Job Search Behavior, Networking, and Outcomes among Employed and Unemployed Italian New Graduate Nurses

A T THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, increased concern regarding unemployment ratios among newly graduated nurses has been reported (International Council of Nurses, 2013). In the past, unemployment among nurses was mainly reported in developing countries as the key reason for migration (Buchan, O’May, & Dussault, 2013). Recently, some developed countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Ireland have reported increased unemployment rates especially among new graduates, mainly due to the austerity measures adopted in their National Health Services (NHS) (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2015). This is also the case in Italy, where since 2008 due to the economic crisis, several costcontainment measures have been implemented at the NHS level, such as a hiring freeze and the substitution of nursing positions with nurses’ aides. As a consequence, from 37.7% (2013) to 35.9% (2014) of nurses are still unemployed 1 year after graduation (Almalaurea, 2016), despite the OECD (2015) having confirmed the ratio of 6.1 nurses/1,000 inhabitants at the country level, widely below the European average (9.1/1,000). Searching for a nursing job requires complex activities that have become fundamental in daily life (Cotè, Saks, & Zikic, 2006). The complexity is also determined by the professional profiles sought by the healthcare labor market based upon clinical experience, lifelong learning competences, and competitive orientation that often clashes with new graduates’ expectations (McKeown & Lindforff, 2011). Unemployed nurses are likely to lose their clinical skills (Dovlo, 2005) and their sense of attachment to the profession (Leino-Loison, Gien, Katajisto, & Valimaki, 2004); moreover, given that nursing students end their education with substantial financial debt, postponing