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 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.

You know thats a really good way to look at things. I wonder how many nurses are supporting their families like that, probably numerable people.

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Specializes in cardiac, ICU, education.
You may notice at once how bad places like CA are and why we see so many posts of new-grads in CA having an especially hard time.

So, in conclusion... is there a nursing shortage? Debatable. There is certainly demand for RN's, but only for experienced RN's.

I completely agree with you. A number of nurses who cannot find jobs are from regions where there is a shortage of jobs in general. There are many rural areas that need nurses and some not so rural. Our grads are finding jobs even in the city, but we don't have a surplus like in certain regions.

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The problem is any particular unit can only hire so many new grads at one time. If they are still orienting May new grads, they won't have room for December. This is especially true in specialty areas. Its a risk to patient care if there is not a balance of experience vs. new grads. If you didn't work on your resume throughout nursing school (getting hospital experience, volunteer hours, joining associations), you are not going to stand out among the new grads that did for the few positions and residencies that are out there.

There IS a nursing shortage out there, but its a shortage of experienced RNs. The market is flooded with new RNs and unfortunately its really competitive....

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There has not been a "shortage" for ages.;

There are few jobs suitable for a new grad, open.

I would say that 20K is actually a very lowball number. The training cost where I am at (due to specialization) for the first year is closer to 40-60K, for a new grad and about half that for an experienced onco or ICU nurse. There are additional trainings in the second year. There is also more liability risk as well as wear and tear on experienced staff.

It is estimated that new grads take about 2-3 years to become fully independant in my dept. We verbally ask them when taking the job to obligate themselves to 3 years. We do not have them sign contract. After they work ICU/Onco with us, they can pretty much get a job anywhere in a teaching hospital, and most community hospitals.

We have a wonderful manager and one of the better ratios and pay scales in the area. Excellent benefits, and a very good environment of care.

Of new grads hired in the last 3 years, about 25, we lost 3 in the first few weeks. Didn't show up, weren't on time, missed shifts for ridiculous reasons. we lost another 3 during orientation after repeated lengthening of orientation. They just could not get it, couldn't think critically or show the independance required of our dept.

We lost another 7 to lifestyle changes. Met a new man and moved, didn't like the area, wanted a different job/dept, didn't like the hours/rotation/holiday schedule/etc. But not before they received large amts of specialized training.

Our dept actually prefers new grads that they can train from the ground up, and as it initially costs almost as much to train an experienced nurse as a new grad. But the experienced nurses hired have not left. When they get training, they have extra knowledge to contribute. And they have an established life/work record and ethic.

Virtually all of our experienced recently hired have worked as travelers on the floor. They have benn "tried" and are a known fit.

I think contracts would help the situation out a bit. I wish there was some sort of new grad testing, so they dont just have to hire blindly and know at least somewhat of what they were going to get.

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Nursing schools used to teach enough skills to be able to get a job with a fair amount of confidence that the technical stuff was at least gone over and checked off before graduation (or at least that's what I encountered after I started working and newbies showed up). All of this "preceptor this" and "internship that" are an extension of what nursing school blew off imo. :o

Not fair to the students or future employers (not to mention the patients).

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Nursing schools used to teach enough skills to be able to get a job with a fair amount of confidence that the technical stuff was at least gone over and checked off before graduation (or at least that's what I encountered after I started working and newbies showed up). All of this "preceptor this" and "internship that" are an extension of what nursing school blew off imo. :o

Not fair to the students or future employers (not to mention the patients).

Wonder if our society's being so litigious prompted nursing schools to do less and less clinically? Hmm...ok, back to regularly scheduled thread before I go off on a rabbit trail...:D

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

Another question asked over and over again.

There is NO nursing shortage.

New grads are very expensive to train.

Hospitals are not really hiring and filling vacant positions (for RN's that is), they are under staffing and over working to save money....do more with less.

Schools are cranking out grads at an alarming rate saturating the market over some misguded illusion, or they are just palin lying, that there is a shortage.

