Comments on: “I Thought There Was a Nursing Shortage!”

By: dawn

dawn — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:19:23 +0000

I graduated as a PN in June of ‘09. I went back to school after being a stay at home mother for five years. After I passed boards, I expected to find a job within the month. I couln’t have been more wrong. Here I am months later still looking for ANY job. I’m not being picky. I feel like I wasted mine and my children’s time going to school. I’ve now had to move my family in with my mother at 25 years old. How is a new grad to get experience if no one will hire you? Catch 22 from hell. So much for a new start.

By: unsinkablemb

unsinkablemb — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:38:52 +0000

One word of advice for new grads: NETWORK. In my experience, this is a great way to find a job. Not every job opening makes it to the hospital website AND not every recruiter is good at following up to online applications. A tight job market calls for a more aggressive approach. Talk to friends and family who might know someone who works for the hospital you want to work for.

Not only is networking a great way to get a foot in the door, sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to get the inside scoop on the working environment (keep in mind every unit in a hospital has its own “culture”).

Another thing… Look at specialities such as Peri-Operative Nursing which don’t get a lot of coverage in nursing school. Because of the lack of publicity, we are hurting for OR nurses! A lot of big hospitals hire new grads — some even offer tuition reimbursement with a 2 year commitment.

And by the way, Ed made an interesting point about nurses starting home health businesses. I’ve been hearing about lucrative opportunities in that area. If I get sick of the OR, I think that’s the way to go.

By: Angie Rn

Angie Rn — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:36:04 +0000

I’m not a new grad, but only have one year experience. Let me give a word of advice. If you do get a job, don’t just up and leave it for the promise of a job with better pay. The pay might be better, but I can guarantee there is a reason. This is what I did and wound up losing that job because it was a horrible job where I was in charge of the LPNs and they weren’t really into having anyone supervise them b/c they mostly worked on that shift with no RN supervising them. It was a bad situation and I have now been out of work for 3 months. I only had one job offer and it was 2 hours from my house with horrible hours for commuting. Other hospitals have been advertising for positions, but aren’t actually hiring. Good luck to all you new grads out there. You will find a job and hopefully it will be a good one!

By: Olaf Garcia

Olaf Garcia — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:04:29 +0000

I agree with Ed Gordon(Interesting blog by the way). Although I am not happy about it, this difficult job market has forced me to step up my game. Instead of counting my ’signing bonus,’ I’ve been doing some valuable self-assessment, and putting much more thought into how I want to shape my career than I would have otherwise. While I do have my moments when I’m bitter about this job market, I think this adversity is ultimately going to make for a lot stronger group of nurses, myself included.

Great article too! I have intuitively started doing a lot of the approaches that Donna Cardillo writes about. I feel like I’m at least adapting to whats happening in an effective way.

Cheers

By: EdwardRN

EdwardRN — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:34:25 +0000

My prediction, which admittedly is an uneducated one, is that anyone in nursing school now, and any new grad now, can expect to eventually find a decent job doing what they want if they are willing to relocate or work nights, or some such thing. But we are at the end of the nursing shortage. Everyone always knew that if an economic downturn happened the nursing shortage would end. Well, the downturn is here.

Now, every construction worker, auto worker, financial advisor and real estate agent is trying to get into nursing school where the “old” news is that there are pleanty of high-paying jobs just waiting for them (not to mention the halo you get when you become a nurse). And hospitals, even with open positions aren’t filling them.

Eventually, this will have another effect: the long awaited BSN as an entry level educational requirement. Depending on how tight the market gets, an MSN may be required one day to be an RN. Just look at physical therapy or nutrition.

One has to look at the reasons for the nursing shortage: As much money, if not more, could be made outside of nursing. But now, when there are more people willing to be nurses than there are jobs, the playing field changes.

But consider this, perhaps nurses will get together and start home health businesses. Perhaps LTC will get quality people for once. Perhaps nurses will become more professional. Perhaps while some nurses are not able to get their dream job, the actual practice of nursing will get a tremendous shot in the arm. I hope so.

Ed Gordon, RN
http://www.lastnursestanding.blogspot.com

By: katie

katie — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:59:59 +0000

No texas isnt having a shortage. I too am a graduate nurse, and many people in my class are having a hard time finding jobs here in the Houston area. I didn’t want to stay in Houston, so I looked into the rest of the state, and Austin is on a hiring freeze. Some parts are, but it’s not as great as the other lady made it out to be. especially if you want to specialize like NICU, ICU, ER, etc… Hurricane Ike and the economy we’re in just isn’t helping things for new grad’s.

By: BabyRN

BabyRN — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:04:46 +0000

I just stumbled upon this article as I was looking on the net for a job in almost two months since passing my boards. I am discouraged but also encouraged that I will still get to use my skills and hopefully camaraderie in being a new grad when I start looking into SNF/LTF’s. Thanks for the “shot in the arm”!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:18:25 +0000

For any new grads who really want to work in a hospital, don’t turn down the opportunity at a long term care facility. That’s not my first choice either, but in many hospital settings you are bound to get patients from these facilities, and your previous experience there will help A LOT, believe me.

By: Candy

Candy — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:04:58 +0000

I have been a nurse for several years, and have been in several focus areas in nursing- including that of an instructor. Please know, there is absolutely nothing wrong, or insignificant, if you choose to work in long term care. The LTC facilities are now challenged and the work can actually be more acute skilled based and face paced than that of the hospital setting. Multitasking and working in difficult situations is something that you would be, or could be potentially be faced with. Not to mention, LTC nursing is extremely rewarding. Don’t sell yourself short by believing hospital nursing is the only path to take. Remember, nursing is one of the most, if not the most, diverse profession there is. Look around, explore.

By: DIXIE

DIXIE — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:12:12 +0000

COME ON DOWN!!! CONSISTANT SHORTAGE HERE IN “TEXAS, YA’LL COME, YA HEAR.” LOL!!! THERE ARE LOTS, OF GOOD PAYING JOBS/ RELATING TO COST OF LIVING, HIRING BONUSES AND RELOCATION MONEY, $2,000.00 TO $15,000.00 DEPENDING ON EXPERIENCE AND OR AREA OF TEXAS. HIRING GNS/RNS/GVNS/LVNS ALIKE. OR SIGN ON WITH A TRAVELING SERVICE TO GET A TASTE OF THE AREA WITHOUT A LONG TERM OBLIGATION.