Agency Nursing

[Gizmo44]

First some back ground:

I am a new grad. I passed my boards in August and am now looking for LPN positions. They are hard to find, believe me. I did get a position at a nursing home but it is PRN and I need something with steady hours, even part-time (20-30hrs/wk) in addition to it. I was told the hours were there for me but so far I haven't seen them. I had just 3 days of training and asked for an additional day to be sure I had all the paperwork down. They told me at my interview to be sure and speak up if I needed more time since I won't be working on any one hall (thus not getting to know the residents well). Since my first & last day was pretty chaotic, I figured it would be a good idea. Particullarly since ratios are high at this facility - 20 residents/nurse in the memory unit and 30-35 residents/nurse on the other 2 halls each. 2-3 CNAs are on each hall depending on the shift. All I see ever having time to do is pass meds and do treatments. I don't know how they fit in the time to do the other assessments/documentation that is required.

I am supposed to get my extra day this week but I haven't heard anything from the admin. assist. (yes, I heard she does the scheduling). It makes me think whether they can give all the hours they said was available since they don't seem to be in a hurry to get me out of training. So, this week I started looking for a second job. Part-time prefereably. I even started looking at offices which I never looked at before.

Back to my question.

I have an agency (Maxim) calling me pretty regularly and wonder if this route is doable for a new grad? They place hospitals and LTC. Since a hospital is my first choice to work, I was thinking this might be a good route to meet some people and maybe get a regular position there. Only a few hospitals in my area still utilize LPNs but they are part of huge hospitals with a long wait from HR. I heard on several occasions that resumes/applications get lost.

By the way, I am also a student working on my co-reqs to get into an RN program next summer. I also take care of my Mom who is finishing chemo next month for colon cancer. That is why I was looking for part-time hours with opportunity to pick up more and work PRN somewhere to pick up hours when my schedule permits.

It would be interesting to know what other new nurses are doing for work these days. Did anyone go the Agency route right out of school? What was your experience? What was orientation like, if you got anything?

Thanks,