What is keeping New Grads/less experienced Nurses from being hired and solutions?

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Im sure there is no simple answer to this question but people on here are quite insightful and I would Love to hear some of the responses. We all know that the job market is tough out there, especially for New Grads or those without hospital experience. However, we always hear about hospitals being short staffed or we see a million job postings for nurses (albeit they often say experienced). So, evidently that means that they DO need nurses! My question then is what is keeping the hospitals or other institution from hiring NG or people with little experience if they are so in need of staff? is it a lack of preceptors/nursing educators? is it that hospitals aren't willing to spend or don't have the money to spend on training? or is it something else? Im all ears.

My personal view is this: If it is a money issue, I would be willing to take a paycut for the first few months to offset the costs of training. What are your thoughts on that idea?

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Specializes in Primary Care.

I would say from what I have witnessed is that there many factors. One is that a lot of the older nurses are not retiring and that takes away from the New Grads chances. Second, is that why pay an RN when you pay a LVN to do the same amount of work but for cheaper. New Grads, are what I have seen as too much of a liability with the lack of experience. The attitude of the New Grads is that once they are hired the don't want to work certain hours and I would say that is just arrogance. The ones that usually get hired are the students that have externs already working in the hospital. This is great because these externs already know the system of the hospital as compared to a New Grad having to spend time teaching them how the hospital works. I have always found working Per Diem is the best route to go because you can explore you options in the different types of nursing you will be exposed to.

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I can definitely see how older RNs not retiring or reentering the workfield may push out new grad RNs, but while the point about new grad being a liability is understandable, I also think it is a bit like a scapegoat--no nurse entered the workplace knowing everything and they have to start somewhere.

about the Rn vs LPN thing, there are several duties that only an RN can legally perform, so ring an LPN in place is not that feasible. Like I said, I would be willing to take a paycut all throughout my probationary period. I just feel as if there is some sort of compromise somewhere that is not being made because it shouldn't be THIS difficult to get a position when just 4 or 5 years ago, most RNs had jobs before they even graduated...they were turning down offers!

Nowadays, facilities just want to get the most bang for their buck! ahhh the business of healthcare!

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It is a dangerous suggestion to take a paycut. If you are willing to work for x amount of money you are lowering the standards all around. You deserve to make the money you earn, because you helping the hospital make an enormous amount of money. Hospitals basically are only concerned about the bottom line. They would much rather overwork the existing staff than train new hires. It isn't fair, it's the free-market.

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Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

about the Rn vs LPN thing, there are several duties that only an RN can legally perform, so ring an LPN in place is not that feasible.healthcare!

Let's say you have 4 LPNs and 2 RNs. Those duties that the LPN can't do (which aren't that many except in a critical unit) can be taken care of by one of the RNs. That pay cut that you are willing to take through your probationary period would last for years with an LPN. I have been and LPN and am an RN. Don't ever underestimate the knowledge, skill, or value of LPNs.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I am a Nursing student and I would have LOVED to get into a hospital as a CNA to get experience, but it as hard to get a job as a CNA without experience as it is as a Nurse without experience. I have applied for 25+ jobs at the 6 hospitals in my area. They want a year experience. It seems no one wants to train any position. I have been working home health for the two years I have been in school, which is SOME experience, but it wasn't enough to get a hospital job (after a year). I pray that it will help get a Nursing job. I graduate in May and have my first interview today at a hospital that offers an RN residency (3 months of precepting/orientation!!). I have a friend that just finished an LPN program and cannot find a job.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

The market is very tight. There is NO nursing shortage. The jobs maybe posted but there are hiring freezes due to the economy. NUrses have returned to the workforce because their S.O. is unemployed and nurses who planned to retire cannot because we lost our butts in 401K when everything crashed. There are nursing schools churning out grads at an alarming rate to take advantage of the economy and the flocking of society to the "recession proof" healthcare field...with no positions to fulfill. There are hospitals that offer "internships" or "residencies" that you pay them to train you available but they are few and far between and don't guarantee employment. right now it just stinks out there :sniff: Hospitals are "short staffed" but they want it that way......due to budget cits and hospitals are still laying off.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-news/jobs-new-grads-662139.html

https://allnurses.com/nursing-first-job/unemployed-inexperienced-new-636865.html

Medscape: Medscape Access

The Big Lie?Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."In other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a BSN later on. Who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? Whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. The jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

This too shall pass....eventually. I wish you luck:heartbeat

ps. I have several likes before I edited for spelling...:o

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Specializes in ICU.

