Experienced ICU RN having difficulty finding job

Specialties Critical

Published

Hello,

Just like what the title says, I am an experienced ICU RN (7 years) who is having difficulty finding another job. I am currently working in a community hospital in the suburbs of New York and want to transfer to a hospital with higher acuity cases because I want to see more of critical care beyond that of CHF overload/bad ETOH or drug OD/MI/Stoke/post-cardiac arrest/etc. I have been trying to get into several large medical centers in the city but I haven't had much luck. I have a Master's degree and CCRN and I can't believe that nobody has even contacted me back. I'm just wondering if any of you guys have any tips on how to get into these academic centers. Thanks a lot! :)

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Specializes in ICU.

Masters in Nursing or ? I know a nurse in the Chicago area with 20+ years of cardiac / cardiovascular ICU experience that got kicked to the curb by Loyola and Rush Presbyterian. It's a tough world out there today. Just keep applying. Keep on 'em.

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Specializes in Trauma | Surgical ICU.

It could be that you are over qualified for the position of staff ICU RN. Maybe look for travel or per diem opportunities at the hospital you're trying to get into.

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If you haven't heard anything from anyone, you might want to take a look at your resume. I recently went to a job fair and there was a woman there giving a free seminar on resume writing/job applications. These days, you have to apply online and then your resume goes through and automatic electronic filter. As the woman giving the seminar explained, if you don't have certain key words on your resume/application that pertain to the specific job to which you are applying, your application won't make it though the filter and never has a chance of being looked at by human eyes. 80-90% of resumes don't even make it through the filter :(

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Specializes in Nursing Education, ICU.
It's a tough world out there today. Just keep applying. Keep on 'em.

WOW! Very true! I just moved to the Chicagoland area, have my MSN and current experience in CVICU and it was not easy! Found a great job after 2 1/2 weeks of face to face interviews (note this was AFTER phone interviews!).

I recommend trying to contact Human Resources for the hospital you are looking at & talk to the nurse recruiter. They were my ticket "in" (at least to an interview). And the advice about your resume--absolutely! I updated mine to focus on my clinical experience rather than my experience in nursing education then recruiters began to "bite" :)

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There's a big need for ICU nurses in New Orleans; try there and you'll probably be a shoe in

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Yes, MSN. It really is tough just getting somebody to notice my resume. I'm sure that every position there must be over 50 applicants for these kinds of hospitals. Thanks for the encouragement.

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If you haven't heard anything from anyone, you might want to take a look at your resume. I recently went to a job fair and there was a woman there giving a free seminar on resume writing/job applications. These days, you have to apply online and then your resume goes through and automatic electronic filter. As the woman giving the seminar explained, if you don't have certain key words on your resume/application that pertain to the specific job to which you are applying, your application won't make it though the filter and never has a chance of being looked at by human eyes. 80-90% of resumes don't even make it through the filter :(

I was wondering the same thing. I crafted my resume based on recommendations online but I would have to look for some tips on how a machine could pick out my resume from among the hundreds it processes. Thank you.

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It could be that you are over qualified for the position of staff ICU RN. Maybe look for travel or per diem opportunities at the hospital you're trying to get into.

I tried applying through an agency but apparently my resume was still returned. :( I've been trying to get a foot in the door in these hospitals through further education and consistently updating my resume in their database but, it's still very tough if your experience is not 'acute' enough. They seem to favor either new grads (so they can easily train them) or experienced RNs with hospital experience similar to theirs.

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WOW! Very true! I just moved to the Chicagoland area, have my MSN and current experience in CVICU and it was not easy! Found a great job after 2 1/2 weeks of face to face interviews (note this was AFTER phone interviews!).

I recommend trying to contact Human Resources for the hospital you are looking at & talk to the nurse recruiter. They were my ticket "in" (at least to an interview). And the advice about your resume--absolutely! I updated mine to focus on my clinical experience rather than my experience in nursing education then recruiters began to "bite" :)

Good for you. Congratulations! I've been trying to get into CTICU so I'm glad you found a job after a while.

The problem with calling HR is that receptionists screen the calls so they don't even forward your call to a recruiter. Now, with social media though..it's a different matter. :) I found that these big hospitals utilize social media to attract talent that they don't normally get through traditional recruitment methods..so now, many recruiters have social media accts and they readily respond to your queries regarding a position.

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