Dear New Nursing Grad,

Depending on where you live, your recent or soon-to-be graduation from nursing school might feel like a real downer. In the wake of the pandemic, many hospitals and healthcare agencies have been forced to freeze hiring and even furlough staff. This means finding a job could be harder than ever for some unknown period of time. That can feel like a terrible kick-off to what was supposed to be the beginning of something new, exciting, fulfilling, and even financially liberating.

There is no question that the last three months have caused nursing schools to scramble. For many, the ability to access clinical sites was either severely restricted or removed entirely. This comes just as you were beginning your immersion experience or completing your hours in the type of unit you were hoping to land your first job. You are experiencing the one-two punch: The lack of confidence that can be caused when your educational experience is not as planned and the anxiety or sadness that comes with difficulty in finding a job.

As you lament loss in the professional sphere, in addition to many personal spheres, I want to encourage you to step back and do some big picture thinking. As you may remember from any number of your courses, fear and anxiety often have the effect of narrowing our field of perception both visually and psychologically. When this happens, our thinking and our actions are likely to be distorted by over-focusing on some things while under-focusing on others. If this becomes a pattern, it can set into motion any number of self-reinforcing false narratives. Let’s examine a few of the narratives that might be preoccupying you now.

I’ll Never Get A Job

The above graphic was created on March 27, 2020. It was produced by Liquid Compass, a jobs site that gathers, organizes, and makes easily accessible healthcare professional jobs in the United States. As you can note, there are currently over 35,000 jobs posted for “RN”s that are “New Grad Eligible” (33,952) or “New Grad Exact” (4,002). You can be certain that Liquid Compass is not capturing 100% of open positions meaning that the true number is likely well north of 35K. And in case you are wondering, in 2019 94% of new grads from BSN programs had a job offer within 4-6 months of graduating. Compared to your friends who are graduating in other fields, you will likely find that your opportunities compare very favorably.

I Can’t Move for a Job

While the job market is likely to remain favorable for RNs, the geographic distribution of those jobs will not be equal. This has been the case for some time now. While the nursing shortage remains a real concern that may be even further exacerbated by the pandemic, it is not likely that we will see large shifts in the locations of jobs. If your nursing faculty have not already planted the seed, let’s do it now: Maybe you can move for a job.

There are many things that legitimately tether us to an area - familiarity, family obligations, prior commitments, etc. In the end, however, most of these reasons are not absolute. Although it is hard, may of those tethers can be undone, lengthened, or relocated. Keep in mind, you’ve just demonstrated that you can do hard with the best of them! You are a pro at hard. Before you dismiss the idea of moving, do some soul-searching and deep reflection with yourself and those you love… Is it really impossible for you to move? Also, consider this appeal to your humanity and your professional ethic: Those places that have an abundance of jobs… they have an abundance of patients, families, and communities who Really. Need. Nurses.

I Won’t Get the Job I Want

You are probably right, your not going to get the job you’ve been dreaming of. But let’s suppose for a moment that such an outcome is a blessing in disguise. “Cool” in nursing is changing. With all due respect to the very talented nurses who engage in high-tech critical care, fast-paced emergency rooms, or the ever hopeful setting of a children’s hospital, those fields will play second fiddle to what is quickly becoming the new ripped jeans of nursing: Public health nursing (and any related field such as population health, community nursing, disaster nursing, primary care nursing, etc.). This is where the action will be for the foreseeable future. Nurses who can think systems, manage populations, and understand the interrelatedness of the social determinants of health will be our future rock stars. And, appropriately so. One thing the pandemic has taught us is that we are woefully underprepared as a nation to deal with our current challenges. If you land your first job outside of an acute care hospital setting, it may just be the best thing that could happen to you professionally. It will definitely be good for our country.

Fret not. You’ve chosen a highly reputable profession that will lead to a stable career through which you will be able to care for yourself and others. Is healthcare a perfect field? The pandemic has forced us to recognize that there are many imperfections. Some of them dire. Still, it remains a noble field. One that you can be proud to part of. Fret not. You’ve made a good choice and we are honored to welcome you to the profession. Fret not and join us in getting to work, there is plenty to do.