Nursing degree disaster

[Rye0179]

AIBU to feel really fed up and disheartened?

I’m about to qualify as a registered mental health nurse. One of the main reasons I chose this degree was because I was told it offered strong job prospects. Even during my initial nursing interview, I asked about employability and was reassured I’d have plenty of options to choose from.

But now that I’ve started looking for jobs, there’s absolutely nothing out there. Not a single position I can apply for. All the Band 5 RMN jobs require someone with experience and post-preceptorship, someone who’s already worked in the role.

I’m feeling really disheartened. After completing 2,300 unpaid clinical hours and working hard to maintain good grades (around 75% overall), it looks like I might finish qualified but unemployed. Even more frustrating is that areas are not staffed well, but trusts have hiring freezes due to budgets and have apparently over recruited international nurses, leaving those who have trained here struggling for jobs.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for alternative career paths where nursing skills might transfer well?

Try prisons. In my area they definitely take newly qualified mh nurses.

Prison is amazing. I did a 7 year stint in a mens prison and absolutely loved it.
I'm not nursing any more for health reasons I'm doing podiatry and we're so short staffed we're dragging pods in off the street by their hair and making them work for us.

What about school nursing of health visiting?

@Studyunder 100% this. Plus the stress of working alongside somewhat ‘differently’ qualified developing world staff, many with surprisingly poor English, trying to help them, keep the patients safe, protecting your PIN or HCPC registration in the knowledge you’ll get the blame for ‘allowing’ their feck-ups.

Disclosure. I left. It was unsafe, and deeply frustrating and madly stressful. I could just about cope with any amount of stress brought about by the nature of the job, but when it’s caused by the skills-deficit in your ‘internationally trained’ colleagues, while all the B7 middle managers trill ‘nothing to see here!’ as they WFH.

I now do private ‘bank’ MRI.

Where on earth are you managing to find pods?!!! They’re like hens teeth 😂

Haha I know it's ridiculous.

I’m going to look into this, I don’t know much about prison nursing!

Thanks for all the responses, just catching up now - I know a few people have suggested to apply for any band 5 roles even if I don’t meet their essential criteria - but even doing this, there just aren’t any. Will start looking at prisons and some of the private companies suggested today.

Apparently March 2023- March 2024, 60k new nurses registered with the NMC, 30k uk educated and 30k international. On average the number is 22k (overall). So it makes sense there’s just no job availability. I hope this over recruitment calms down and things pick up.

are they are charities hiring?

It usually does
I qualified in 1996 and there was an abundance of jobs ,yet a few years later newly qualified nurses were struggling to get jobs a others say it goes in cycles but it incredibly frustrating

@Rye0179 did you see the one I posted (on page 3)

Tbh it’s the same for many other sectors, entry level jobs but want experience - I mean marketing etc! Bonkers

I know Mumsnet often has detractors but this thread is a great example of how it helps.

I qualified as a RLDN last Sept. No jobs in my placement trust so I looked further afield. I got a job in a different trust which is about 35 miles from home. Been there almost year now. Other LD and MH students took jobs in prisons and care homes. Some didn’t apply for their pin and worked as bank hca for a time and applied for jobs later when it was outside the period graduates were applying.
It's truly awful after all the work and effort we put in and all the debt we qualify with.

This is unfortunately happening all over the NHS. All of the NHS ambulance Trusts have a recruitment freeze for NQPs. Hundreds of students are graduating and there are no jobs for them.

What’s a pod please?

Podiatrist.

Aside from your job finding difficulties, which sound incredibly demoralising - how is it morally right that we ‘steal’ nurses trained in India- surely India need them?

I agree with the others, I work in the NHS (not a nurse but with nurse educators) and while there are still officially recruitment freezes, clinical staff are the exception.

Get yourself on the staff bank at all your local trusts and when you sign up ask which agencies they work with and join those too. The easiest way to get a role is to get into the ward and build relationships. There is a move to make good bank/agency staff substantive because of government targets on temporary staff and spending so it's a good way "in" through the backdoor.

Mental health nurses used to be more challenging to get into general wards, but as the police have withdrawn support for MH patients many trusts are looking to have that specialist support build into the team especially in areas like emergency care.

Good luck with it, something will come up. The MH nursing route is challenging but rewarding and once you find your feet you'll do great!

@Focussingonme most hospital banks and agencies say you need 6-12 months experience before you can sign up.