Can I redeem myself in NICU? HOW?

Nurses Career Support

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:crying2: HI managers, I really need some advice/input. Here is how it is. I graduated nsg school 3 years ago, went right into a NICU, loved it, dove right into being responsible for my own learning of about this area, did excellent on my orientation, did well on my own for about 2 months.2 months plus the 3 on orientation. This was a top notch facility, and I knew it. Well, my personal life/ emotional issues (nothing to do with NICU nsg) forced me, or I should rather just say, I called in sick for about 4 days, then just never called back or went back. I was running from my problems in my personal life, and I was embarrassed to contact my managers. I actually left the state, to live with my friend. COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL. I realize. I regretted it the minute I came to my senses. A few months go by, and I get a position in another NICU , in the new state I am in. I am there for 3 months. This situation , now, was less than ideal. I was commuting back and forth, staying at my friends on my days on, and driving back home to my family 3.5 hours away on days off. All the while, the plan is to permanantly move there. Well, this place was an absolute terrible place to work, they had every issue under the sun, and with my current situation of going back and forth, being tired, comparing it to the place I used to work at , etc.... well I left there too. So, I went home, took a position w/ a home care agency, taking only pediatric/preemie cases. I have been there for a year and a half. This is my problem: NICU nursing is the ONLY thing I went to nsg school for, It's all I want to do, ever. I cant even to stand to go near that first hospital, I start to cry, literally. I cant believe what I did, and I dont know how to fix it. I know I can never work at that hospital again.... BUT, I reallize I had issues to overcome, and I DID. These issues had nothing to do with any substance abuse, no performance issues, nothing like that. But I am fully aware that being a job hopper , or whatever I am, appears UNRELIABLE and UNPROFESSIONAL. I need some advice on how to overcome this . I need to get back into NICU and re-start my career. How do I do this? If you were a manager, interviewing me, how could I say/demonstrate my ability to now focus on my career in your unit, to convince you I am not a risk, but someone who made some mistakes but is ready to go back? What would make you want to even take a chance on me? This is such a big part of my life. I cant stand not being in an area of nursing that I love, and UNDERSTAND very well. I am simply a mediocre nurse in any other area. I was an EXCEPTIONAL NICU nurse, given my short time there, so I had been told. I take ceu's in that area almost daily, I am always reading and re reading the textbooks, clinical guides, etc. In my mind, its like I never left. My heart is there. I live in a small state, that first nicu is the only one here. Me and my family are hoping to relocate. How can I relay this to a future employer/manager ? Do I tell all, like I did here, and come off as a real nut job who has many issues? ( I DID, I dont now!!!) Or should I just feel lucky I have a nursing job at all, and forget NICU alltogether? Please, give me some advice. As you can read, I am desperate, and I dont know what to do about this. Thank you so much in advance for whatever advice you offer.....I cant imagine myself doing anything else in nursing, its my passion to be a nicu nurse... please advise and be honest.....this particular hosp is the ONLy nicu in my area......:imbar :crying2:

also, understandably, I am in the system at the original hosp as "do not rehire". Would you advice me to call tehm and ask what I would do for them to reconsider? Have you heard of that happening? I would really like to sit down and explain, minus a little drams, of course. This hosp really needs nurses as well. I did get in touvh with my mgr after a couple weeks leaving, she was worried abt me, I said I wanted to come back , she had to check with another dept. The answer was no. What now? Is this hosp a dead horse, or can i be able to work there again, and how do i go about doing this!!!!!! thanks so much in advance for any and all info!!!!!!!!!!!

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can you work for an agency that fills in in this hospital. then you could show you are a stable employee. but really with that leaving of your job i can see how you would stay a non rehire.

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Specializes in Home Health, Primary Care.

??? I thought you wanted the OR? Do really want the NICU that badly?

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Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

Move, where ever you have to, BUT forget the thought of going back unless you have NICU experience.

If you want call HR and tell them everything. They might be so disparate to give you another chance. BUT, otherwise forget it.

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I thought you were going into the OR?

Maybe just being very honest with a unit manager would work in this situation. Personally, I would think sticking with your current job for more than a year and ending it on good terms (giving proper notice, no excessive sick calls, etc) would be one way to show your growth as a professional. If the manger has changed you may be able to get on at the NICU in your area. Otherwise, you should move to any NICU that will take you, at least until you can show you are more professional now.

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can you work for an agency that fills in in this hospital. then you could show you are a stable employee. but really with that leaving of your job i can see how you would stay a non rehire.

If you are no-rehire by a facility, they normally will not take you back as agency. Plus, most NICUs require at least two years of full-time work experience in that area, to work agency there, or even more. Travel positions want well over that.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Is this a revision of an old thread, or a new situation?

Sorry, I don't know how to post old threads here. But if you scroll back thru the NICU Forum, you will find a thread started by 5FrSilastic on 2-28-05 that sounds very similar to this one.

