|
Welcome to Nurturing New Nurses, a Q&A-style career column for new grads!
Q: Seven years ago, I found myself out of a job. I spent 6 months looking and finally decided to seek an education. I choose nursing.
I received my degree in May 2008. I passed my boards in July 2008 on my first try with only 75 questions. I chose to take some time off for personal reasons before pursuing my career. In January 2009, 6 months after being licensed, I began to search for employment in earnest.
I am a mom. My husband works extreme and erratic hours at two jobs. This has put me in a position of not being able to work the traditional 12- hour shifts offered by hospitals. When I applied to the program, I discussed this with the counselors, instructors and head of the nursing department. I was assured of the numerous and varied options for new grads.
Now, despite applying to many, many jobs, I am still jobless. My license is due for renewal in September. I am frustrated beyond belief. I want to work. But no one other than hospitals seems to be willing to hire new grads. And they only offer 12-hour shifts with weekends. I cannot leave my child to fend for himself.
I am facing the realization that something I have worked so hard for and achieved the education and license for is still out of my reach. To make matters worse, I will soon have to take a job other than nursing due to financial difficulties in this plummeting economy. I feel as if I wasted 5 years of my life. And every time I hear "We are in a nursing shortage," I want to scream. I understand the economy has hit us all, but why perpetuate the cycle of nursing shortages by forcing new grads out before they can even begin? I can't tell you if I will even be a nurse for much longer. No one seems to want me. And I am beyond understanding why! I had good grades. I excelled in clinic. Why run off what this nation is in sore need of?
A: Despite the nursing shortage, the economy has impacted nurses' careers. Hospitals are downsizing and trying to use their resources to create more efficient and effective care. New graduate nurses require a great deal of staff resources. Therefore, hospitals are cutting back on the number of new graduate nurses that they are hiring.
Fortunately for patients, hospitals are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Unfortunately for nurses, long shifts and weekend shifts can be a burden and interfere with family life. If you are trying to avoid 12-hour hospital shifts, you may want to consider looking into employment at a nursing home. Many nursing homes are still operating under traditional 8-hour shifts. If you are trying to avoid weekend shifts, you may want to consider applying for per diem jobs. Under per diem status you can pick and choose the days and times that you want to work. The only disadvantage to per diem status is that most hospitals do not cover health benefits for nurses employed per diem. If you can get health insurance through your husband's company, this shouldn't be an issue.
The good news is that the economy will turn around. There is and will continue to be a nursing shortage. As a new graduate nurse, this is a tough time to enter the nursing work force. However, 1 year of nursing experience will gain you a tremendous amount of experience and seniority. After one year of acute care, or nursing home experience you can search for jobs in other areas of nursing such as home health, ambulatory care, surgical units, case management, and the list goes on. The first year is the hardest. Try to keep your head up and not give up on the profession.
Kelley Strout is a wellness educator at Martin's Point Healthcare, Portland, ME.
|