amused by craigslist post :)

Kid: LOVED the post! Read the ad. Laughed out loud! It's amusing because it's honest and real. Thanks for sharing! -- Lisa ;-)

I loved it too---but it's kinda sad that these agencies are handing out false hope to those who JUST WANT TO WORK!
I suppose the agencies and facilities are just revelling in the glut of nurses that they have to pick from now but really...just be honest.
The last hospital I worked at in NY stopped taking applications after it was apparent that their cup runneth over. Personally, I would rather have a facility decline my application than take it, give me hope, and then put it under somebody's coffee cup to sop up spills.
Back in the early nineties there also was a surplus of nurses and the hospital I wanted to get into was not accepting applications. The way I got the position I wanted was to have a doctor buddy personally hand my resume/application to the DON. He happened to be the personal physician of the DON's mother.
Yes...it often does boil down to just who you know.

I need to send this ad to two of my current employers. They hired me two months ago. I have yet to work one day for them. They run ads. I would think it is funny if it didn't hit so close to home.

No, I'm not talking about Hawaii. That ad applies to lots of places! I once had a wayward dream of living and working in Hawaii. Not after figuring out that getting nursing work there is worse than where I'm at now (CA).

The irony.

I was a traveler in Philadelphia, and sharing an apartment with another traveler. I worked at HUP and she worked at MCP. She repeatedly had episodes where she pulled OT/extra shifts and manditory OT, because they never staffed well.

Well, my assignment ended, and I wanted to spend more time in Philly, and there were positions available at MCP...so I had them send my profile...and waited...and waited. My recruiter tried to checkup..the story was always the same. "We are interested", "She doesn't answer the phone", "the manager is on vacation", "We lost her contact info", etc., etc. Now I have caller ID, and there were no calls and they did get the correct info, because I had several places with same profile easily get in touch with me.

After finding another Philly assignment, I spoke to several travelers, all of whom reported the very same issue with MCP. I also spoke to plenty of local nurses that had got the same runaround from MCP....the one that actually for them had contacted the unit director personally and was told just to go directly to orientation and not to even deal with HR.

Flash forward several years. The nurses of MCP call to strike. One of the issues was ...mandatory OT. The nurses wanted limits on it and had always received extra pay for working MOT. The hospital, in renegotiating the contract, wanted no limits on MOT and no special pay...because that the "nursing shortage" created an "emergency" situation. Tenet ended up closing MCP.

Tenet also owned another hospital in Philly. During my time, I spoke to a large number of Canadian travelers. Philly had a lot of Canadian travelers - at the time, PA did not require them sit for the NCLEX to work in PA. Many of them were quite dissatisfied, as they were hired for specialty floors, but were spending more time being floated to other areas than they were on their own floor in specialty. The reason is that certain areas with favorable conditions/ratios were routinely being overstaffed so that the travelers could be floated to all the areas that no one would want to work.

Frequently some hospitals "create" that perception of shortage...ads, articles, stories about how long it takes for a nurse to answer your light. This is a manufactured "shortage" of their own making, to serve their own interests.

One of these days, the Craigslist ad will be deleted. So, I copied the ad here. This is the original Craigslist ad:

Agencies, please process the applications you have before advertising (Oahu)

Nurse staffing agencies: PLEASE work on processing the applications you have on hand instead of advertising for more nurses. I have been in your offices and have seen the stack of applications that need to be processed. We are ready to work. Please finish our paperwork, and work on getting us shifts where we are needed. There seems to be a competition going on craigslist right now about who can promote the most nurses or get the most applications. We won't want to work for any of you if you don't process our paperwork and get us out there.
With respect but concern. waiting.

Hi Caliotter!
Considering your posts I think you work with Home Health right?
If you do could you help me with advice?
The deal is this: I am a new grad- RN. but can't find anything at hospitals ( I thought that would be the right way to go since I am a new grad). I really need a job though, so I applied to a home health place and they hired me. They are a non-profit religious org. and they have a home health division. They are offering me 19.50/ hour, plus .50/mile. She said the schedule is flexible I can take as much patients as I want, but I have to work every other weekend. They are going to train me and I can always call my mangaer with any questions. All that happened Friday morning. But then Friday afternoon I got a call from a Hospital. I will call them o Monday. But now I am so confused!!!
Do you think going to home health now is a good idea. Should I wait for a hospital job? I dont want to waste their money in training if I will not stay.
thanks for any insight.
Latman

Hi there!

If you have been offered a hospital position, by all means take it. The home health agency will understand. Offer to stay on with them on the weekends or PRN or something to keep your foot in the door. You don't say where you are located but $19.50/hr for an RN is too low for just about any place. That is closer to LPN/LVN pay. At any rate, the hospital job is going to be more beneficial to you in the beginning. Good luck with your decision. And congrats on getting two job offers!