Why are there no nursing jobs available for new grads? What is going on??

Nurses Job Hunt

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I just graduated from an ASN program in May and I am about to take the NCLEX next week. I do currently have a temporary new grad license...

But I just want to know why are there no jobs available? I live in Rhode Island and the employment here is horrible. Almost every single hospital that does have positions available wants at least 1-2 years of med-surg experience. How are we ever supposed to get experience if we can't get a job?? Even the few and far between positions for nurses at clinics and doctor's offices want 3-5 years experience, plus specialty experience. It is downright depressing.

One of the reasons I chose the health care field was because "there would always be jobs available." That is such a lie. Whenever I tell people that I just graduated and will be an RN they always say, at least you will never be without a job! That is so false.

When I spoke with the nurses at the hospitals where I did my clinical rotations, they said they felt so bad for us and how back in the 80's hospitals were begging them to take positions and even offering sign on bonuses.

I just feel like it will be so long before I ever find a job that I won't remember half of the stuff I learned :no:

"As I'm sure you can read on hundreds of threads, you need to market yourself aggressively by taking as many ongoing education classes as possible, trying to learn a foreign language, get a BSN/MSN, networking, volunteering, having a very good resume and cover letter and, to emphasize again, networking" PLEASE, STOP. JUST STOP!!! Um yeah, you know what? I'm not really looking to work in the entertainment business. And that's just what you make it sound like. AGGRESSIVE SELF PROMOTION? NETWORKING? NETWORKING? AND MORE NETWORKING? REALLY? Ya know, I think perhaps I made a colossal mistake in thinking that the nursing profession offered an opportunity to BE OF SERVICE to humanity!!! Sorry, I didn't realize it was going to be an exercise in Machiavellian BROWN NOSING! I suppose the first giveaway should have been the day I realized patients are being asked to take "customer satisfaction" surveys before being discharged. Absolutely ABSURD. Healthcare in the U.S. has become little more than a charade. A big, fat, hypocritical JOKE. And as for older nurses crowing about how new grads are so entitled, how they worked their tails off to get where they are, how they paid their dues, yada-yada-yada...well, let me just say yeah, yeah I've heard it before. And more often than not, it wasn't said in a fraternal spirit either. In fact I'm sorry to say this but I was saddened to find that some of the bitterest, nastiest, most unhelpful, spiteful, begrudging women I've had the displeasure of coming across were "seasoned" nurses that I had the displeasure of meeting during my clinicals. As a matter of fact, my clinical professor went as far to admit this when she smugly said to me,"you know we have a saying in nursing...Nurses eat their young". To which I say, EEEEWWWW!!!! BIG YUCK!!! This is NOT what I thought I was signing up for. So there, I finally said it. The emperor has no clothes!

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"As I'm sure you can read on hundreds of threads, you need to market yourself aggressively by taking as many ongoing education classes as possible, trying to learn a foreign language, get a BSN/MSN, networking, volunteering, having a very good resume and cover letter and, to emphasize again, networking" PLEASE, STOP. JUST STOP!!! Um yeah, you know what? I'm not really looking to work in the entertainment business. And that's just what you make it sound like. AGGRESSIVE SELF PROMOTION? NETWORKING? NETWORKING? AND MORE NETWORKING? REALLY? Ya know, I think perhaps I made a colossal mistake in thinking that the nursing profession offered an opportunity to BE OF SERVICE to humanity!!! Sorry, I didn't realize it was going to be an exercise in Machiavellian BROWN NOSING! I suppose the first giveaway should have been the day I realized patients are being asked to take "customer satisfaction" surveys before being discharged. Absolutely ABSURD. Healthcare in the U.S. has become little more than a charade. A big, fat, hypocritical JOKE. And as for older nurses crowing about how new grads are so entitled, how they worked their tails off to get where they are, how they paid their dues, yada-yada-yada...well, let me just say yeah, yeah I've heard it before. And more often than not, it wasn't said in a fraternal spirit either. In fact I'm sorry to say this but I was saddened to find that some of the bitterest, nastiest, most unhelpful, spiteful, begrudging women I've had the displeasure of coming across were "seasoned" nurses that I had the displeasure of meeting during my clinicals. As a matter of fact, my clinical professor went as far to admit this when she smugly said to me,"you know we have a saying in nursing...Nurses eat their young". To which I say, EEEEWWWW!!!! BIG YUCK!!! This is NOT what I thought I was signing up for. So there, I finally said it. The emperor has no clothes!

