The purpose of this article is to provide words of encouragement to the unemployed new grads out there. Although the current employment market for new nurses is not the greatest in many cities and states, keep in mind that opportunities do exist in the midst of the fierce competition. Whatever you do, please do not ever stop believing in yourself. You are an ambitious, smart person who can get over this bump in the road.

To be perfectly honest, today’s job market still remains rather dismal in many parts of the U.S. several years after the Great Recession officially ended. The employment market for newly graduated nurses has certainly been affected by the national economic situation in many regions, and in some extreme cases, there are new grads who have been unable to land that very first nursing position after more than one.

 Being chronically unemployed or underemployed can strike a blow to the self esteem of even the most confident new nurse out there. In fact, it is actually somewhat normal for one’s self esteem to drop during periods of unemployment. After all, you took the right steps to improve your lot in life by going to school, maintaining your grades, pursuing job training in a field that was supposed to have been in demand, and otherwise busting your tail to get this hard-earned education. You want to work so badly after all of your hard work, but the prized first job seems to be so elusive.

Times are so discouraging to so many nurses right now.

I urge you to never lose sight of your goals and dreams, no matter how disheartening your situation may become.year of steady job seeking.

You are a capable, intelligent, and competent person, because one definitely needs to be smart in order to graduate from nursing school and pass the state boards for licensure as a nurse. You have a passion for helping patients, learning new things, and pursuing the things that you set out to do. You have done the right things up to this point.

By: Ma. Estelita C. Labahan