Handling defeat with not finding work right away

nurse np struggle

One of the hardest parts of completing school as a nurse practitioner student is the (often unexpected) difficulty with finding work upon graduation.

You have completed a grueling program where you juggled keeping up with schoolwork, finding preceptors for clinicals, and working on the side as an RN. Oh yeah, and you probably balanced seeing family and friends and maybe trying to have a social life too.  

By the time you’re handed your diploma at graduation, you should be ecstatic, relieved, and excited to begin your journey as a nurse practitioner. It’s finally time to see the fruits of your labor as you transition into practice. You worked hard. You earned your title. You deserve to find an amazing job where you feel supported in the role, are compensated appropriately, and have the career you envisioned. You didn’t spend hours studying for frustrating classes like Advanced Pharmacology in school just to hear crickets on the job search front after graduation.

Let’s go over some of the key ‘Must Knows’ when getting ready to graduate, or if you have graduated, what to expect, and how to handle the difficulty with possibly not finding work right away.

1.  Just because you’re a new grad, it does not mean you are not valuable to the healthcare industry.

It’s quite the opposite, actually. At the beginning of your career, you have been learning the latest evidence-based information in your classes and hopefully in your preceptor sites too. You might not feel you are at all prepared to be working as a new provider, but you are situated better than you think you are.

Just because you are new and less experienced does not mean you are not an essential provider needed to join the healthcare industry to provide patient care. COVID-19 is a perfect example of how important healthcare workers are to society.

Providing health services is never not going to be important, and you are vital to providing very necessary health services! You are valuable. Even as a new grad. You have the foundational skills you will build upon in practice to become unstoppable. You DO have the foundational skills, even if it feels like you don’t.  

Every new NP feels doubtful of their skills, and for some reason, the healthcare industry does not do its part to show just how essential new grads are. Probably because NPs would negotiate their worth a little better in interviews.

2.  Patience is necessary. Expect this to be a long process.

Patience is key. And an expectation that finding a job will take a bit can help with impatience. Why is it important to be patient and expect this to be a long process? Because when we don’t, we can start to feel panicky, uncomfortable with uncertainty, and jump to a scarcity mindset, leading to making desperate decisions. 

There aren’t enough jobs, and I must take the first one I’m offered. I’m not good enough/smart enough/talented enough. There’s something wrong with me.

We compare ourselves to others, see we’re not getting jobs, and start shrinking into a hole of doubt and uncertainty.

Let’s avoid this by knowing that finding work will take some time. We might get lucky and find work quickly and easily, but expect the job hunt to be a long process generally.

3.  The healthcare system is less organized than you realize.

You might be worried and place all the stress and doubt you feel onto something you are doing wrong when in fact, the healthcare system isn’t really great at finding candidates to fill positions. Trouble finding healthcare workers who want to work seems absurd in a country rated highly on the quality of healthcare services provided, but it’s true.

I can’t tell you how many places I have worked where we were understaffed, but the administration was unaware of this or looked for NP candidates poorly. HR could have done a better job finding NPs by standing on a street corner with a sign saying ‘NP needed.’

The business of healthcare and the practice of healthcare are two separate things. Don’t confuse your abilities with the healthcare industry’s disorganization. The people who hire NPs are often NOT healthcare workers seeing patients. Because of this, there is often dysfunction. On many levels.

4.  Sharpen your skills while you look for work

There are many ways to sharpen your skills while you look for work. Improving your skills may look like meeting with a clinician for paid private supervision. Or take a course if you want to work in a specialty practice or feel unconfident in your skills. You can network with other NPs or providers. Or taking a course like mine, NP for NPs: Unsure to Unstoppable, will help you proactively navigate this transition into practice.

5.  Above all, do not get discouraged. And DO NOT SETTLE.

Remember, YOU are valuable. The work you will be doing is so needed; it’s ironic. The fact that you are having a hard time finding work, even as a new grad, has little to do with you, your skills, or your career decision to be an NP. 

Don’t get discouraged with difficulty finding work. After all, getting through your NP program probably wasn’t the easiest thing you’ve ever done. You’ve done harder things before. This next step of finding work is just one more hurdle to cross to get to the goal. You can do this.

Get the Psychiatric Templates Bundle!

Your reference for creating clear, high quality notes (for Psych NPs!)

psychiatric evaluation template bundle contents