Just a word of advice, trotting out the old "nurses eat their young" chestnut won't get you far on this board. Or in real life.

Networking and self-promotion are realities in all professions. You don't HAVE to do it but, yeah, it helps.

They should hire you 'cause you really want to be "of service to humanity"? So your classmates who just want to begin a career and gainful employment don't deserve it as much as you? You have the same license as thousands of other new grads. You need to make yourself stand out somehow.

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Just a word of advice, trotting out the old "nurses eat their young" chestnut won't get you far on this board. Or in real life. Networking and self-promotion are realities in all professions. You don't HAVE to do it but, yeah, it helps. They should hire you 'cause you really want to be "of service to humanity"? So your classmates who just want to begin a career and gainful employment don't deserve it as much as you? You have the same license as thousands of other new grads. You need to make yourself stand out somehow.
Actually, in case you missed that part, it was a nursing professor who bestowed the "nurses eat their young" gem on me. Nice, huh? Also, I don't know how you've read that I feel more entitled to a job than my classmates. I have no problem at all with my classmates. I am, however, pretty disillusioned with the "vocation", as I'm certain must be evident from my previous comment. Anyway, thanks for the "tip".
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Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.

How about some humility lilibele?

Ever heard of that?

Sprinkled with some gratitude that you are even capable of being a nurse.

Get on your game and get an attitude adjustment.

Best Wishes.

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Actually, in case you missed that part, it was a nursing professor who bestowed the "nurses eat their young" gem on me. Nice, huh? Also, I don't know how you've read that I feel more entitled to a job than my classmates. I have no problem at all with my classmates. I am, however, pretty disillusioned with the "vocation", as I'm certain must be evident from my previous comment. Anyway, thanks for the "tip".

You're welcome.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Two things from a 'seasoned nurse':

1. If you take that attitude with you to a job interview, it's no wonder you can't get hired.

2. My experience with new grads has been, or at least many of the ones I've interviewed, they only want to work day shift and seem shocked when told weekends and holidays are expected of them. One of them actually said to me "I bet YOU don't work weekends and holidays!"

I patiently explained to her that I had been a nurse for more than 30 years. When I was a new grad I didn't have the luxury to pick and choose my shift so I worked evenings, weekends, and holidays, and oh by the way, I still go in on weekends.

So if you are offered a job on a shift other than days, I suggest you take it and shine at it so when a day position opens up, you might be able to move into that position.

The above mentioned new grad wasn't hired, not because of what she said to be but because she refused to have orientation from 'any LPN since I'm an RN'. I'm sure she's still looking for a job and blaming it on the economy or the seasoned nurses who don't have the sense to retire so new nurses can get a job.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

The current economy is permanent, more or less. Eventually, more nurses will retire but there will continue to be a surplus of nurses, based on the fact that supply outweighs demand. After 7 years, it's safe to make this assumption.What does this mean for nursing, especially new grads? Learn to adapt and be flexible with your Job Search. Forget about the unfairness of it all, because this is not going to change. Hoping it will is a waste of energy, too because we cannot control market trends. Instead, take some of the advice on this board, be patient, and you will eventually have a job. Realize that it may not be your 'dream job', and make the best of what you've got. Employers are going to choose the candidates who best fit the needs of the organization. Ask yourself what qualities you have to offer THEM. Relocating? People don't want to hear that, but you may need to move for a job. Thats just the way it is now.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Forget about the unfairness of it all, because this is not going to change.

