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Discussion

Advice for a new RN?

I'm a newly licensed RN in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I graduated in the US a year and half ago but don't have any work experience since I moved to Winnipeg right away. I'm told I'm a strong applicant since I had good grades, great references, honors thesis, pharmacy tech experience, and have volunteered at a hospital here in Winnipeg for over a year.

I was wondering if anyone has advice for new RNs? Ideally, I would love to work in pediatrics (I did my practicum rotation in PICU and loved it), but there don't seem to be too many job openings right now. Most openings are either parental leave positions or part time, permanent positions. There is also an opening at St. Amant, an LTC facility for children with complex medical issues. My critical care professor encouraged me to take a position like this if hospitals weren't hiring, because I would gain experience with medical equipment and learn to manage patients with complex health needs - which would then make it easier to transition to critical care or ICU later on.

Here are my key questions:

1) Would you recommend starting at a general hospital, tertiary hospital (my preference), or specialty facility?

2) Do you recommend taking a med-surge position or holding out for a specialty?

3) How long should one stay in their first RN position? What if I get hired in a part-time position on one unit/facility and then my ideal full-time position comes up a month later somewhere else?

4) What is the appropriate dress code for RN interviews?

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    I can tell you a few things about pediatric nursing in Winnipeg... first that there are very few openings at Children's and getting a foot in the door will be really hard. not impossible, just hard. You could apply to the PICU, I know they're hiring "new grads" and the staff there are wonderfully good at orienting new staff. St Amant is an excellent facility, but my experience there was a bit soul-sucking. It's not something I'd be able to do for long. (I have a severely disabled son and found myself picturing him in that setting all the time I was there. Made my heart hurt.) The staff there are phenomenal, and know their patients inside and out, so they tend to be healthier than many severely-handicapped people living in the community. St Amant doesn't take ventilated patients, or at least they didn't a few years ago. That may have changed. Working there would be good experience for caring for medically-complex patients, and for family-centred care.

    If you're set on a career in peds, I'd apply for NICU, PICU, PSCU, peds and intermediate care nursery positions and just keep applying until you get something. Even if you have to take a casual or part time position, that gets you on the seniority list and when the job you really want opens up, you'll have a better chance of landing it.

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    here are how i would answer your questions:

    1) -whatever i could get, if i got them all then i would look at pay, travel distance, hours, reputation, climate of the unit ect. personally i'd go for the hospitals because there are so many units and areas to work in without losing seniority,

    2)- take what you can get, you need to start getting experience and i'm assuming money, you can transfer if a position becomes available

    3) - as harsh at it sounds, in reality you own them nothing, a company can fire an employee after 30 years and leave them with nothing. you have to do what is best for you, as mean as you might feel. i left on place after about 3monts and felt awful. i got a better job (more hours and money and less travel) but didn't have the nerve to quit that i was doing 80h weeks and got in a car accident after going back and forth between jobs. when i quit they were actually really nice about it. i was honest and gave them sufficient notice, still worked my next two weekends knowing that there would be no coverage.

    4) - dress pants, small heal or nice flats, and a nice top, modest make up, no or little perfume, with hair out of your face and neat.

    good luck, hope you can find your dream job!

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    Thanks for the feedback Janfrn & Daisy_08!

    Janfrn: It seems you have quite a bit of peds experience in Winnipeg. Yes, getting into Children's is not easy - I've been volunteering at PSCU for over a year so I hope that will help a tiny bit. Have you ever worked at St. Boniface? They have some NICU positions but the job description says they require french. I don't want to apply when I clearly don't meet the rquirement but just wondering if all their nurses are bilingual ... At Children's they always mention Aboriginal Preference but a unit manager told me they only know one person in the whole hospital who speaks an Aboriginal language.

    Daisy: Thanks for answering all my questions. I agree with you about #3, it seems very mean, but you're right about it being better when enough notice is given. I'm glad you spelled out the clothes for me, it's what I would have worn in FL but a resident MD here told me a suit would be more appropriate in Canada. Don't want to be over-dressed for a floor position!

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    i graduated in may of 2011 and am now working in ns. i took a job on a medical/telemetry unit in june (which i knew i hated even before i took it). to answer your questions:

    1) i would tell you to take a job wherever you can get one! but talking to some of my friends who have started in nursing homes or rehab facilities are totally envious of my job in the acute care setting. tons of experience and a great opportunity to see how all the disciplines work together.

    2) as much as i hate to admit it, med-surg is a great base on which to build your nursing career. the nurses and docs told me that if i can survive a year on the medical unit i work on, i could pretty much write my ticket anywhere else! i have learned a ton and it'll help me when i decide to move on and specialize. one of my friends started off in emerge and she's finding it totally overwhelming and she puts up with a ton of crap for being a new rn in emerge. i'm going to get my feet under me first, but everybody is different and starting off in a specialty may be your thing. if you have a med-surg position and work in a hospital, transferring to a more specialized unit can be done without losing sign-on bonuses (if any) or senority. plus, it looks great on a resume (so i hear).

    3) stay in your position until something better comes up. i've been waiting for almost a year for something else- i look every day. the prospect of working towards that something better coming along is the only thing that keeps me going to work! but really, do what makes you happy. if your dream job comes up, go for it!

    4) business casual/dressy clothes are the norm out here in ns for interviews.

    all the best-

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