Nurse Manager? (can't find a new job)

[Medsport, LPN]

Ok, I've been an LPN for going on 5 years. Most of my recent experience is in assisted living. I did have a job in corrections nursing and a part-time in a nursing home a few years ago. I like my present job, but there is no advancement or raises and after a fairly recent ownership change I got my hours cut so its almost impossible to get 40 hours a week now and I'm really struggling to make ends meet with the student loans, house and car. I've been looking for a new job on and off for the past year and have had several interviews, but no offers. My most recent was with a home health agency and it sounds like they think I don't have enough recent "nursing skills" to get an offer there from working in assisted living so long since we don't have tube feedings, trachs, very few dressings, ect.

I saw an ad for a nurse manager in the paper a little over a week ago and dismissed it because it sounded like they wanted someone with more experience than me. Ironically I worked there before as a nurse and got let go mostly for low census since I was PRN at the time and not picking much up. Anyway, last week I got an email from them inviting me to apply for the job as it sounded like they thought I might be qualified. I thought it over for a couple days and thought what the heck, might as well at least apply. So I open up the email and it says the position has expired. But after thinking that's that for another couple days, I went back and found the paper it was in and it said you could email them, send a resume in or call them.

Do you guys think its too late to apply or maybe give them a call? It is a little farther to drive and I don't really like working days and I'm not sure my personality would be good for a position like this, but a couple nurses I work with said I should give it a shot. You guys think its too late? Any other ideas what to do to find a better paying job and/or something with some future to it or just stick it out where I'm at since its pretty laid-back and I get along with everyone? Maybe just continue to look for ways to cut back on spending like cutting cable, ect. and look for a side job.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I'd at least give it a try. The worst that can happen is they say the position has already been filled.

[Medsport, LPN]

So I take it you would call and ask to talk to the administrator? btw, I noticed a few new jobs in the paper today, but some of the places I applied before. Is it ok to apply again if its been over say 6 months or so? Its to the point now that I've pretty much applied to every assisting living, nursing home and hospital in the area (and a few farther away) at least once. Although I applied at one place 3 times unitil I got an interview and then I didn't get called back. I'm not sure what I should do different? Maybe its my fairly generic cover letter that I always use that I pretty much just change the first paragraph for the particular job I'm applying for.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

The problem is there are a ton of other nurses applying to the same jobs you are. You need to use an individual cover letter for each position you apply to, even if they are within the company. Review your résumé. Anything you can do to spruce it up? Try to make yourself stand out. I'd submit an application with a cover letter and resume. Talking to the admin might not help you. Typically HR or DONs are the ones who hire staff not the admin.

[Medsport, LPN]

Thanks for the advice, but I decided I probably wouldn't be a good fit for the position.

Anyway, I had two interviews for home health the past week. At one of them I was basically told I don't have the up-to-date skills needed due to working in assisted living so long and not doing any tube feeding, IV's, complicated dressings, ect. But the other one said most of the visits are pretty routine doing vitals and setting up meds with most of the time is spent educating and visiting with the patient. It sounds like I have the job, but am going to go out with a nurse for a couple rounds to see if I think I'll like it before doing any paperwork. The pay isn't the greatest and no benefits, but she said if I can work up to a decent number of patients and group them close together around the same time, you can actually make more than the nursing home working less hours and eventually make a schedule where you can have most weekends off or at least several days in a row. The only thing that concerns me is patients are always coming and going so you don't know exactly how much you will be making and not sure how the mileage works with their system yet. But it sounds like a good second job for awhile to get my feet wet in home health. I also finally got an interview at a nursing home in my town after applying three times so see how that goes.