Getting one foot through the door

I just read a blog by our Nurse Manager Blogger about the job market out there for new grads and felt a relief that there’s hope out there once we graduate! As a student, I feel like every time we’re greeted by one of our faculty members, we’re given a lecture about how the job market is so competitive, and how it’s going to be incredibly hard to find a job. “It’s all about who you know, getting your foot in the door.” We’ve even been told that employers might start looking at portfolios of our work from nursing school!

It’s all a lot to take in. I still have a year of nursing school left, but I feel like time is running out to get a head start at a future job. But as student nurses just dipping our feet into the great pool of nursing, who are we supposed to know? Yes, we get to talk to nurses when we’re on the floor, but keeping contact is another thing entirely. A foot in the door is great, and fortunately hospitals hire student nurses as nurses’ aides.  I don’t know about your experiences, but I’ve found that it isn’t all that easy to get hired either. Even CNA or PCA positions are super competitive, and it’s all about who you know.

I’ve been fortunate to make some great connections, but I still feel like we’re being held to some unfair standards as far as who we know and where we’ve been. Reading Rob Cameron’s blog was a breath of fresh air, knowing that there are hospitals out there who will look at us after graduation as nurses eager to learn, excited to be a part of the team, and proud to work for that unit. I hope the job market gets better, and that when we graduate, we’re interviewed (and hired!) for the skills we bring to the unit, the nurses that we’ve become, and the care that we’ll be able to proved for our patients.  Until then, I guess it’s back to the job search and chatting it up with nurse managers on the floor!