BSN grad scared that I pigeon-holed myself in home health - advice??

[Kate in Seattle]

Hi, and thank you for reading this! I am a BSN grad in Seattle who has been out of school just over a year. I did my practicum in postpartum (I love working with babies). I took the first job I got out of school which was a job in pediatric home health. I knew that I wanted to work with children and babies and thought that this could be a good way to get experience. After a while, I realized that home health is not for me and I desperately wanted to get into a more challenging and diverse work environment. I took 5 weeks to work as an RN at a camp for children with chronic medical issues this summer - it was intense, I learned a ton, and I loved it. I also worked as a temp doing vaccine clinics at Sea-Tac airport in order to gain more experience with shots and educating people about diseases and vaccines.

Since I finished my wonderful camp experience in August, I haven't had any luck with applying to hospitals in the area. I interviewed at Children's but basically I was too far out of school to do a residency and didn't have enough acute care experience to compete with experienced nurses. It was quite sobering and sad to be turned away from this amazing hospital. I am now terrified that I have limited my future by going into peds home health right after school. I would love to do postpartum again or peds, but am worried that no one is ever going to take a chance on me. I'm so frustrated because I feel like I've caused this problem for myself, but I also strongly believe in my ability to thrive in intense situations. I feel like I've landed in a strange middle ground which I will not be able to get out of. Any thoughts or advice? Am I getting anxious too early? It just seems like every job wants 1 year + of hospital experience, which I do not have.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Thank you!

[caliotter3]

You certainly didn't go into peds hh with the intention of ruining your future chances, did you? So stop beating up on yourself. Like many others, you probably took the first opportunity that came your way. Now you will have to be persistent to find your next opportunity, and continue to work in peds hh at least part time, so that you don't have to explain periods of "unemployment". Best wishes.

[westieluv]

I don't think things sound that bleak. For one thing, you have strong peds experience now, which you didn't have when you graduated and which puts you ahead of the pack when applying for a job in inpatient peds. The transition from taking care of adults to taking care of kids and babies is much harder than the transition from home health to inpatient, and a good supervisor/recruiter will realize that.

What I would do in your situation is keep watching for positions to open up at Children's and when they do, send them the best resume ever, in which you detail how much peds experience you have gained and what a challenging work environment home health care is, especially for a new grad. Think about it: when you are a new grad working inpatient, you are always surrounded by experienced staff members that you can go to for advice and information when you don't know what to do. In home health, you are out there alone, with those little lives in your hands and no one to use as a "cheat sheet". If I was a supervisor, that would show me that you are able to work autonomously, which is awesome for a recent grad, and most probably couldn't do it. Also, taking care of kids with chronic illnesses at that camp should be a high point on your resume, since chronic illness exacerbation cases make up a lot of peds inpatient admissions.

I don't know what else to tell you except hang in there, keep applying, and don't discount what you're doing now. Taking care of sick kids in their homes sounds daunting to me, and you are making a huge difference in the lives of the kids and their families. I did home hospice nursing, and even though the focus is obviously much different, I know how challenging home health care nursing can be. You should be proud of yourself. :)

[Kate in Seattle]

Thank you both so much for your encouragement and advice! It's really nice to hear from other nurses. I will definitely keep up part-time work as I look for new jobs. I appreciate your posts!

[seamel]

What floor did you interview for at Children's? I know that many floors will hire a nurse who isn't a "new grad" because of non-acute care experience, but who isn't experienced as an acute care nurse. I recently started as a new grad at Children's. Of the other two nurses who just started on my floor, one is a new grad and one is a very experienced former travel nurse. All three of us are going through the same orientation process.

Continue to apply at Children's as positions open, because there is hope! Between about December and February, they won't be hiring because they will be implementing full computer charting and will need to hold of on hiring during that process. Because of this, in the next few months, they will be predicting need and hiring extra nurses to make up for that mini "freeze". This is what I was told, at least.

[Kate in Seattle]

I applied for the medical units. I was advised that this is the next best step after home health. I will check around though on their website! I volunteered in the rehab department way before nursing school, so I'm hoping jobs open up there. Rehab has always been an area that has piqued my interest. Thanks for your input! :) I hope your orientation and first year go well!