EvenCalifornia,whichhas been slowto recover fromthe recession,


is showing signs the jobmarket is shifting, said JudithBerg,MS,RN, FACHE, executive directorof theCalifornia Institute forNursing and HealthCare. In the 2014 Survey ofNurse Employers inCalifornia, 18%of the respondents reported a perception of high demand for nurses and a difficulty filling open positions, which is double the share reported in2013.Datawere collected from322hospitals, about half of the licensed beds at general acute care hospitals in the state. Although the survey found thedemand for newgraduatenurseswas lower than their experienced peers, nearly 83%of the hospitals had hired new graduates in 2014—a 7%increase from2013. “Demand is better than it has been in a long time,” said Dale


Beatty, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CNO, the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago. “This is a great time to be a nurse, even the best time, with the interdisciplinary collaboration and more newroles being developed than ever before.”


New roles, new grads TheUniversity of IllinoisHospital&Health Sciences System filled 252 nurse positions between April 2014 and April 2015, and nearly half were filled by new graduates, Beatty said. While a portion of the jobs were new positions created to meet higher patient volume demands, the majority were replacements for nurses who had left or moved into new roles within the hospital. “Experienced nurses are transitioning into new roles in nursing informatics, clinical documentation, casemanagement, infectious diseases, ambulatory care and community care as we shift toward a model focused on improving outcomes and creating a continuumof care,” Beatty said. As an example, a nurse who had worked in the post-anesthesia


careunit for30yearsmoved tothe quality-improvementdepartment, where she focusesonimproving thehospital’sperformanceonsurgi- calmeasures. She learned howto analyze data and deliver technical presentations and has been highly successful so far, Beatty said. “The new roles for nurses are just developing, which makes


it an exciting time because we will see an increasing number of new positions in the future,” Berg said. While newroles are traditionally reserved for experiencednurses,


Beatty believes thiswill slowly change due tothe increasing numbers of new graduates that have baccalaureate training and the benefit of in-depth nurse residency programs. According to Debra McElroy, MPH,RN, senior director of nursing leadership atUHCinChicago, 240 hospitals nationwide have adopted UHC’s nurse residency program, compared with six hospitalswhen the programstarted in 2002.UHC is an alliance of nonprofit academicalmedical centers. Almost9,500newgraduates participated inaUHCnurse residency programin 2014, 55%more than the previous year. That increase reflects the fact thatmorehospitals are adopting theprogram, she said. AdventistHealthCare inMarylandrecently launched aUHCnurse


residency programtoprepare for an expected increase in turnover of experienced nurses, saidTheresaMazzaro,BA,RN,CHCR, a nurse recruiter at Adventist HealthCare. The hospital plans to increase the hiring rate of new graduates once the nurse residency program begins, she said. The program was slated to begin in the summer.


New grad competition Mazzaro acknowledged that competition among newgraduates is intense—only one-fifth of the applicants was accepted into the


14 NURSE.com/Careers • 2016


first cohort for the nurse residency program. While a high grade point average and good recommendations will increase the odds of acceptance,Mazzaro said candidates can use other strategies to stand out. “Out of 150 people who applied, only 50 had a cover letter,” she said. “It is really important to do your homework by reading the hospital’s website and articulate in the cover letter how you will make a difference at our hospital.” Mazzaro previously worked at PeaceHealth SouthwestMedical


Center inVancouver,Wash., andwas impressedwhena newgraduate created a video about his journey to become a nurse. Hewas hired. She also urges nurses to discuss their previous experience, even if outside the field of healthcare, andhowthese skills apply tonursing. Although these suggestionsmay increase the odds, Bleakney says


many new graduates simply cannot land a first job in an acute care hospital. She encourages applicants to consider taking intermediary steps that can eventually lead to their dreamjob. She places them in outpatient clinics and substance abuse treatment centers, aswell as group homes for foster care or de- velopmental disabilities. She placed one new gradu-


ate with a local health de- partment, and the job involved providing immunizations. The nurse thenmoved on to a position in a group home for adults with developmental disabilities. These roles gave her the experience she needed to find a per-diemjob on a med/surg unit, where she was eventually hired full time.


Looking ahead Whether a nurse is just starting the career journey or considering a newrole after years in the field, the job market is expected to be on an upswing for awhile. According to theBureau of Labor Statistics, employment ofRNsis projected to grow19%from 2012 to 2022—faster than the average for all other occupations. Even with this bright outlook, recruiters like Mazzaro believe


nurses who are willing to take risks are the ones who will be most satisfiedwith their jobs.One experiencedEDnurse at PeaceHealth in Vancouver, for example, took a chancewhen she accepted a position as a care coach in the primary care setting, partnering with patients to decrease their chances of readmission. Shewas so successful that the programexpanded to include all EDpatients at PeaceHealth in Vancouver, who had been admittedmore than once amonth. “She left a secure EDstaffing job and moved into a newrole that


did not have nearly asmuch job security,”Mazzaro said. “Then she started a brand newprogramand built something that has become incredibly successful. I think we will have more and more newroles like this as healthcare continues to evolve and nurses show how their skills can change the way we provide care.” •


Heather Stringer is a freelance writer. TO COMMENT, email editor@nurse.com.


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