The unfairness that bothers me the most is the false propaganda that will STILL see today. I still hear about the nursing shortage on TV and radio and I think I recently reading something on Yahoo.com about a shortage of nurses. In addition we have supposedly reputable organizations like the IOM (Institute Of Medicine) who are STILL putting out false statements about a critical shortage of nurses.

Your advice to newer nurses is very good and I hope for their sake they take it to heart. However I find the false propaganda offensive and very unfair. We all need to struggle against it.

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Thanks Joanna73. Yours is the only honest and helpful response to my comments so far. CapeCodMermaid, how exactly are you so darn sure that I'm unwilling to take ANY shift, in any capacity, as a new nurse? As a matter if fact, I would prefer working nights. You say that you when you were a new grad, you didn't have luxury of picking and choosing which shifts you would work...maybe so, but you can't really believe that the job climate of those days is in any way comparable to the present one. 30 years, you say? Well from what I know, at that time, nurses didn't make anywhere near the kind of salary they make today (and actually worked harder), therefore less people found themselves attracted to nursing, therefore there was an ACTUAL nursing shortage, therefore I would wager that your generation of new grad nurses were not treated like garbage (which seems to be the rule these days). Actually, the same goes for you HappyWife77. I'm an adult, quite capable of self-reflection. Nursing is a second career for me. Hope you take your own advice and lose your gargantuan 22year nursing vet hubris.

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How about some humility lilibele?Ever heard of that? Sprinkled with some gratitude that you are even capable of being a nurse.Get on your game and get an attitude adjustment. Best Wishes.
It's hard to be grateful about being a nurse when bills are going unpaid and food needs to get on the table. You know Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Well, the need for food, water, and shelter are more important than self-actualization or career goals. I am only grateful for being a nurse if I can survive as a nurse (Maslow!). If I am starving and homeless why be grateful if my RN license wasn't even a way out of hunger/ cold/ thirst?22 years ago you could be happy to be a nurse because finding a job and obtaining food, water, shelter, etc was pretty much a guarantee. Now days it doesn't matter: an RN license is just as useless as any other degree to find a job, and food/ water/ shelter are no longer guaranteed.
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Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.
It's hard to be grateful about being a nurse when bills are going unpaid and food needs to get on the table. You know Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Well the need for food, water, and shelter are more important than self-actualization or career goals. I am only grateful for being a nurse if I can survive as a nurse (Maslow!). If I am starving and homeless why be grateful if my RN license wasn't even a way out of hunger/ cold/ thirst?22 years ago you could be happy to be a nurse because finding a job and obtaining food, water, shelter, etc was pretty much a guarantee. Now days it doesn't matter: an RN license is just as useless as any other degree to find a job, and food/ water/ shelter are no longer guaranteed.[/quote']

Is this your Self fullfilling prophecy that your meditating on ?

Persevere till somethings gives....life isn't given or easy whether you have an RN license or not. Crying the blues and Self Pity will keep you were you are at.

I don't stop till I make the changes I am yearning for.....

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Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.

Seriously. ....the best advice is to keep applying online and locally , the days you aren't hired, use your day for applying to positions UNTIL you GET a job. Yes 8 hours of looking and applying!

I have relocated, done travel nursing when I was single, worked every weekend nights. When I applied non stop....once it took three months to get a call from someone I didn't even remember applying to online( which I took the position...moved where I knew noone and then met my awesome husband!) I think all LTC facilties need nurses, if you can show that your willing and openminded to learn what it will require. You could possible get hired!

Lilibele and Obesity33....your anger and sarcasism is some of what I get from your post...WHICH IS GREAT! WE ALL NEED TO VENT! :yes: But just adjust it before a face to face interview....as someone else posted it is easily read.

Best wishes...I truely hope something gives and you guys find what your looking for.

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