Why aren't new grads getting hired?

Nurses New Nurse

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Why with hundreds of unfilled positions is no one hiring new grads.

What is the logical reason behind this? Is there a logical reason?

Has this ever happened in the history of nursing before?

I feel like I am not apart of the nursing community, I feel as if I am viewed as lesser and treated in conjunction with that stereotype.

I feel like we are being alienated and black balled. None of us can start our careers if we can't get a chance from anyone, and if we are the future it seems not so smart to make us all offended and scorned because at some point we are going to be needed. If there is no new grads coming in, there are no future nurses being secured.

We are all going to be indifferent to the hospitals that would not help us start our career, so when I get experience and in the future when those same hospitals have no nurses because they shunned a whole generation of nurses. Most of the new grads I know feel the same way.

I see why a manager would hire experienced over new grad too, no question there. I just don't see why they would leave a position unfilled just to not hire a new grad. I know many nurses that jumped ship and go on like you said, hospitals are probably sick of it for sure.

When you say the market is oversaturated........your saying there are plainly just to darn many of us right? I couldn't bare to bring that to light? Plus, more and more and more and more keep coming. I just talked to a girl who is starting nursing school for an ADN (I have to) and I tried to warn and say dont do it, but she said I wont have that problem??? Really, I am the top of my class and that doesn't mean anything but that I got more interviews but not hired.

Plus, at some point the nurses that are there have to protect their field is my thought to be honest. If they let in too many new grads and the field is over populated, there goes wages, etc. I think that is a valid concern and contributes to it all.

I don't think it's the experienced nurses hedging us out or anything; I think it's just too many qualified applicants. Think about it: with any downturn in the economy, you might expect several variables: A) more people going back to school for job advancement, B) more retirement age nurses working past retirement to earn money, and C) nurses that might not have been working (or working in other areas), coming back to the field. All of those factors mean more qualified nurses are available to choose from (rather than new grads).

Also, like you mentioned, with the abundance of new grads, of course the BSN or MSN-prepared will probably have first pick. I am a diploma-educated nurse, now pursuing my BSN, but believe me, a lot of my classmates had difficulty landing a job, especially because our area prefers BSN grads.

You're right; I almost wish there was a class on this sort of thing before you start nursing school...kind of like the mandatory exit counseling they do on student loans...

Too many nursing schools. Where I live there are six of them and only one med school. Many DNP and NP programs too to saturate that field.

Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
I don't think it's the experienced nurses hedging us out or anything; I think it's just too many qualified applicants. Think about it: with any downturn in the economy, you might expect several variables: A) more people going back to school for job advancement, B) more retirement age nurses working past retirement to earn money, and C) nurses that might not have been working (or working in other areas), coming back to the field. All of those factors mean more qualified nurses are available to choose from (rather than new grads).

Thank you.

Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.
I just talked to a girl who is starting nursing school for an ADN (I have to) and I tried to warn and say dont do it, but she said I wont have that problem???

I agree with you for the most part that it's a little short sighted on her part. I do not think things will turn around that fast.

You never know, by the time she finishes, the economy may ease up. As soon as the economy eases up, all the nurses who really want to be stay at home moms (and were before their spouses lost their jobs) will return home. All the nurses who put off retirement d/t bad economy will start retiring in droves. All the nurses who put off starting families because of the poor economy, will start having kids and going PRN or part-time.

This is why we never had a shortage, the US has always had enough nurses out there, just most were not willing to work in the conditions offered, when their spouses lost their jobs, suddenly conditions were not so horrible and they came back to work.

To a nurse manager it costs much more to give you the experience you need to be useful to him/her. It costs much less to hire and train an experienced nurse before he/she is functional for the unit. Given the choice, it's a no-brainer.

And to a nurse manager, it costs zero to leave that position open. Well, if things are really bad they do have to pay people overtime to work those shifts, but it doesn't bother most management types to just let the nurses work short.

Don't hate on a whole generation because management isn't hiring. I might be in that generation and I have absolutely no power over hiring decisions.

I'm really sorry for the new grads out there. I barely got hired right before our hospital had some hiring freezes in the mid '90s.

If I couldn't have gotten a job right out of school I would have been in a world of hurt. I had $11 in my checking account the week I started GN orientation and had to borrow money to buy lunch at work.

