I got into a Direct Entry MSN-FNP program where I will graduate in 3.5 years. I was excited at first, but browsing through all the allnurses threads is so discouraging . I am reading post after post of new grads who can not find jobs...some even unemployed for years now! The program I got into is private so the costs are astronomical - I fear not finding jobs to pay off loans when I'm done. Will things get better in a few years?
People often reply back to the unemployed posts that "things will turn around" and etc. However, with no one hiring, the nursing schools are still pumping out new grads in record numbers that will accumulate the number of unemployed nurses right? Won't this therefore create a continual over supply of nurses even when the hiring freezes are over?
I've read some posts where veteran nurses report that this sort of cycle happened in the 80s and mid 90s as well before fixing itself. Is this really the same sort of cycle as before?
Sigh...I wish that were true Hearts. The same thing that is hurting new RN grads is the same thing that seems to be hurting NP grads as well from the posts that I have read - lack of experience. If people are not willing to take on new grads because of lack of experience...how are they suppose to get experience in the first place?
Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
i've read some posts where veteran nurses report that this sort of cycle happened in the 80s and mid 90s as well before fixing itself. is this really the same sort of cycle as before?
no, this is not the same as the 80s or the 90s. according to experienced nurses i know who worked back in the 80s and the 90s, they had no trouble getting into nursing schools (no competition) and their schools did not graduate the numbers that are gradating now. plus, schools in the 80s were shutting down due to a lack of interest by students! therefore, although when they graduated there was a lack of jobs and they had low pay, they did not experience what we are experiencing today! when the market changed for them there were enough jobs for the few rns and lpns that were left around. new grads were not looking, they were being recruited. you have it correct, the numbers do not add up.
there is no way positions for nurses (especially new grads) will open up to equal or out number the supply of students entering the field and students graduating when the economy gets better. how can it???? everyone is going to nursing school!! plus, more schools are poping up every day!
I agree the numbers do not add up. My lab partner and I talked about this the other day. Everyone we know is going into nursing. I think alot of people see the bad economy and think that nursing is their ticket around the bad economy and unemployment.
There is an article on this site that says that 1 out of 3 nurses plans on quitting the next few years. I doubt it happens because people have to work, even if they hate their jobs. But if it does, it should open things up for new grads, even if 1 in 10 nurses leaves in the next three years instead of 1 in 3, that's 10% of the entire field. Bad economy or not, that opens things up.
What baffles me is that the local hospitals here advertise 60+ openings for RNs. People say that they are not willing to fill them with new grads? Why not? New grads are the future of the field. They would rather be shorted staffed than hire new grads? Its beyond logical.
Yes, they would rather work short staffed. I have applied for positions that have been open for months. I fully believe that they have no intentions of filling these position. They are open so that the public will think they are trying to do something to take care of the substandard care that results when hospitals are understaffed, with no real intentions of actually filling them.
And I'm not talking about specialized positions. I'm talking about med-surg, 12 hour midnights positions. If a new grad can't even get an interview for these, and HR chooses to keep them posted for 6+ months, this tells me that these are 'fake' positions.
. I am reading post after post of new grads who can not find jobs...some even unemployed for years now! The program I got into is private so the costs are astronomical - I fear not finding jobs to pay off loans when I'm done. Will things get better in a few years? 
alabamacrimson
26 Posts
How does one become a NP? What education or combination of experience and education does that require?