May 14 2008
MEPN is like … running a marathon
I’ve been in a funk, but am letting it be. It’s normal and it’ll pass. When former MEPNs told me how “intense” the year would be, I had no clue what they meant. The truth is, the experience is different for everyone. I’ve been extremely blessed — my exhaustion with MEPN didn’t set in until this quarter. Now I feel like I’m running a marathon. It’s going to take all I’ve got to stay motivated these last four weeks.
Contributing to the blues are the fact that student fees might increase next year, a week of groceries today cost $95, and I may have no nursing job in the foreseeable future. The bleakness is exhausting. My body just melts into my bed when I climb in at night, and in the morning, I struggle to go to class. I missed clinicals for the first time this year; I simply woke up one morning, and feeling defeated by the job hunt, said: “Screw it. Where has all the year’s hard work in clinicals gotten me?”
I guess I should back up a bit. What’s been going on these past two months is that many of us have been applying for positions in New Graduate Training Programs at various hospitals in the bay area, which are a requisite for people who have never held an acute care RN job before. Given the purported nursing shortage, the reputation of UCSF, and our own healthy egos, we expected to handedly land an interview and then a job. Some of us had been planning to step out of the nursing program for a year or two before going on to our Master’s studies. Oh, I had it all figured out: graduation in 4 weeks, study for NCLEX for 2 weeks, relax on a tropical island for 2 weeks, start working this summer at my Med Surg clinical site, and give my partner a much-needed break from being the Home-Bringer of Bacon.
Alas, little did I know that my plans would become foiled by… our (imminent) economic recession! An uncertain economy means that more nurses are working full time instead of part time or per diem, more are taking additional shifts, and fewer are choosing to retire or stay home with the kids. Here’s an article about how the recession is affecting nurses.
More good news: The job market for new nurses is especially bleak in San Francisco — ‘the only place in the country that has no nursing shortage’ (in-class communication, Dean of Nursing Kathy Dracup, May 2008)! Apparently wages for nurses are the highest here than anywhere else, so nurses flock to San Francisco, work for a few years, save up loads of cash, and eventually return wherever they came from to buy a home and live the good life (lecture presentation, UCSF Recruiter David Kirk, May 2008). Ah ha — nurses are so smart! Why can’t I want to live in Alabama?
Compounding the problem is San Francisco’s $251 million budget gap this fiscal year. Bearing the brunt of the city’s budget cuts is the public health department, including San Francisco General Hospital, a place that one recruiter claims “LOVES MEPNs.” In fact, the recruiter told us cheerily: ‘Just a couple years ago we took every MEPN who walked in our door!’
A handful of classmates have landed interviews and jobs, but I like to think that their circumstances are not exactly the same as mine so I don’t feel like a total nincompoop. (Can you tell the job hunt has tarnished the self-esteem a tad?) When there are 200-plus applicants for 20 positions in a new grad med-surg program at Kaiser or UCSF … well, those who put on their dancing shoes get the worm. Hmm, 200 applicants for 20 positions is a 10% chance, which makes the challenge of getting accepted into MEPN look like a walk in the park.
I’ve got super-duper skills and experiences and I really, really want to — can’t wait to — start my nursing practice! Can anyone hear me??
At least the WSJ article mentioned that employers are starting to make the workplace more accessible for RNs who aren’t exactly spring chickens. I’m starting a MEPN program next month at the grand old age of 40. Bring on the lift teams for the heavy patients, I say! Ultimately I think we will all benefit from better working conditions for nurses–even if it means our first nursing jobs aren’t easy to come by.
Also, if I were looking for a job right now in my current profession (communications/Web development)–I’d have way less than a 1% chance of finding a job. Even with experience. So… hang in there.
Wow. Just Wow. I’ve told my partner that moving back to Sac might be the smartest thing once I’m done with MEPN, but reading your post reinforces it. Friends of mine are making $63 per hour as RNs in the Central Valley (which is a LOT of money for that area). I feel like I’ve got it all figured out as well, so reading your post is a grounding in reality. Please keep me updated as to what you do. And I wish you the best of luck.
Likewise, I’m not stressed yet. I’ve got a super solid science background and a mild OCD to keep me in line.
Hope to meet you soon. Email me if you’d like to get a glass of wine.
Nicole…
I am so sorry to hear that you have hit this (apparent) bump in the road, but I hold out hope that you—and others like you who are entering the profession—will find an inroad, because we need your fresh energy and desire to be nurses!
I became a nurse at 31 in the late 90’s, just as nursing supplies seemingly began to run into trouble. With your skills, knowledge, and heartfelt desire, I have no doubt that you will succeed.
Please keep us posted, and know that there are many nurses out there who are rooting for your happy success!