I do not want to get into really personal stuff here, but this means freedom for myself and my children. I basically put it all on the line and promised my kids a better life, and despite it all the girl who didnt want a job at all but went to nursing school as a backup incase anything happened to her husbands job (no need for money or anything) got the job during internship. I had to face the fact that it doesnt matter if you do the right thing everytime (which really sucks at times), honest no matter what, give your everything to something.........Life just doesn't follow those standards; which I really thought and believed in. Some of the people with in's into the nursing field failed pharm class and got a free pass through, while I spent my whole summer with a pharm book to get the only A, have jobs but I do not. My freedom, my safety, my kids safety, and most of all our happiness depends on me getting a job and here I am. No one even cares about GPA, scholarships, volunteer work, all of the things that I thought would make someone see I am going to give my everything to this.

My life depends on a job too. I try to stay optimistic because I have fought against life my whole life and this is the first time I feel utterly defeated, it doesnt matter what I do, I am never going to change anything or succeed. I guess finally coming to the understanding that doing whats right, honesty, and hard work means nothing and the world is not just got to me. I'm trapped in hell and a job would set me free, but no matter what I do it seems like its never going to ever happen. There is no justice.

aubrn, keep at it, dear. There may be jobs to be had that are just not what you imagined. Be flexible; sometimes temporary positions can turn into something permanent, and sometimes applying for areas you never thought you would actually turns into something you love. Be unconventional; show up on nursing units and ask for the manager instead of going through HR. I'm not saying you haven't done all those things, and I don't mean to sound all motherly and advice-y. Just want to send a hug and my belief that things gotta work out for you somehow. :hug:

Not necessarily. An experienced nurse might need facility orientation (policies, where to find stuff, etc.), but clinically speaking, they can hit the ground running. Another nurse I was in orientation with (she had 10+ yrs. experience as an RN) actually got pulled out of orientation to go ahead and start working on the floor. She just didn't need to be with a preceptor like the new grads did, so she started working much sooner.

Yeah, I see what you mean. Even if I am the fastest learner; which I am it doesn't hold a candle to a nurse with experience. The one NM who interviewed me said I hired so-so and she was in training for half a day, and then I added her to schedule. I thought well, that sure won't be me and thats what she was looking for.

I wish there was a new grad prove yourself something, because if I could just have the chance to prove myself. I know I would win, against new grads that is!

By the by, I am not trying to have you divulge anything personal, but if getting a job is a matter of your safety and your children's, you might consider being reeeeeally unconventional. Military nursing? Applying out of state? Just thoughts. Again, hugs to you. :redbeathe

Specializes in medical surgical.

If you really believe you are not getting hired d/t a shortage you need to contact you legislature. If you google House Bill 1929 you will understand what I mean. I just do not have time right now to do this. I have already contacted them. I even went to a town meeting and was told "you will always be able to find a job". I just believe that our powers to be are out of touch with the current economy. I also see a saturation of NP's on the near horizon but this is just my opinion.

true. plus in the hospital setting new grads can cost about 80-100,000/ one new grad.

no. experienced nurses are shown the bathroom and where to put his/her belongings. if needed, he/she may get 1-2 days of hospital training on equipment to prove competency and maybe a few days-a few weeks of orientation if the nurse has entered a new specialty. that is usually all. new grads require a lot more orientation because new grads are taught how to nurse.

i see its making sense to me now. darn it for making sense. i know eventually they will have to start hiring new grads again, its impossible not to but how many of us will there be at that point. i am trying to figure out what is best for me to do. i am so frustrated because in any other area i have worked i was able to prove myself and that is all it ever took, but i cannot prove myself or i do not know how to prove myself in an interview.

Specializes in medical surgical.

One other idea for you younger students is to work in pharma or device sales and marketing. I have noticed that all of them have their BSN's. Also, I believe that the pay will far exceed what you will make in the clinical setting.

I feel your pain. I was in the same position. I got lucky recently getting hired for LTC. Maybe you should try other places beside hospitals? I am not picky for one being new grad. I would take anything available. However, in the near future, I do want to get specialize and certified on certain fields, so I can stay competitive and knowledgeable. I think nursing schools are at fault on this one. They continue to accept x amount of students and keep producing new grads to send them out for a fierce competitive job market. School should be responsible to secure jobs once they graduated, in my opinion. Many of us are being thrown out there to fail and being on our own.

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