Does bad experience count as experience on resume?

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

Ok I have to vent a little here, I just resigned from my first Nursing job after being there for 9 months. I worked per diem, which is like full time with no health benefits. They made me pass meds to 70 patients and do all the treatments. One of the other Nurses tells me to just give the important meds like Blood pressure meds and ones that affect lab results like coumadin. And dont give the rest, but to sign them out so it looks like I gave them on the mar, then she says, I didnt tell you any of this ok. I however, gave them all the meds they were supposed to get and my 3-11 shift went well into the 11-7 shift, this went on for like 5 days, until I resigned, now I am scared to even look for another Job. They refuse to staff the place right, then when you slip up and say a curse word they want to go after your license, but I think these places should take an ethics coorifice and learn how to treat the staff, so they dont have to rely on agency and pool workers. I think I will just go to shoprite and get a job bagging groceries, this Nursing is totally rediculous!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

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!

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

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."

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Thanks for your reply, I am happy to receive your advice coming from a managers point of view. I never really thought what a manager would think about venting about a previous job. I think I will just tell them I left the job to get another job where I can learn and move up in nursing other than just passing med and txs. Thanks

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

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:

some days you're the dog and some days you're the hydrant.

good luck to you.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I would not emphasize on the negatives, either. It may look as though you run from trouble or that you are not loyal to your institution. Since you resigned, you can still use this on your resume and I would say something like it was too far a distance from home or that you wish to obtain a full time job with benefits.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

Thank you Daytonite for this post. I have bookmarked it. Even in Canada, it is not uncommon for LPN's to end up in jobs like this due to decreased demand in certain areas. Also, not all LTC nurses practice like the one the OP described. I have ran into some nurses that really do practice with care and pride.

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some days you're the dog and some days you're the hydrant.

and some days you're the pigeon, others you're the statue.

you left for one reason only: you needed a f/t spot with benefits. period.

it works.

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Integrity goes a long way.

Even bad expereince counts as experience on a resume, as long as the long as you accept it as a learning experience.

You still had nine months clinical experience which is beneficial. However a resume or job application is not the place to slander your previous employer.

It is reassuring to know that your integrity remains intact after being tested, and that you felt that proper patient care is of higher importance than 'a job'.

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