Well the local nursing schools have FINALLY DONE IT

[nurz2be]

They have finally put SO MANY nursing students through the nursing programs, that the shortage that existed here in Melbourne, when I started school almost 2 years ago, is now obsolete. You can't hardly even find a tech job now. Holmes has a hiring freeze, Wuesthoff has no positions (for techs at this time).......

So, those of us who went in a few years back when they were climbing the walls for nurses, now are going to have to "travel" elsewhere for work. In my area alone there is, Keiser, 2 BCC programs, and the nursing programs in Orlando..........sigh........

Anyone have any suggestions where to go now? I graduate in July and it is looking more and more bleak.

[Lstcats]

I haven't heard of that happening here in the Tampa Bay area.

Good luck.

Hi Tweety,

can you tell me what the outlook is in Tampa Bay? Do you know anything about Galen health or any of the other nursing programs that hire instructors? Thanks

[Lstcats]

Orlandocutie makes an interesting comment about including other facilities besides hospitals in our job search, such as clinics, nursing homes, etc. My only concern with that is that I have been forewarned by hospital nurses that once you switch to non-hospital nursing care, nobody will ever hire you again to work in a hospital. Somehow they feel that you have lost your acute clinical skills and are not skilled enough to practice nursing care to hospital patients. A friend of mine worked in a nursing home for a couple years after graduating and when she applied at the hospital she was told that she would need to take a remediation course to get her clinical skills up to speed. It is almost as if you are blacklisted if you leave the hospital environment. Have any of you ever heard of this? I thought that orientation would be enough for a nurse to get back into the hospital, but apparently nurse managers don't think so.

:down:How true this is at least in my circumstance. I have 22 years of experience in nursing but only 7 years in hospital nursing which included tele/med-surg/MICU. I have been mostly in home care, school nursing, and for the past two 1/2 years teaching nursing. Yes, I am allowed to teach PN and RN programs as clinical adjunct but can't get rehired at a hospital because I have no recent experience and no nurse refresher program. Go figure that one?

[Lstcats]

I am surprised that Florida will allow a "GN" to work. In MA, you have to pass your NCLEX and be a RN or LPN before you have any type of nursing job. Otherwise, if you are a CNA then you can work as a CNA.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Most of the "GN" time is spent in orientation with a preceptor, not on one's own, and there is a limit I think to how long you can work under this status. I worked as an "RN Applicant" in North Carolina. It's not that unusual.

[**LaurelRN, MSN]

Hey there..I work at Wuesthoff and I just finished in August. It is not that the local hospitals aren't hiring-- they just want experienced nurses...I know this is not what you want to hear, but it costs a hospital alot of money to train a new nurse. But... a complicating problem at the moment is the economic situation.

Keep your head up though..keep following up and be prepared to take a job elsewhere in order to get some experience. BTW-- where are you going to school??

[lacedmm1]

I think what the problem is, is that with the economy being the way it is now, the older nurses that were set to retire or did retire, stayed or went back into the workforce. So, the expected nursing shortage was really dependent on that. The main problem causing the nursing shortage, wasn't that there aren't enough nursing, but the fact that there aren't enough WORKING nurses. Any hospital would rather hire an experienced nurse than train a new grad, that's just economics. Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat (graduating in a few months and not sure if I'll find a job right away), but I'm more than willing to move to areas that are still feeling the shortage - these places still do exist.

[ImNotWitty]

This is scary indeed. All we have been told at Valencia is that most would already have a job lined up before they even graduated. This economy stinks. My bf just lost his job. This is a big viscious cycle indeed.

If all goes as expected I will graduate in two years so hopefully things will change. I mean they have to change. How can any of us pay our school loans? Ugh, I swear I can't take any more bad news these days.

[soon2bns]

This is such bad news! I have been in school for two years and don't start my nurs. program until may. I can't even imagine not being able to find a job in two years, I don't think my finances could survive this. Good Luck on finding a job everyone!

[ZooMommyRN, ADN, RN]

There is still a "nursing shortage" however what there appears to be no shortage of is idiots that look at the almight dollar and trim the budget by cutting out staff, untill they come off their pocket books so to speak and adequately staff and hire more nurses it's going to be the same thing with every class that graduates, I think my class is the last group to come out of our school not competing and jockeying for jobs, this years grads are gonna have to fight it out for the few jobs that might be available this summer

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I put my resume on Monster just this week. I selected every state/area that I would be willing to move to.

[matt2401, MSN, RN]

First a couple of things to realize. In this area, at least at my hospital; Oct, Nov and Dec are traditionally low census months. It picks up around now until April or so. If the census is low, it makes it easier for managers to justify a hiring freeze.

Second, every story you read about the economy being so bad and how many millions of jobs lost = people without insurance. As the un-insured rises, hospital revenues decrease and the pinch comes....you guessed it, in staffing.

Is there a nursing shortage? Yup! Are the hospitals going to address it as aggresively as before? No. Yes, they will hire expierenced nurses if they have to.

Options? I would suggest passing the NCLEX before applying. If you get hired as a GN and fail the first time you are bounced back to CNA until you pass. The fail rates on the NCLEX really shot up this last year after they re-did it. You will be more employable with an RN after your name than GN. After that, keep you options open, get the work you can and use the time waiting for the job you want to get all the education you can. BLS/ACLS/PALS are all good things depending on where you want to go, maybe work on the BSN?

Things are cyclical. I myself am hoping for substantial healthcare reform this year at the federal level. Say all you want about 'socialized medicine' (which is completely the wrong term, but I digress). If more people have insurance, our jobs are more secure.

Matt

[Lstcats]

Don't fret so much. The projection for 2010 is still that there will be baby boomers who will be retiring from nursing. Baby boomers make up the largest sector of nurses. This is the reason for the nursing shortage. within a couple years nurses should be retiring unless they choose to work until over age 65 which I don't know any that do.