Ask your legislature....http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.1929:#

https://allnurses.com/gsearch.php?cx=partner-pub-9350112648257122%3Avaz70l-mgo9&cof=DIV%3Acacaca%3BBGC%3AF8F7F5%3BFORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&as_q=why+aren't+new+grads+getting+hired#1356

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

First, where are these 100s of unfilled positions? Second, new grads can usually only apply for new grad positions. These are positions that come with a preceptor. New grads can costa tens of thousands of dollars to train. And when hospitals are short staffed they don't have time to train a new grad, they need some one with experience

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
Okay, I thought I wanted a logical answer. I lied, that sucks. Plus, there is all this jumping ship going on. Thats insane it costs that much to train a new grad, an experienced nurse can just come in and do the job without training? I assumed that they would all need the same training coming from different places or fields?

Experienced nurses get a week or less of orientation. My friend is a travel nurse and they gave her three days and then she was on her own. New grads need several months; up to 6 on a specialty unit

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Specializes in geriatrics.

People are hiring new grads, just not as many as in previous years. You need to be very flexible. Take whatever nursing experience you can find. That might mean a commute or a big move. It depends. Rural areas are often in need of nurses, but these areas may not be as attractive.

Too often, I read: "I want my dream job, no nights, no weekends, no LTC. The job must be at XYZ hospital, I don't want to commute...."

Etc, etc. That mindset just isn't realistic. Networking, as opposed to blindly sending online applications also sets many new grads apart, and lands that first job. You will find work eventually. Be patient and treat looking for work like a full time job.

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Specializes in cardiac, ICU, education.
Nursing schools used to teach enough skills to be able to get a job with a fair amount of confidence that the technical stuff was at least gone over and checked off before graduation (or at least that's what I encountered after I started working and newbies showed up). All of this "preceptor this" and "internship that" are an extension of what nursing school blew off imo

Wonder if our society's being so litigious prompted nursing schools to do less and less clinically? Hmm...ok, back to regularly scheduled thread before I go off on a rabbit trail

I am tired of all the so-called nursing schools that have popped up over the last 10 years that are robbing students of their money and teaching at such a bare minimum that the graduates are barely prepared enough to take a blood pressure their first day. These schools fight for clinical time at hospitals and rob the rest of the established and respected schools the clinical time they had for previous graduates. Sim labs are only so effective.

In addition, nursing students just have to know so much more now then when they graduated 15-20 years ago. Just the pharmacology alone that we require them to understand is daunting, but the hospital setting is much more critical and litigious then ever before and hospitals are not providing nearly enough clinical time on their floors to students.

On one hand nurses get mad when you suggest that more time in school (ADN vs BSN) and more clinical time should be required. (There are a number of nursing students who complain every semester about too much clinical time). Then when the schools out there are pumping out nursing students with much less clinical time than they had 10 years ago, staff nurses complain that they are not prepared.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I am tired of all the so-called nursing schools that have popped up over the last 10 years that are robbing students of their money and teaching at such a bare minimum that the graduates are barely prepared enough to take a blood pressure their first day. These schools fight for clinical time at hospitals and rob the rest of the established and respected schools the clinical time they had for previous graduates. Sim labs are only so effective.

In addition, nursing students just have to know so much more now then when they graduated 15-20 years ago. Just the pharmacology alone that we require them to understand is daunting, but the hospital setting is much more critical and litigious then ever before and hospitals are not providing nearly enough clinical time on their floors to students.

On one hand nurses get mad when you suggest that more time in school (ADN vs BSN) and more clinical time should be required. (There are a number of nursing students who complain every semester about too much clinical time). Then when the schools out there are pumping out nursing students with much less clinical time than they had 10 years ago, staff nurses complain that they are not prepared.

Well said......I think that today the BSN is what should be minimum.....IF and I mean IF they teach bedside nursing. The BSN grads I have encountered consider it beneath them to "get their hands dirty" and frequently inquire "aren't there aides for that?" (:devil: Which really gets me going. ) I hear plenty about their leadership classes and are fluent on supervision....:rolleyes:. The number of nursing students complaining about clinical time I'll bet are using the BSN as a stepping stone to get to the "big money specialties" as they consider bedside nursing beneath their four year degree.

Us old diploma and ADN nurses (well, yes I have a BSN) get sick and tired of being disrespected by these BSN grads because their "degree" is higher and therefore they believe they are more educated and better than the 20 year veteran....... when they have never put in an Foley or an NGT.

I still believe this has been propagated by a false sense of a shortage that never really existed and because of the economy probably won't happen for many more years.

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