My advice would be the same I gave then. Good luck to you.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

It is good that you realize that you made mistakes and that you appear to have behaved unreliably and unprofessionally. Now you need to take that personal growth a step further and accept the you didn't just appear that way, but that you have actually been unrealiable and unprofessional in the past. Saying "I'm sorry" is probably not going to be enough to erase that. You are going to have to actually live with the consequences of your previous behavior.

As others have said, your chances of getting rehired by your original employer any time soon are exceptionally slim. You are first going to have to prove to them that you have changed. That means accepting another job somewhere else and sticking with it for over a year, getting a positive recommendation, etc. Even that may not be enough: they may require several years of stable employment before they would rehire you.

So ... you are probably faced with a tough choice. Do you want to be a NICU nurse now or do you want to live in that city? You may have to simply choose between the two. We don't always get what we want and sometimes, we have to choose to sacrifice one thing to get another.

Finally, I am a little concerned by your emotional state. You said that all that instability in your life was in the past .... but your current level of distress and obsession with NICU suggests otherwise. Perhaps you would benefit from some counseling to help you truly recover from your previous problems so that you can move forward without the burden of misery you seem to feel about not working in NICU at the moment. If you need to thrive in a non-NICU job for a while to build a positive career record, you will need to stop obsessing about the NICU, crying, etc. You'll need to be happy enough with your non-NICU job to do well in it for a prolonged period of time.

Good luck,

llg

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Advice to OP: unfortunately some thing we do in the past can't be corrected. I would apply to a NICU in another hospital and then be honest about your past difficulties (if it comes up) and go from there. Good luck. (BTW - I agree this sounds like a thread that I have answered before).

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Specializes in NICU.
Is this a revision of an old thread, or a new situation?

Sorry, I don't know how to post old threads here. But if you scroll back thru the NICU Forum, you will find a thread started by 5FrSilastic on 2-28-05 that sounds very similar to this one.

My advice would be the same I gave then. Good luck to you.

I thought this sounded familiar!!! Very very similar.

I, too, thought OR was the new focus. I'm kind of confused.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
Advice to OP: unfortunately some thing we do in the past can't be corrected. I would apply to a NICU in another hospital and then be honest about your past difficulties (if it comes up) and go from there. Good luck. (BTW - I agree this sounds like a thread that I have answered before).

It's interesting that you may have encountered this before. ...

Regardless of whether or not it is the same person posting, we do seem to be seeing a lot of people posting similare stories lately. They make some mistakes in job selection and/or performance and leave their first couple of Nursing Jobs on bad terms with their employers. Then they regret those mistakes and want to "erase them" and start their careers over. They don't realize that it doesn't work that way.

Somehow, we need to get the message out to students and new hires that their professional reputations are important. They can't just trash their reputations and then say, "Oops!" and get a complete "do over." Once you have acted unprofessionally or unreliably, it takes time and effort and sacrifice to GRADUALLY rebuild your reputation. Once you have lost people's trust, you have to earn it back. Trust and respect isn't just given because you want it to be.

It seems a common theme on this board lately. How sad. I'm wondering what to do to try to help people avoid those mistakes in the first place. Sorry to hijack the thread. Maybe we should start a new one on this general topic in another forum.

llg

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It's interesting that you may have encountered this before. ...

Regardless of whether or not it is the same person posting, we do seem to be seeing a lot of people posting similare stories lately. They make some mistakes in job selection and/or performance and leave their first couple of nursing jobs on bad terms with their employers. Then they regret those mistakes and want to "erase them" and start their careers over. They don't realize that it doesn't work that way.

Somehow, we need to get the message out to students and new hires that their professional reputations are important. They can't just trash their reputations and then say, "Oops!" and get a complete "do over." Once you have acted unprofessionally or unreliably, it takes time and effort and sacrifice to GRADUALLY rebuild your reputation. Once you have lost people's trust, you have to earn it back. Trust and respect isn't just given because you want it to be.

It seems a common theme on this board lately. How sad. I'm wondering what to do to try to help people avoid those mistakes in the first place. Sorry to hijack the thread. Maybe we should start a new one on this general topic in another forum.

llg[/quot

so, are you suggesting that people in that situation just surrender their nursing license and just give up? Nobody requested a 'do over", or for it to be erased. Advice was simply being requested, in order to be remotely considered back at that original facility. If you read and understood the post,the point was yes, I aknowledged I acted like a total irresposible loser, and I acted impulsively to a personal situation that was affecting me. NOw, what can I do to recover my reliability? Is it even possible? To all who suggested going to a non nicu job and building a strong employment history there, thank you, I am doing that and am glad to know that will only help me in the long run.

If I had a drug problem, I would admit it, go to rehab or something, and then be welcomed back with open arms.....in any facility...but I do this (not minimizing it, calm down..) and I am getting the impression that I should forget being a nurse!!! I kow what happened was very unprofessional, but sheesh, lighten up. Nobody asked for a "do over".

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