blackballed

Ruby Vee, BSN · Aug 12, 2014

Here's a thought: You're posting under what is probably your own name. Have you posted anything that management might find objectionable? I see you've only made 10 posts -- were they all in this thread? Because, trust me on this, your management isn't going to like what they see if they stumble upon this thread with your name attached.

"I do everything a nurse does except the charting" seems to be a common misconception among techs. Most of them don't know what they don't know. If you're already an RN, I'd expect you to know, at least on some level, that there's more to nursing than meets the eye. Perhaps you've already exhibited some of this attitude at work?

It sounded like you've only applied to four jobs. You're probably going to have to cast your net a bit wider to find a job. It wasn't always that way, but it is these days. Finding a job seems to be a full time job in and of itself. Consider Med/Surg or somewhere other than the ER; it will boost your employability. You may have to accumulate some experience as a nurse before you'll be hired in the ER. It happens. There are benefits to starting your new career as a nurse someplace new. Good luck.

caliotter3 · Aug 12, 2014

Here's a thought: You're posting under what is probably your own name. Have you posted anything that management might find objectionable? I see you've only made 10 posts -- were they all in this thread? Because, trust me on this, your management isn't going to like what they see if they stumble upon this thread with your name attached.
"I do everything a nurse does except the charting" seems to be a common misconception among techs. Most of them don't know what they don't know. If you're already an RN, I'd expect you to know, at least on some level, that there's more to nursing than meets the eye. Perhaps you've already exhibited some of this attitude at work?
It sounded like you've only applied to four jobs. You're probably going to have to cast your net a bit wider to find a job. It wasn't always that way, but it is these days. Finding a job seems to be a full time job in and of itself. Consider Med/Surg or somewhere other than the ER; it will boost your employability. You may have to accumulate some experience as a nurse before you'll be hired in the ER. It happens. There are benefits to starting your new career as a nurse someplace new. Good luck.

I also wondered why someone would use what appears to be their real name when posting material such as that contained in this thread. The OP could have this thread removed by a site admin, but no telling that the wrong people have already seen it and made some decisions accordingly.

jwright343 · Aug 12, 2014

Yes, it is becoming a FT job looking for a FT job. :) The only reason I've stuck to the ER is because EMS and the ER is all I now. It's what I've been doing over 10 years now. I will have to broaden my search, however, I would hate to work on a unit for 6 months and hate every second of it. That's not fair to me, my patients or my co-workers. I guess the rush of the ER is most comparable to the rush of ambulance.

@ RubyVee

I've run into this issue in a practice interview with my RN friends. So if I'm NOT allowed to state what skills and experience I have from the street and the ER, how exactly am I supposed to market myself. Apparently the fact that I know some things, doesn't really count since it wasn't as an RN. It doesn't matter that I start IVs, push drugs, read EKGs, run a code, intubate, triage patients, make life saving decisions....... because it wasn't as a RN. That is not fair. At the same time you may see this as 'attitude', I know for a FACT that some nurses take GREAT OFFENSE when a medic or ER tech states that they do many of the same things that nurses do. Anyways, anybody who has been doing this 38 years, has my utmost respect. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Well, I will heed the advice of everyone that's posted so far. But for now, vacation is calling my name.

lrobinson5 · Aug 12, 2014

Psu_213
For the above mentioned reasons. I go on vacation assuming a job is in hand, HR says they're going to contact my boss, all of a sudden no job, no returned calls, nothing. That sounds sketchy at minmum. While I know most EDs don't hire new grads, but then why would they even interview me. I should clarify something further, I'm also a paramedic. So, in a way, I DO have critical care experience, just in an out of hospital way. I DO have acls, pals, phtls, etc. I'm a 'new grad' in nursing terms, however, I have over 10 years experience in fire/ems. I have that critical care experience. Experienced in pre-hospital emergency medicine, absolutely. Experienced as an employee in an ER, yes. Experience as an RN in an ER.... none.

DID they call your boss? I would have a word with your supervisor. Also, do you think you would have a better chance applying for a job at the hospital you work at now? You know more people personally at this hospital than the others, even if it is in the same system.

I had a similar experience where I felt betrayed and lied to. I interviewed for a job where I worked as a CNA and was not hired. They picked people I went to school with over me (who had no CNA experience). I felt like rage-quitting on the spot, but that wasn't fair. They gave me a CNA job in the hospital with no experience or license while I was in school. Still, I wanted to know what in the heck happened. I had a heart to heart with the nurse manager about everything. Apparently I had at least one complaint about being too negative on the floor (which I never would have thought in a million years, I like to think I am friendly and fun to work with). However, there it was. She said I would be a better fit on the unit that they were not hiring for at the time. I had my suspicion that it was convenient that they weren't hiring for my perfect fit unit, but she assured me that she would hire me in a heartbeat if I still wanted to be on the team. Had I quit because I was butthurt, I would not be employed where I am today. She did indeed hire me the second I applied for that unit.

psu_213, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2014

It doesn't matter that I start IVs, push drugs, read EKGs, run a code, intubate, triage patients, make life saving decisions....... because it wasn't as a RN.

I think it is quite important to tell those who are interviewing you that skills that you learned and performed on the job. However, under no circumstances would I tell them that you "triaged" patients.

klone, MSN, RN · Aug 12, 2014

If I knew I'd be addressing it, trust me. I'm guessing personal reasons or ego trips. I have my HR file. I had it printed yesterday. Nothing in it. But again, how am I to know or not know, that within HR, my name is flagged. Some people confuse my pessimism for realism.

