FORT WORTH, Texas — A few years ago, hospitals were offering nurses $10,000 signing bonuses, loan payoffs, even cars as incentives to battle a nursing shortage in Texas.

Today, some nursing school graduates consider themselves fortunate to find a job.

“It took me a year to find something, and it wasn’t easy,” said Ann Karl, who graduated in 2008 and recently went to work for Huguley Memorial Medical Center in Burleson, Texas. “I think I must have hit the curve right when the hospitals were starting to slow down on hiring.”

Karl is hardly alone. Three years ago each graduate averaged three job offers, said Pamela Frable, director of nursing at Texas Christian University’s Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. But at graduation last summer, more students than ever before did not have jobs.

A surge of applicants from nursing schools and from other states, plus older nurses returning to the work force, has increased competition for jobs.

Graduates are sending out hundreds of resumes, scouring hospital Web sites and bemoaning a crisis they never expected: a shortage of jobs in a profession once hailed as recession-proof.

Cassie Thompson left a career as a financial analyst to become a nurse only to start classes at TCU amid rumors of hiring freezes.

“It was really scary last summer, having come from a job that I knew I would have a paycheck until I retired, to this,” said Thompson, who switched to nursing because she thought it would be more satisfying. “But some of my instructors have predicted that it will be better next year.”

Just a few years ago, the promise of job security, career satisfaction and a good salary attracted plenty of people from less stable fields.

Karl was one of them. After 15 years in banking, she turned to nursing. But when she finished her studies in Dallas and applied for an internship, the shortage of opportunities disappointed her.

“I thought it would be a slam dunk,” she said. “I love nursing, but one of the reasons I went into it was everyone needs lots of nurses.”

But many hospitals don’t need nurses straight out of school right now. Medical Center of Arlington usually hires 15 to 20 new graduates for internships twice a year, said Judi Williams, president of organizational development. But this year, that was cut to nine.

“We’re still hiring, but because of economics, it makes more sense to look for experienced nurses than new graduates,” she said.

Nurses were in high demand until the economy took a nose dive and people started postponing elective surgeries, said Bob Livonius, chief executive officer of Medfinders, parent company of Arlington, Texas-based Nursefinders. Hospitals responded by cutting back on staff.

Economic woes, meanwhile, have led experienced nurses to come out of retirement. Others who worked part time added hours. Nurses who were once quick to job-hop stayed put.

“All those factors led to a temporary Band-Aid for the nursing shortage,” he said.

Those in the nursing field say the problem is only temporary and some students have had no problems finding jobs.

As the population ages, the demand for nurses will increase, said Paulette Burns, dean of the Harris College of Nursing and Health Science.

“Health care reform is a wild card out there, but we can pretty well predict there are going to be a larger number of people who will be covered,” she said. “And there will be a need for more nurses.”

As the work force ages, moreover, nurses will retire, leaving openings for newcomers.