Even as a national nursing shortage looms, many newly graduated registered nurses can't find jobs because the economic downturn has delayed retirement of experienced nurses, regulators and health care associations say. Those who find work often can't get the better-paying hospital positions they had hoped for and instead are turning to nursing homes, home health care or other settings, says Carylin Holsey, president of the National Student Nurses' Association. An advisory for new grads published by the association warns that the market is "flooded" with experienced RNs who have come out of retirement, delayed retirement or gone from part-time to full-time employment because of the recession.
