weeks. A local nursing home has a permanent sign in the front window that reads, "Now hiring LPNs, RNs and CNAs!"
As tempting as these job openings look, you are feeling leery about applying because you are still clutching onto your dream of securing employment at an acute care hospital. You might fear that you will become a less attractive applicant in the eyes of recruiters and hiring managers if you take a nursing job outside the hospital setting. My advice is to remain cognizant of the following equations:
Waiting for the acute care hospital job of your dreams = Zero Pay + Zero Experience
As a newer nurse, the worst thing you can do is become an 'old' new grad who has never held a nursing job more than one year since passing NCLEX. Some experience is better than none at all. I know multiple nurses who were offered the hospital jobs of their dreams after starting at a nursing home, private duty case or home health company. Personally, I was offered a job at a major county hospital and another position on the floor of an outlying suburban hospital after having spent four years in the long term care setting.
Furthermore, the 'losing my license' mantra is grossly overrated. I pay close attention to the disciplinary action pages that my state board of nursing regularly posts. The majority of nurses in my state of residence whose licensing has been censured were working at hospitals, not nursing homes, home health, or other areas outside the hospital.
One more thought. . .hospital employment is on the decline as more patient care is pushed outside the inpatient setting to cut costs.
I am more concerned with getting a job in the hospital as a new grad to get that experience I need to become an NP. Would I still have enough experience to become an NP if I go to get my masters without ever having a hospital RN job?
Thank you so much for this! I will be graduating in May with my ADN. I am so worried about finding a job! I am curious though; As a new nurse, the idea of working in home health terrifies me. I feel I will not have the experience to notice when a patient is starting to go bad. HAs anyone went straight into home care? How did it work for you?
First of all - I'm so glad this article was posted. I graduated December of 2012 and got my license last February. I had been applying to jobs without any luck, then ended up taking a job doing PDN pediatric home care to get income until finding another job. I was so scared going in that I wasn't ready to be ALONE as a nurse. It's not like clinicals where you can poke your head out into the hallway for help.
I never wanted to do homecare, and while it still isn't my dream job (just because I miss working around other women) it has been an amazing source of experience.
I work extensively with trachs, gtubes, wounds, and ventilators. I have become very confident in working with my patients.
I have learned so much this year, I still can't wait to get into a hospital ... but this is something I would suggest to others who need experience. It really has opened my eyes to another side of health care. Not only do I get to help my patients, but I get to teach their families too.
I am so glad that the article certainly provides positive view for nurses who do not work in the acute caresetting. I have been working in subacute/rehab/skilled nursing for almost 4 years since I graduated as a RN and have gained so much experience and still continue learning each day. I am no longer being bothered by comments from others because I am not working in acute care hospital. I have grown to become a humble, good nurse and I know I do make a different.
this article has answered sooooo many questions! i feel released! thank you! i will start applying to ALL RN jobs tomorrow! not just hospital jobs lol......
