Why graduate nurses can't find jobs- a must read!!!

Nurses New Nurse

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Reading this article definitely shed some light on some of the questions that have been racing through my mind, and helped ease some of my frustrations. This article was written by an RN, a healthcare management consultant. Click the link and read the article and please share your thoughts :))

http://www.solutionsoutsidethebox.net/documents/2009/Nursing_School_Graduates.pdf

I agree with the article, its spot on.

I don't expect to have much difficulty finding a job when I graduate. I'm single, kids grown and I can relocate anywhere in the country. Plus I'm not particular about which floor I'm assigned to.

I still wonder about online nursing education vs classroom. I've chosen classroom.

You should expect to have great difficulty. I am single without kids and am also able to go anywhere. And your age is not helping you.

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Specializes in Psychiatric Nurse.

mariposa: congratulations. i get very excited when a new grad expresses how they actually like working in ltc/snf/rehab. that is where i and many of my classmates started out. if one is lucky enough to get a job at one of these facilities that happens to be organized, has a good scheduler, and truly cares/values their staff (among other things), a new grad can gain a wealth of experience. i have met many nurses who were totally against ltc/snfs but after taking the job...because they couldn't get into an acute care facility...they would not leave their ltc/snf for the world now!!! your ability to be flexible has paid off for you and will continue to. if you hang in there long enough, the don will probably want to put you through the facility nurse supervisor program!!! ...so good luck to you!!!... :up:

to others: i know that most acute care facilities thoughout the u.s. are in great need of nurses and would love to hire a new grad; however the unit managers realize they do not have the appropriate staffing (...nurses with 3-5+ years experience...) to serve as a mentor and/or a preceptor to the new grads that come to work directly on the unit versus starting in a new grad program.

today, many units consist of nurses with only 1-2 years of experience with only small pockets of experienced nurses, on each shift. the unit managers don't want to take any chances when it comes to training a new grad (...when there are currently nurses with

time and patience is the key in today's economy. to make matters worse, when facilities do begin to post new grad positions the cycle of unemployment will still continue because there is an over abundance of new grads seeking employment. i just hope the employment status for new grads will change within the next 6 months or so.

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Little Mouse,

I got your PM and am responding to your in here as I do not have an option to respond to PMs. Anyways, the fact that I got a job when I did is no luck. It's solely God's hand and timing. I did nothing different this time than I did before. And the job is not in Indiana.

Before I got my job I was condisering volunteering somewhere, like hospitals or free clinics. That way you could get clinical experience and show that you're a responsible and hardworking nurse. Then you'd have higher chances to be hired by that facility or any other place.

I hope things will soon work out for you!

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Specializes in Trauma Med-Surg.

Thanks for the article. I think also another part about the lack of employment opportunities not mentioned is pay. Most experienced nurses who are near, at, or over retirement age would be an asset in the educational realm of nursing. But with pay being MUCH higher in hospitals, they won't change career paths/roles as nurses. Not that I blame them, with spouses losing employment, you need to put food on your table and keep that health insurance especially if you are over the age of 50 in this county.

Coming from the California Bay Area, the highest paid location for nurses in the country, I've heard this story more and more times over the past two years of school. Now that I'm at the end and desperately looking for employment, I still feel for these individuals, but my rational brain is angry with them because they are effectively caring out that age old saying "nurses eat their young". By not vacating hospital positions, you are leaving new nurses unemployed and allowing their fresh skills sets and knowledge to become rusty. Also, they are leaving a huge hole in the educational sector of nursing, decreasing the capacity of schools can handle because they don't have instructors. The hospitals are to blame for this as well, but with money being tight on their end too, it makes it difficulty to "run a business" without running it completely dry.

Pointing fingers is so cliche and pointless because everyone has to make a living, especially with the economy in the state that it is. I just wish people would look for the long term solution over the short term.

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@Hoosier03: Thank you for your reply. Currently, I am volunteering at a nearby ARC doing flu clinics and working at a HH agency per diem. I have networked with some people and continue to do so. At this point, I've accepted the situation and will see how things go. It still isn't easy and it does get hard at times, but the only thing one can do now is accept it, continue to try, and just have hope for the future.

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kkia123

I have worked as a RN for more than twenty years and have seen three recessions as a nurse. I agree it is challenging to find work in this situation and landing a job takes more than submitting hundreds of job applications. Have you tried joining a professional nursing oganization and/or volunteering with a non-profit organization? If not, you may want to consider doing this because you need to make yourself stand out in a competitive market.

good luck

dishes

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I really hate how the experienced RN's view new grads. We are not just expecting the best positions and the best hours. Most people, nurses or not, know how to act when they first begin a job. I wish that I could hear some more encouraging words from men and women whom were in our position at one point in their lives. Congratulations to ALL of the new grads that landed positions. I have friends that have jobs, some of them knew people and others did not.

I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. My resume has been critiqued over and over again, and I hope it is now perfected. I make follow up calls and I am VERY flexible. I have applied to every hospital in New York except for the ones that are over two hours away. Unfortunately I am not one of those new grads that can move or go far away.

I am not here to insult anyone. We just live negativity and hear about it everyday in our daily searches for jobs. NO ONE was born a nurse and everyone was giving a chance at some point. The article was an excellent read but offered no new hope for my career in nursing. I only have a ASN and a non nursing BS. Some nurse recruiters made me feel that my BS meant nothing which is rude to say to anyone that has achieved that degree. I want to further my education, but I currently have student loans from my previous degrees. How can I invest in more schooling when I can't even get a job in this field?? However I will be enrolling in school in Jan 2010...just to better my chances. I shall see what happens. Thanks fror reading...I needed to vent :-)

Ditto. Good luck.

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Specializes in PACU.

The author touches on the fact that there has been an increase in the number of new graduates, but she did not place enough emphasis on that as the true source of major problems. See the attached graph from the Washington nursing board that shows the number of 1st time NCLEX takers in Washington--see how there has been an ENORMOUS increase in the last several years? Even if the economy were doing great there would be a huge shortage of appropriate new grad positions.

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I am not picky at all, and my availability is completely open even despite the fact that I have a 3 month old baby; I still haven't been able to find anything but an immunization job.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

With the flu season and H1N1 and lack of new Nursing Jobs, my hospital has hired the new Dec grads to be "guards". All doors are locked to get into the hospital except for the main entrance. Once inside the main entrance there is a new grad at a podium that makes sure you do not have any flu symptoms or else she does not let you though the closed double doors into the rest of the hospital.

Visiting hours have been changed to 11-7, no one under 18 unless that person is a parent of a child in the hospital, and no visitors with flu-like symptoms. All patients with flu-like symptoms have to wear a mask.

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.
With the flu season and H1N1 and lack of new nursing jobs, my hospital has hired the new Dec grads to be "guards". All doors are locked to get into the hospital except for the main entrance. Once inside the main entrance there is a new grad at a podium that makes sure you do not have any flu symptoms or else she does not let you though the closed double doors into the rest of the hospital.

That is just depressing. Although as a new grad, I'd almost be happy for this job. I'm tired of hearing I'm not flexible or realistic enough. If I had one single interview or one single job offer, I would take it. Other threads are saying new grads shouldn't take unpaid orientation periods, then the next says new grads are being too picky. Which is it?

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