nights
I understand your grief, I know that new grads are stuck with the crappy shifts...like night shift. You may have to apply for a night shift and hope that in a short time of working nights, another day or evening position will open up and inside employees will have first dibs.

why isnt anyone calling?
I can imagine your frustration especially when you hear about the nursing shortage. When I was a new grad several years ago, the hospital had specific hiring times for new grads as they would be in orientation/nurse internships together and then divided up into their areas of interests as well as evening or night shift positions as THOSE ARE WHERE THE REAL SHORTAGES ARE! The issue with new grads is that the hospital has to have experienced nurses to train and orient the new grad. Sometimes the hospital cannot take on a new nurse because they dont have enough seasoned nurses to adequately support the new nurse. YOU MUST HAVE A SUPPORTIVE TEAM AS A NEW GRAD. I was fortunate enough to get a job at a hospital that has an excellent nurse internship program. Before I accepted my night shift position on med-surg/ortho, i shadowed for about four hours and met the team and observed the way they worked and interacted with eachother ( I had to get permission and a visitor badge first). It was great and I lasted 3 years. I have since burned out from the hospital. My advice is to attend job fairs, also, see if you can hand deliver your resume to some recruiters. It may be that they will start recruiting for new grads in the spring. The place I worked hired primarily in fall and spring. Are you looking into a specialty area? that can also limit your opportunities. Once you have that year of med-surg or telemetry, you can move on to another area or shift more easily. Best of Luck!!

Wow. That sounds scary to me seeing that I'm a L.P.N. working nursing homes and going for my R.N. with the aspiration of hospice work even now. But I always thought once I got my R.N. I wouldn't have any problems. Maybe I can hold onto the belief that my experience as a nurse now will open doors for me, but then again with all these hospitals requiring experience it's a catch 22. I would say take whatever you can get for the time being because you make yourself look more appealing to recruiters if your already in somewhere doing something. As the adage goes, "It's always easier to find a job when you already have one". I'm taking on nights because I actually perfer the work at nights and I'm going for an interview myself tommarrow morning. It's so close to home I could walk there and plus I figure it's family friendly as long as I make time for my soon to be husband on my nights off. But if you wake up at 5p.m. and go to sleep at 9a.m. you'll still have 8 hrs sleep and the whole evening ahead to look forward too. I think as a new nurse you might actually feel more comfortable starting off with the night shift because it's not as demanding as far as the stress load goes on days. It will make you look good because you are working and plus it'll let you dip your big toe in the water before being scolded too early on in your carreer. Remember, some new nurses are ate up instantly by the big sharks out there. I know this isn't the issue with you but I just want to let you in on the little dirty secrete out there in the big bad nursing world of reality. See, I thought that it was just me, and I'm only a L.P.N. working in nursing homes, but as I have R.N. peer to talk freely too I am educated that it's like there in the hospitals too and the first year is sort of tough because your not only finding your work groove and nitch in things but your earning the respect of your co-workers. It's like a small town you move into when you lived in the big city our whole life. The townies are going to need time to warm up to you and might not take so kindly to you at first, but if you stand your ground in a intelligent way and always think on your feet to cover your butt, not just from legal stand points but with critisizing nurses surrounding you who want to know just how much do you know and are you really a team player and are you knowledgable to trust then your in. Eventually you'll find work, and if your single with no ties to hold you back, check out travel nursing, although I think most of those agencies want some experience first, but don't limit yourself at this point, you should be wide open to receive any and all work invitations. If you feel your resume is weak then have someone help you with it and if you have the doe, buy help with the professionals who do that for a living. I remember using nursing instructors and college peers as my refrences as a new nurse because I didn't have any nurse related ones at the time. I would have used some of the charge nurses that I had clinical with but I didn't think of it at the time. Maybe you have some of that information for yourself. Either way, there are ways of being creative to present professionalism with no experience, well actually, you do have experience, in clinical. And last but not least don't forget volunteer work while your looking. It doesn't matter what your volunteering for either as long as it gets you into a hospital where you have access to personnel and make it point to say hello to H.R. often and inquire about future postings. I hope this helps. Good luck on your search and the way fate usually has it, all the positions will call on the same day! Then you'll be posting about decesions!

Yeah, you'll soon learn enough about nursing. Infact, you're learning about it now....unless they REALLY need you, they won't treat you that well...that includes calling you back and being decent enough to tell you that there are no positions available or only nights available and so on.

