I find this so hard to believe. I live in a large city (Chicago) and we have so many nursing jobs available it's not funny. The nursing shortage is felt here. I've worked at places where there was 6 floors (only 5 were used for patients) and instead of having 9 nurses to cover the 50 residents on each floor, there may have been 3 nurses in the building. The hospitals are hiring LPNs (I am one) to work in NICU. I know because I was offered this position immediately after graduation. The jobs are out there. Where in the world are these new nurses looking?