Joelle Hall started looking for a job three months before her graduation from the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing at Georgia State University. By May 2010, she had a degree, but still wasn’t employed.
“Our advisors had told us to start looking early,” said Hall, BSN, RN. “After graduation, I was doing some pretty rigorous job searching. I spent eight hours a day applying and studying for the NCLEX [National Council Licensure Examination]. It was a very stressful time.”
She applied for jobs online, as many hospitals requested, but few responded.
“The school had advised us to start networking before we graduated or to get a job as a patient-care tech in the hospital where we wanted to work,” she said. “I wished I had done that. I realize now it’s a great way to learn more about your field, as well as to get to know nurses on the floor.”
Fortunately, in June 2010 a friend had been hired by DeKalb Medical, and recommended Hall for a slot in the hospital’s nurse residency program.
Because the program didn’t start until August, Hall worked as a patient care technician to learn about the type of patients she would be treating in intensive care and to get to know her co-workers. Hall is now a critical care nurse at DeKalb Medical’s main campus in Decatur.
“I’ve been on my own for about seven months and I love my job,” she said.
Hall entered nursing school with bright employment prospects but by 2010, the recession had taken a toll. Decreased patient volume, older nurses delaying retirement and an increase of nurses returning to the work force made competition stiff for new nurses.
“Not every hospital is open to investing in new graduates, but all of my friends found jobs within six months and only one had to go out of state,” Hall said.
She empathizes with this year’s graduates who are facing similar difficulties, but she also offers encouragement.
“It’s scary and takes so much time and energy to search for a job,” Hall said. “It’s easy to get discouraged, but my advice is to be diligent about making contacts. Believe in yourself when you interview and it will happen. You will find a job.”
‘Jobs are a bit scarcer’
Nursing school officials and hospital hiring managers say the prospects for recent graduates haven’t improved since 2010 and might be worse.
Georgia State graduated 70 nursing students in May and 25 more will finish this summer. Most will have jobs within three to six months, predicted Mary C. Gephardt, assistant professor and undergraduate program coordinator at Georgia State’s nursing school.
“We tell them that they’ll find a job. It may not be THE job. Within a year or two they’ll see their dream job come along,” said Gephardt, RN, Ph.D., MSN. “Jobs are a bit scarcer at the moment.
“It’s more expensive for hospitals to hire new grads. They require more training, but they also bring fresh outlooks, enthusiasm and knowledge to the table. We tell our students to understand the positive aspects of what they bring and to sell themselves.”
She encourages them to see job interviewing as a two-way street by asking questions and seeking a good fit.
“They should be looking for an environment that offers them mentoring and good role-modeling,” she said. “They want a place where they won’t be thrown to the wolves, somewhere that they’ll be valued and also be given credit for being a novice.
“Since graduation isn’t an end to their learning, they want a culture that will continue to teach and develop them as nurses.”
Cautious hiring practices
DeKalb Medical took 50 new graduates into its nurse residency program last year, but will only accept about 30 this year.
“Best practice suggests that we take a lesser number to ensure that we retain them,” said Sue Dunlap, PHR, employment manager.
“We are hiring new grads and our census numbers are up, so it seems like the recession is over,” Dunlap said. “Salaries are still very competitive in Atlanta. There’s no downside on salaries, but we’re still facing many challenges with health care reform.”
Hospitals are skittish about hiring more staff than they need until they know how new rules and regulations will affect them.
When she talks to peers from the Atlanta Association of Health Care Recruiters, Dunlap hears that hospitals are hiring fewer new graduates this year than in 2010.
Still, there are opportunities. DeKalb Medical just opened a percutaneous cardiac intervention unit and is looking for nurses to staff it.
“Historically, we have placed new grads in mother/baby, labor and delivery, the ER, medical/surgical, intensive care and telemetry units,” Dunlap said.
Five years ago, there was a nursing shortage; now there are more applicants than positions. “We can pick the best of the best,” Dunlap said.
In a highly competitive market, it helps for jobseekers to know what employers want.
“Clinical skills are important, but the ideal candidate also has the right attitude of customer service. She always wants the best for the patient,” Dunlap said.
Candidates should be prepared for behavioral interview questions and have positive examples of their past work and leadership experiences. They also need to carefully follow application guidelines and attend job fairs.
“If new grads already have a specialty preference, we’d like to hear it, but we may not have an opening in that area,” Dunlap said.
Sometimes it pays to be flexible, take a job in a different area, and stay in touch with the hiring manager from a preferred specialty.
“We’re very open to exploring career opportunities with new grads,” Dunlap said, “but they need to understand that there are more of them than us.”
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