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Reader Response
Added: Thursday, 15 May 2008 15:24 BST
Anonymous, london, United Kingdom
I know this sounds terrible but i am glad to read that i am not the only one finding it hard to look for a job. It has been around six months now and I have only managed to get three interviews, two unsuccessful one still awaiting a result. I am starting to worry that i am getting out of practice with my clinical duties and wish there was something that i could do other than agency or health care assistant jobs. I am working as a private nanny but that is not really the same thing. Well good luck to all of you newly qualifieds, if I dont get a job soon I may retrain in another profession!!!
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Added: Saturday, 19 April 2008 11:45 BST
Anonymous, NEW CROSS, United Kingdom
I am a Newly Qualified Nurse who Graduated from a London University this March 2008 with BSC In Nursing. However, after all my hard work I am still looking for work and I am starting to get really worried about finding a decent job that pays a decent wage.
If there are any employers out there looking for candidates, please bear in mind that there are excellent qualified nurses looking for there first break and are keen to work to start their careers in nursing....
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Added: Sunday, 30 March 2008 21:52 BST
Anonymous, Bristol, United Kingdom
I qualified in December 2006 and was unable to get a job until August 2007. I think it's disgusting that after 3 years of damn hard work and getting into a great deal of debt i ended up in more debt from being unable to work. The NHS needs new blood working with more experienced nurses in order to provide a better more rounded and holistic service. When the NHS is good its great but when it falls short it is back in the dark ages. I love being a nurse but the amount of paperwork is ridiculous and thats not exactly inspiring along with the lack of jobs for people to enter the nursing profession.
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Added: Wednesday, 26 March 2008 10:06 GMT
yvonne doore, Leicester, United Kingdom
I qualified in sept 2006 and i started work as a grade 5 nurse in January of this year! I have lost count as to how many jobs i applied for, i even considered moving abroad but as i have a family that was not an option i really wanted. I became so demoralised and frustrated and like many of my colleagues felt like giving up my dream of nursing for good but the sacrifice i and my family had made for me to train gave me the motivation and determination to keep trying and finally i got there.
Keep trying even when it seems like you are getting nowhere because eventually you will- youve worked too hard to give up!
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Added: Wednesday, 26 March 2008 08:47 GMT
hayley mckean, palmerston north, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
It is a shame that so many nurses are not going to the profession or are simply not offered jobs. Here in NZ, our education providors continuously go on about the world wide shortage of nurses....going from this survey it is simply not so. Being in my final year of study i can fully understand why some would not want to carry on nursing, sometimes the enviornments we are placed in during our training creates a total feeling of disillusionment about the entire profession. It is a shame that it this way. Perhaps more support from experienced nurses and government backing(world wide) will help with the problem we see, and maybe the so called nursing shortage will diappear.
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Added: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 23:22 GMT
Anonymous, leamington spa, United Kingdom
Although I am unhappy to hear that there is such a shortage of nursing positions in the UK where I worked myself until two years ago, it should be realised that nursing in the US where I am now is completely different to UK nursing. It takes a lot of getting used to as the 'system' here bears no resemblance to working in the Uk in any capacity. Good luck to all the new grads whatever you decide to do however.
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Added: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 19:27 GMT
Jason Doonan, Alameda, United States
I trained in the UK and moved to the US 4 years ago. I can't believe that in 4 years the staffing on the wards has improved that much that there are no jobs available. It has been proven that the more patients a RN has, the poorer the outcome for those patients. I remember working with nurse patient ratios in the UK as bad as 1:30 - 40 on a bad night with sick calls. Stark difference to many of the states that are instituting nurse: patient ratio's of 1:4 for ER, 1:4 on wards with cardiac monitoring and 1:5 for medical/surgical wards. That includes night shift where those numbers can't be exceeded. Moving to the US changed my view of nursing, I actually like my job again.
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Added: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 18:32 GMT
Anonymous, chester, United Kingdom
I was working as an auxillary nurse before being persuaded to apply for nurse training. I was succesfully seconded and completed my training in January this year. However I am now only allowed to work for my trust as a healthcare assistant for one day a week , what was the point, I gave up a good job to be made to feel totally worthless and unemployable
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Added: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 16:36 GMT
Anonymous, Milford Haven, United Kingdom
I am currently a third year nursing student and due to qualify in May. I have been lucky and have got a job secured for when I qualify in Cardiff. However I am training in Chester. There are no jobs available in Chester for students ready to qualify in May. Many of my colleques are unable to "pack up and move" due to commitments. I feel the government should put in place an intiative that all student nurses to have at least a tempory contract for six months to complete a preceptorship. Also I am concerned that universities are still accepting large volumes of students, knowing that a high percentage may not get a job once qualified.
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Added: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 16:35 GMT
Joanne Willis, Davie, United States
I am an NP in Florida, and we are so short of quality nurses that our people are suffering. Let me amend that - we are so short of nurses, period. I hope you all will consider coming to the U.S. for a time to work. You can register with many, many travelling nurse organizations who will pay you, house you, and likely transport you here. It would be a wonderful experience for us, and for you. Joanne Willis, ARNP-BC
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