Grad Year Anxiety
As a final-year nursing student in Victoria, PMCV and grad applications open next month, and honestly the whole situation is making me anxious.
The “nursing shortage”, is a shortage for experienced nurses. Meanwhile students are graduating & competing to end up with no experience. Reportedly 3000 students missed out on grad positions last year. With the cost of living and funding pressures, we’ve been told by facilitators and major metro Victorian hospitals that the number is going to continue to grow especially since we’ve been told openly that they only need 3-5 max undergraduates.
I know people will say “just do aged care or mental health”, and I completely respect those areas because they’re incredibly important, but they’re not where I see myself long-term. I understand it’s only one year, but it’s still difficult knowing your first year out can heavily influence future opportunities and career pathways.
Because of all this, I’ve already started thinking about backup plans:
rural nursing
interstate applications
potentially overseas in the future
agency work (although most places seem to want experience first)
The hard part is that the competition seems to be happening everywhere, not just in Victoria.
I guess I just wanted to ask:
How did other people navigate missing out on a grad year, or the fear of missing out? Did things work out okay long-term?