If you hear hoof beats, think horses not zebras. If there is no reason for you to be blackballed, then you are probably not being blackballed. Unless the reason for said blackballing is because they think you are just too self-absorbed (i.e. not everything is necessarily about you)?

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Aug 12, 2014

If I knew I'd be addressing it, trust me. I'm guessing personal reasons or ego trips. I have my HR file. I had it printed yesterday. Nothing in it. But again, how am I to know or not know, that within HR, my name is flagged. ****Some people confuse my pessimism for realism****.

You may it may not have that flagged in your file; however, admitting that your attitude may have some way if preventing you from getting this job confirms to me that you are currently not a "fit" for the position, and means you have not been blackballed; unless you have done that to yourself.

Time for you to cast your net wide and hone your nursing skills-meaning, learning HOW to think like a nurse, utilizing nursing judgement beyond the technical aspects of being a nurse and put them together to be the best nurse that have land that ER job in the future.

Best Wishes.

psu_213, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2014

If there is no reason for you to be blackballed, then you are probably not being blackballed.

Yes! Thank you! My point exactly from early on in this discussion.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Aug 13, 2014

Have you considered that possibly your previous ED experience could be seen as a liability rather than an asset? I don't doubt your skills at all, but the scope of practice and policies and procedures of nursing are not the same as you had in your previous position. The department manager may have simply decided it is easier to train a nurse that is totally new to that environment that it would be to essentially retrain a nurse that may have ingrained habits that will be hard to break.

As far as not getting a position with your first interview, don't take that too hard. It's a tough job market out there and it's really not at all common for a new nurse to get the first job she [or he] applies for. In some areas of the country there are horror stories about new grads still searching for a job, any job, after a year or more.

Nola009 · Aug 13, 2014

Maybe somebody's jealous. Keep taking the high road, though. Also keep looking elsewhere. If you find your ER RN job and then leave on good terms, you can always come back later.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Aug 13, 2014

Psu_213
For the above mentioned reasons. I go on vacation assuming a job is in hand, HR says they're going to contact my boss, all of a sudden no job, no returned calls, nothing. That sounds sketchy at minmum. While I know most EDs don't hire new grads, but then why would they even interview me. I should clarify something further, I'm also a paramedic. So, in a way, I DO have critical care experience, just in an out of hospital way. I DO have acls, pals, phtls, etc. I'm a 'new grad' in nursing terms, however, I have over 10 years experience in fire/ems. I have that critical care experience. Experienced in pre-hospital emergency medicine, absolutely. Experienced as an employee in an ER, yes. Experience as an RN in an ER.... none.

Again, and I can not stress this enough, hospitals want to create a nurse in their own image who has no pre-conceived notions.

I took a continuing ed class with a paramedic teacher who continued to refer to paramedic scope as "clinical practice" being "higher" than that of an RN. As you know, a paramedic and an RN are two entirely different scopes.

There is more than one ER that declines to allow a paramedic to work to scope to begin with. Medical direction and RN direction are 2 different things. And one can argue against the nurse practice act in some states for an RN to delgate to a paramedic (who is an UAP, as they hold a certification, and not a license). But story for another thread.

The powers that be may feel as if you are enmeshed in the pre-hospital care of patients to be able to revert to an RN role. You may have an ADN and they only hire BSN's. They may require MS experience prior to a specialization, per policy. They may feel as if they would have to reel you in to snap you out of paramedic mode. It is difficult to say.

So, because chances are that eventually you will have to give up your ER tech job now that you are an RN, is there a reason that you do not approach your ER manager and ask? If nothing else, for an appointment with your manager, HR and the DON? To ask HOW it is that you can realize your goal of becoming an RN in their ER? Then decide how you would like to go about reaching your goal? And if that means starting at square one on a Med/Surg unit for a year until such time as you have the alternate skills needed to the satisfaction of becoming an ER RN, are you willing to do that? Only you can decide, but you need the actual facts first, not the paranoia of "black-balled" and other self defeating terms. You do not know, and neither do we. But you are in a position to ask.

Remember, things are not like they used to be. Loyalty and time on the job do not equate being able to continue to work in a higher or alternate capacity.

ClearBlueOctoberSky · Aug 13, 2014

I've run into this issue in a practice interview with my RN friends. So if I'm NOT allowed to state what skills and experience I have from the street and the ER, how exactly am I supposed to market myself. Apparently the fact that I know some things, doesn't really count since it wasn't as an RN. It doesn't matter that I start IVs, push drugs, read EKGs, run a code, intubate, triage patients, make life saving decisions....... because it wasn't as a RN. That is not fair. At the same time you may see this as 'attitude', I know for a FACT that some nurses take GREAT OFFENSE when a medic or ER tech states that they do many of the same things that nurses do. Anyways, anybody who has been doing this 38 years, has my utmost respect. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Well, I will heed the advice of everyone that's posted so far. But for now, vacation is calling my name.

It's fine to state skills you have experience in, however, you need to emphasize how you pull your experience as a Paramedic into your new career as a Nurse.

In my resume, I didn't emphasize my hard technical skills, I emphasized the other skills I had developed and honed as a Paramedic: Leadership, Critical Thinking, my ability to work with together with different agencies (think IDT's), communication, etc. etc. My hard technical skills were able to show themselves once I started working.

I would also suggest losing the cocky Paramedic attitude during interview. You may have experience in EMS/Prehospital, you will most likely pick things up quicker during your orientation, but Nursing truly is a different beast.