Does bad experience count as experience on resume?

please, please, please. . .leave the dirty laundry where you left it. to bring it up when you are job hunting and to talk about your horrid experience when you do start a new job is like shooting yourself in the foot. believe me, i could tell you stories that could match yours. ltc is ripe with them. most of us have a war chest full of them. please, its much better to take the stand that you want to see a better situation in ltc facilities and do your best to see that this happens. i can tell you want that already because you did what was right at this last job and you broke your back to make sure all the meds got passed. i would hug you if i could get my arms through the computer screen. :icon_hug: you did a good thing. when you are more experienced you'll learn to observe and document (collect evidence) what that one nurse instructed you to do, so she can be reported to the board of nursing for her malpractice. she needs to be run out of the business. good luck with your job search. you deserve better and i hope you find it.

when you are looking for another job, you focus on looking your best on your resume so you can land the job. if you need to vent about your 9-month stint at the nursing job from hell, your resume or a job interview, read carefully, isn't the place to do it. :redlight: war stories are for telling at a bar or on allnurses.

i hear what you are saying. i've worked in a number of different ltcs over the years and i've seen a lot of crap. i'm sorry you had a bad experience. but, trust me, you did learn something positive from it all. and, that is what you have to focus on if you want to land a job. i'm being serious here. when i was a manager in an acute hospital and interviewed people for nursing positions, i can't tell you how sad it was to have an applicant sitting in front of me just venting and dumping about their last bad job experience. from the manager's point of view, do you think i want to hire someone doing that? i wanted people who could control their emotions and who had positive attitudes and a "can do" nature.

i post to threads on job hunting and career moves from time to time. my relatives own businesses and i get stuck writing letters of recommendation for their employees who need them for their college programs, so i have some files of information to help me with these things and i share them with members on allnurses. here are the attitudes and characteristics a(n) (ideal) potential employer wants to see in someone who comes through their door looking for a job:

• initiative - autonomy
  
• dynamism - energy
  
• positive outlook
  
• responsibility
  
• orientation to the client and co-workers (ability to provide customer service)
  
• learning capacity
  
• productivity
  
• high adaptability - flexibility
  
• leadership
  
• team work
  
• tolerance to pressure
  
• analytic ability
  
• professional development

characteristics we evaluate someone on in letters of recommendation:

• oral communication - speaks clearly with precision and accuracy
  
• written communication-precise, accurate, grammatically correct
  
• intellectual ability - aptitude to learn
  
• leadership - takes initiative and motivates others
  
• ethics - honest, integrity, ethical behavior
  
• empathy - considerate sensitive and tactful in response to others
  
• reliability - dependable, responsible, prompt and thorough
  
• judgment - displays critical thinking skills, common sense and decisiveness
  
• interpersonal relations - able to get along well with peers and superior
  
• adaptability - reacts well to stress, poised and controlled
  
• professional appearance - maintains good personal hygiene, appropriate attire, well-groomed

here are links to articles written by career counselors on how to set up your resume. remember to focus on the positives!

• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/17719/1/home.aspx - create a winning nursing resume
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/19057/1/home.aspx - resume presentation
  
• monster members share what works for them
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/18334/1/home.aspx - common resume blunders
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/16909/1/home.aspx - accessorize your healthcare resume
  
• by jennifer leclaire
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/16548/1/home.aspx - healthcare resume q&as
  
• http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/36957.html - "resume-writing 101". includes a set of links at the bottom of the article to the resume information at the major job seeker sites.
  
• http://www.nurseweek.com/features/99-8/resume.html - "looking good on paper: professional advice for building powerful resumes" from nurseweek. a short article on the critical basics to incorporate into your resume.
  

and advice on the cover letter to go with them if you mail any of the resumes:

• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/16536/1/home.aspx - healthcare cover letter dos and don'ts
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/17043/1/home.aspx - cover letter etiquette
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/17164/1/home.aspx - ten cover letter don'ts
  
• http://content.monster.com/articles/3475/17414/1/home.aspx - avoid these 7 killer cover letter mistakes
  
• http://www.vault.com/nr/ht_list.jsp?ht_type=9 - sample cover letters
  
• http://www.vault.com/nr/main_article_detail.jsp?article_id=20934&cat_id=0&ht_type=9 - a step-by-step guide of what goes on a cover letter done in the format of how the letter should appear.
  
• http://www.worktree.com/tb/cl_cover.cfm - "covering cover letters". includes a summary of what a cover letter should contain.
  
• http://www.vault.com/nr/main_article_detail.jsp?article_id=4151742&cat_id=0&ht_type=9 - "letters from the job search - what to avoid"
  
• http://www.worktree.com/tb/cl_tips.cfm - "tips for writing cover letters"
  
• http://www.worktree.com/tb/cl_more.cfm - "cover letters: more helpful hints". nice article with a lot of helpful information.
  

hope you find some good ideas in these links. good luck with your job search. turn your bad experience into a positive one ("i learned how to organize when i passed meds and did treatments for 70 residents.") have an answer ready for "why did you leave?" how about, "i'm looking for other opportunities to be able grow as a charge nurse and not just pass meds and do treatments."

please believe me that there are some awesome nurses working in ltc. you'll run into them over time. when you do, you'll know it. please don't be discouraged. my first nursing job out of school was in ltc and it was a 7 month nightmare. i've learned a lot since. you will too. one of my favorite sayings:

good luck to you.