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| Should a New Graduate nurse relocate to find a Nursing Job? |
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by Joe Niemczura RN ,MS - January 10, 2012
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Should I relocate to find a nursing job?
Before we answer the question: why not subscribe to this blog? Go to http://joesar.wordpress.com/ and click where it says “sign me up.” And while you are at it, buy my book about the time I relocated (just for the summer), to teach nursing and work in Nepal, the Himalayan country in the mountains between China and India. It won’t help you find a job but it will remind you of the value of your chosen career. Nurses make a difference in people’s lives, everyday.
And now – Catch-22
Two years ago one of the best students in the graduating class faced a problem: she was determined to be an ICU nurse, but getting discouraged. She’d sent out the resumes, worked her contacts, done everything. The local hospitals were interested but they pointed to “catch-22″ - they would only hire if the person already had experience. And how to get that experience? Get hired…….
She was offered a job as a nurse’s aide, but resisted the idea. So she took a courageous step. She moved to a large city in California, where she didn’t know anybody. It wasn’t San Francisco or L.A., or on the coast; There was no surfing and no beach. Frankly, her new home was not a city with a lot of tourist appeal unless you like hot weather and dusty desert winds. There, she got the training and experience she’d set her heart on. And this year, with two years of ICU experience under her belt, she moved back to Hawaii. Now she works in ICU at the hospital that was always her dream job.
For her, the gamble paid off. She improved her career trajectory. Things fell into place for her; she was single, no kids, flexible, and resilient. She’d been a top student and always made friends along the way.
Destiny? Kismet?
It’s easy to say in retrospect that it was her destiny, but along the way she had to deal with loneliness and homesickness. During her time in Inland California she didn’t have much of a social life while she pursued professional goals. She worked mainly night shift. Any of these things may have overwhelmed somebody else.
I think of her when any other new grad asks me whether their career would be better if they looked for Greener Pastures. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The National Council of State Boards of nursing would tell you a cautionary statistic: about 27% of new graduate nurses who do get hired, leave their job within the first year. That is a sobering number. There is never any easy answer.
Before you pack your bags and head to a new location, consult your personal Board of Directors, go back to the school you attended and tell your favorite faculty members about your plans. Ask their advice. Of course, figure out how much it will cost and what your budget is. List the pros and cons. Do all those things.
But most of all, take your courage with you. Let’s get philosophical for a moment.
You’re young, you’re out of college. You chose a major that leaves open the possibility that you *could* take your skills anywhere in the USA, walk in the door, and have a paycheck.
Back in the Day, in the times when there was a nursing shortage, nurses used to do that all the time. There where nurses in my generation who had travelled the USA this way, taking a hitch in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Honolulu (of course) and Portland, Maine.
Wherever you go, it will be an adventure. For the rest of your life, you will have astory to tell. It will be a part of you, even if you return home, never to leave again.
You will always have people listing the reasons not to do it.
But you will never know, for sure.
Joe Niemczura has been an RN for 32 years, split evenly between adult critical care and teaching. He is the author of the book “The Hospital at the End of the World.”
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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