My BF is in business, what a different mentality! He gets calls back telling him about the position he applied to and what they are looking for. They don't do this in nursing. Your treated like a labour bee, not a professional looking for a job.

I graduated two years ago, I didn't find a job for 4 months! All the hospitals wanted a nurse with 1 year of experience! Hello! How was I suppose to get this experience if no one wanted to give me a chance??? I'm going through the same thing now, as I've just finished an OR program and am looking for a job....they all want you to have 1-2 years of experience!

This is what finally got me a job....Ortho floors and medical floors are the perfect place to start. I"d find out about a hospital - what each floor was, then I'd call the main directory and ask to be transfered to the "OR Managers line". I'd get transfered directly to the managers voicemail and leave a voice mail about who I am and that I am looking for any positions available.

Thats the best you can do...get directly to the decision maker. Isn't nursing lovely?

I had the same problem when I graduated three years ago in Ontario. Partly it was my fault, that I didn't start looking for jobs until I just graduated. I was just so glad to be done school and wanted a break for about a week. After that I got really serious, calling everyday, mailing, emailing, faxing out my resumes. I finally got a job about two months later in a medical clinic which paid me very little money.

I was told over and over again that they were saturated with new grads. I was also applying to bc, greater vancouver area hospitals. I was told that there was a [/b]shortage in specialty areas. Well being a new grad I didnt' have money to go back to school. Finally I switched for a casual shift with nursing homes, which was ALMOST ALWAYS nightshift and weekends. I made much better money however.

It happened to a lot of the people I graduated with. Half of them were either trying to get to the states or had already found a position in the states, as they appeared to be much more interested in new grads. They were offering to train them in specialty areas with two or three years contracts and help diploma nurses upgrade to a degree. I finally just decided to do a specialty in the Operating Room and pay for it myself and just stay in Canada.

Now that I have this job in the Operating Room I feel more confident in being able to find jobs. I got hired for a casual position in another hospital within six months of starting in the OR. I also a job offer for a med/surg floor, which I was told a year earlier was saturated. I had told the manager that if she had offered me that position a year ago I would have gladly have taken it, but investing money into a program for the OR I had to consolidate my skills in that area.

Good luck in your search. I don't know if you are from the states or Canada. I think there are more positions available in the states however.

Poor results w/ new grad jobs...
Dear Shantifire...
IHi... Hope your day is well... t's sad to see the field of nursing so short staffed yet so selective of whom they're going to hire for bedside care. !BS! I would, however, suggest seeking employment at a teaching facility or a large community based hospital or a Trauma center. In what city do you live? I might be willing/able to help. Prepare a resume and "Pound the pavement". Show up at an HR office and ask to speak to the Nurse Recruiter, !NOT! just the HR rep. Of course, their are compromises also. Go back to your school and ask the Dean if He/She could help you find a job. Post your resume, even though it might possibly be limited, on Monster.com. You'll be surprised. I've been in Healthcare since '83 and an RN since '93. I've been at the bedside(ER,ICU,CCU,CathLab, Specials,LTC,) and in management. Secondary to staffing/profit/loss issues, the past 3 years have gotten increasingly difficult to remain at the bedside. I have transitioned back into Flight Nursing. Other than my current Co., !I love it! I have complete autonomy and don't have to deal w/ hospital/bedside issues... Plus, I only work 8-10 days/mos. YES!!!
Get back to me and keep me posted on your progress... Havagooday...
Ken Pineda, RN,BSN,RRT
Flight RN(CA,NV,AZ)
[email protected]

Discouraged
Thanks for your suggestions but i have tried getting in touch with the Nurse Recruiters in the Worcester, MA area hospitals and the refuse to call me back. Most of the hospitals i am applying at are big and the smaller ones are affiliated with the bigger ones so they keep the nurse recruiters well hidden, lol. I know my area is inundated with new graduate nurses so i have been looking further out but the more i think about it (Boston, MA or Springfield, MA) i realize that like my area they have tons of schools that pump out about 40 students every spring and fall as well.

Gainfully "Un-employed"
Hi...
Again...
Here's a thought. Why don't you try "Monster.com" or use a local "Headhunter" or Staffing/Travel Co. to assist you w/ finding a posiiton...(((???)))... Is it possible to look for work in another nearby state, i.e., NY, NJ, PA, RI, VT, NH, CT...???
Havagooday...
Ciao...
Ken