(Dec '13 ADN graduate, licensed NC RN, applied to 50+ jobs, rejected from 50+ jobs, seeks magical "1 year of RN experience")
First of all congratulations on obtaining your ADN in May. Your in the home stretch! I've been reading these posts and it seems several new grads (RN/LVN doesn't matter) have been hired into private duty/home health right out of school with no experience. I live in Houston, TX, and I can tell you that the employment ads here for home health require 1 year working experience before you can get an interview. As a nurse in the hospital setting whether you are a new grad or have years of experience when something goes awry, and eventually something will, you have back-up. You have have at least one CNA, your fellow nurses, and unless your third shift, a floor or unit supervisor. Somebody in some capacity is there to assist you and answer the questions that you are bound to have. In any place of employment, hospital, Drs office, public health clinic, etc., where there are co-workers present you have a safety net as you learn and gain experience. In private duty/home health on the other hand, you are 100% responsible for knowing how to take care of your patient new grad or not. Your resources are your care plan, your protocols and your cell phone. Depending on how your pt's doing you'll call your clinical supervisor to ask your question or you will call 911 for transport. It is never a bad idea to have 1 year of any type of nursing experience where critical thinking can be developed and pt assessments are frequent enough to become second nature to you before you venture into a position where you are expected to be more autonomous than not. A new nurse working with experienced nurses and cna's, in a supportive environment, will develop skills and in general catch on faster than the new nurse who works alone. And, hospitals are not necessarily a good learning environment for new grads. You will meet some helpful nurses and others who will watch you code at their feet before they will answer a new grads questions. If you are not familiar with the term, nurses eat their young, you will see it more so in the acute care environment than other environments. It's not a bad idea to have gained enough experience elsewhere that you have a reasonable amount of confidence in your critical thinking and assessment abilities before running head long into the nurse whose takes pleasure in seeing you sweat. That said, if a grad nurse can afford to do it, go take an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) course, especially if it's been months since you graduated and it's looking like landing a job may take a while longer. Then go join the closest volunteer EMS service. If you start running 911 calls as an EMT or EMT-I, you will learn to do a rapid pt assessment in 60 seconds or less, get vitals fast under any conditions, and depending on your certification level, you'll be starting IV's quickly where the pt lays, or in the back of an ambulance bumping down the road. You will gain solid rapid assessment and head to toe assessment skills, be able to hear a BP with traffic whizzing by, get your stick in a moving vehicle, and you will develop a confidence that comes with the ability to provide quality pt care in a largely uncontrolled environment. The experience also gives you insight as to what the admit in bed 5 went through before arriving in your ICU. This should make you a better nurse than someone with the same nursing education and experience level in the acute care setting. Of course you do run the risk of becoming an adrenaline junky destined to work in the E.R., and on the crash team. (Sorry post is so long, I had more to say than I realized.)
Another unconventional first job new grad nurses can try are in psychiatric hospitals. I got my current job at a local psych hospital after working at a home health agency and volunteering at local acute care/medical hospitals during my first year out of nursing school. I didn't think I would last at the psych hospital, but now I can say that I have been there for a year. I have learned a lot about psych nursing and get exposed to those patients' medical problems. Some of them come in with diabetes, heart problems, etc. along with their psych problems. Psych hospitals, well at least the one I work at, like to hire new grads. But unfortunately not many stay long enough to last because they can't handle it, get a better job offer or whatever the case. Even though it's not your typical nursing job, working at a psych hospital counts as work experience, and you don't get the experience of wiping people's butts all the time I still want to get a job at a medical hospital eventually but time can only tell.
I agree with this article 100% Especially in this tough market for New grads. I remember applying all over the state in CA with no luck! Finally had an offer at SNF per diem and almost took it, but decided to take a job in MT. Compared to CA, MT pay is much lower. I decided that I would sacrifice pay for acute experience. I don't regret moving! From my graduating class not even 50% have jobs as RN's. I would definitely encourage any RN experience vs. no working RN experience.
Yes! I graduated in Dec 2012, no one wanted to hire a new grad. I was lucky enough to get a job on a rehab unit at the hospital. it's technically considered part of their LTC system, but it's at the hospital AND we get a ton of non rehab-med/surg patients overflowing on it so, i do have acute care experience and it's not really long term care, like a nursing home. After working there 6 months I was hired as a school nurse... which I wanted for multiple reasons. Anyway, I too recommend taking pretty much any nursing job... if I had sat around waiting, I wouldn't have had the experience put down that got me the school nurse job.
I graduated in May 2013 and couldn't land that hospital job. I finally applied to a home health/private duty nursing agency. They usually do require 1 year experience, but the NM said she would start me off with cases that weren't too complex and as I gained skills and experience she would move me up. Was I scared? uhh... YES!, but who isn't when they first start a job?
I've been there for 6 months now and absolutely love it. I've had a few close calls, but nothing I wasn't prepared to handle. i.e., not being able to get a trach back in.
You definitely can't be afraid to ask for help though and you need to be open and honest with your manager about what makes you uncomfortable and what you need help with otherwise they will just assume you are fine.
I still want to get a job at a medical hospital eventually but time can only tell.
On_a_mission92
37 Posts
I am more concerned with getting a job in the hospital as a new grad to get that experience I need to become an NP. Would I still have enough experience to become an NP if I go to get my masters without ever having a hospital RN job?