Discuss 'Job market tightens for nursing grads'

My one co-worker thinks I am making this story up! There was a front page news article in the Chicago Trib, talking about it.

I feel that people, having lost their jobs/insurance/etc., are putting off surgery (unless desperately needed). No money into hospitals = no money to pay staff. Plain and simple. Oh, and CEO's shouldn't get their bonuses, either.

I also agree that the CEO's shouldn't get their bonuses, but who am I to say that? I am certain none of them have guilty feelings about anything they do. The job market where I am is terrible. There are a ton of proprietary schools that pump out LVN's too often, none of which can find jobs. New grads and experienced nurses alike can not find work. I have clients that are well aware about the job market for nurses and they don't hesitate to make comments along those lines to their nurses. They know that they hold a nurse's livelihood in their hands and they can get what they want from the agencies. I am getting somewhat dissatisfied with home health. I am getting tired of being told there is no work available. They certainly don't sing that song to the unemployment people when they call.

Tell me about the unemployment song! Have heard quite a few fellow nurses saying that their former employers 'turn tail' on them, and tell the UE folks 'there's plenty of jobs out there!' Yeah, if you want to go into gang infested areas 40 miles away, and can speak Spanish.

On an aside, there was an article I read where a nurse had their car broken into. 2 O2 sats were stolen, as well as a computer and some other things. Tells ya something, eh?

I actually had one of the UI people make a comment during an interview about the fact that employers can legally demand Spanish language proficiency, yeah, right. But they still whine because they can't keep Spanish-speaking nurses when they snag them. He also told me that I could have a case to refuse to go too far to work. So, I am going to go to a hearing and successfully explain why I don't want to drive to one of the worst gangbanger areas of the entire nation, coincidentally almost 40 miles from my home? Yeah, you go to work in Compton CA at night. A car burned in front of the house on my third night working there. Now that I am off unemployment, no way will I go back there.

I let the staffing coordinator know what I thought when he made a comment about the nursing supervisor not coming to the house to supervise me on night shift. I told him straight up, "Oh, so it's ok for me to go there to work at night five nights a week, but it is too unsafe for her to come and make a 15 minute visit?" I really wonder how bad business must be that an agency 40 + miles away has to take cases in places like Compton which could be better served by local agencies with local nurses.

In my area the market is horrible. I worked hard in school, volunteered and did an externship to make my resume shine as much as I could and what did that get me? Rejection email after rejection email and nurse recruiters who don't return calls. The ones who answer tell me that they are not hiring new grads. I had to relocate to an area that pays HALF of what RNs get paid in my area.

I see many ads for nurses with at least a year experience.

My GF just started school to get her RN. Was this a mistake?

Thanks. She was kinda worried that Obamacare might screw up career opportunities, but decided that it looks more promising than a lot of careers where jobs are scarce. It would suck to go through the training and find out there are no jobs.