Many things come into play. Most areas do not have a nursing shortage. Just look at hospital websites. Most post a few RN jobs. Think about the number of jobs posted in a month, multiply that number by 12 months, then think about all of the schools that have an RN program in that same area and how many grads they produce a year. I will almost guarantee there will be about 2 times as many grads as jobs posted.

Like it or not but most hospitals are a business. Their goal is to produce a profit for their shareholders, not to provide jobs. It is more cost effective to pay fewer nurses overtime than it is to provide pay and benefits for additional nurses. Some think it is terrible that companies think so much abaout profits, but those of us with 401K's want our money invested in companies that turn large profits because it boosts our investments. Schools are also in business to make a profit. They do this by convincing you to come to their school. They have no problem charging you tuition for a job field that is saturated. It is up to the student to choose a field they can get hired into after school. In the 80's computer programmers were in short supply. The schools took that info and completely saturated the market with programmers. This caused the pay for programmers to drop significantly.

One thing I noticed in nursing school was about 80% of my female classmates had their hearts set on working peds or L&D. Many even chose to precept in those areas knowing the jobs in those fields are limited. Especially units like NICU as a new grad. I am not sure if any of the unhired new grad RNs are just holding out for a dream job in one of those units. I was lucky enough to be hired into the unit I precepted in as soon as I graduated.

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a new grad should take a pay cut they are inexperienced and require at minimal 1 yr on the job training especially on med surge tele. then maybe some of the little cna indians can get a piece of the pie instead of the scraps!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Community Care Nursing, CCM.

When I worked in a hospital, I always said that I was willing to take a pay cut for the hospital to hire more nurses, so we would be overstaffed as opposed to barely getting by or worked half to death. I was watching a piece on 60 Minutes (you can research these hospitals on the internet). There are resort hospitals in places like Taiwan, Cancun, and I forgot where else, owned by American doctors where you can get high tech surgery or childbirth done at less than half what it costs here in the USA. There staffing ratios are 1 RN per 4 patients. Then the pt is discharged to an island resort for a week of recuperation before they let you return home to the USA + the cost of travel is included in the price of the surgery. I think they were called the Apollo Group hospitals. Why shouldn't the USA have a model like that since the hospitals charge so much for care?

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Community Care Nursing, CCM.

It's not just nursing-I heard the dental hygiene programs at community colleges were really hurting. They have started accepting less students and even those students are not being placed in jobs. When the economy starts floundering like now, the first thing ppl forego is dental care. My own family has started to rely on dental care provided by a community college dental hygiene clinic because we don't have dental insurance. I also heard that respiratory therapy and physical therapy and pharmacy are all in a mess too. Education has seen drastic cuts in funding to where all these new college grads from education majors are not finding work either. I recently went back to school last year in a BSN pathway program and i'm still stuck in the same go nowhere nursing job i've had for the past 8 years. Now I've student loans to pay off again without a pay increase or more hours to pay for it. I even forked out $$$ to take the ANCC Case Management exam and I haven't gotten an interview with anyone yet after 5 months of applying and 8 years experience under my belt. I'm discouraged too. My back will give out before my mind does. My next place to look for a steady paycheck is going to be through social security disability now that i've herniated two disks from lifting geriatric patients and too many 12 hour shifts on my feet!

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Don't mistake me: CNAs are certainly an important part of the health care team. The don't, however, have the same level of responsibility that a nurse does. If you want that bigger paycheck, you're going to have to go back to school.i am not bitter yes some of you have a lot of responsibilities but a lot of you dont such as psych nurses overpaid underworked. and i am in school i am tired of the board of nurses turning out money hungry no compassionate nurses. nursing is taking care of patients. icu nicu trauma nurses L&D ER nurses yes well deserving nurses and should be paid top dollars. I'm speaking to most of the nurse in longterm care unit in hospitals and longterm facilities dialysis nurses who for the most part think their job is basically come in and give out orders to the little people. I know a lot of them who would go and jump through hoops to find a cna to give a patient water rather then go and get them some water. I am in school so i can eventually change the way some of the jobs in hospitals run their facilities in longterm care you pass the pills you should pass the water. what task the medication that comes is faxed to the pharmacy the pharmacy prepares the orders you follow up on the orders I'm not knocking your duties as a nurse Its all about organizing your duties you have cnas and lvns or pn and a unit secretary that are assisting you as well so your job isnt that hard and you work 3 day wks.

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