No job post ER internship

Nurses General Nursing

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So my question is.. Do I tell my next employer about my internship or not?

This is a summary of what happened...

I was hired at a level 1 trauma hospital in the emergency department with no prior medical experience and just got my RN license in May. As of yesterday 9/20/17, I was let go and told I would not be offered a position (in the internship you're not yet an employee of the hospital and get a stipend pay and no benefits). My manager basically told me that I just wasn't keeping up with the other interns and he assumed I wouldn't be ready to fly solo in 3 more weeks so he quit on me. I was switched preceptors 3 times because they were short staffed and the other interns had been in that hospital before as a paramedic or tech. Yeah, I feel disappointed in myself but my biggest concern is my question stated above because I need to start applying again.

Specializes in peds.

I think you should probably list it because some experience is better than none. On applications if you are eligible for rehire just say something about how the experience was not for you. Apply for med surg floors or smaller ers where you can get a better orientation. My first job I had do to an orientation sheet each week on what I needed to work on. Maybe ask your preceptors what you need to do to get better each week.

Ok thank you for the tip! I will go ahead and include it. I just hope it doesn't take me forever to find another internship. I'm wondering if I should try home health or a nursing home.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Ok thank you for the tip! I will go ahead and include it. I just hope it doesn't take me forever to find another internship. I'm wondering if I should try home health or a nursing home.

Apply for anything and everything. The time to make choices comes when you have more than one offer.

I would list it on my resume, and if recruiters ask why it didn't materialize into a job offer, you can be honest and say exactly what you wrote here. You didn't have a steady preceptor, they were short staffed, and then they felt like you weren't keeping up when in reality they didn't give you a fair shot at succeeding.

I would list it on my resume, and if recruiters ask why it didn't materialize into a job offer, you can be honest and say exactly what you wrote here. You didn't have a steady preceptor, they were short staffed, and then they felt like you weren't keeping up when in reality they didn't give you a fair shot at succeeding.

And this advice is going to ensure that he doesn't get that job either.

OP, never, never, never bad mouth your previous employer, no matter how true or how much you really want to; it will only end badly for you.

Best wishes as you begin your next job search!

And this advice is going to ensure that he doesn't get that job either.

OP, never, never, never bad mouth your previous employer, no matter how true or how much you really want to; it will only end badly for you.

Best wishes as you begin your next job search!

Not true at all. HR wants honesty. There is a reason why he was not offered a job following the internship - if it wasn't the employer, then it's him. Is he supposed to present himself as a bad employee? I don't think so.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Not true at all. HR wants honesty. There is a reason why he was not offered a job following the internship - if it wasn't the employer, then it's him. Is he supposed to present himself as a bad employee? I don't think so.

This implies a true naivite with regard to HR. NuGuyNurse2b, you might regret giving this advice once you have some real-world experience.

I honestly do not know what to say when I get the question "Well why do you think they did not offer you the job?" Because basically everything can be looked at negatively that I have thought of. I honestly believe it was because I just wasn't quick enough in the end.

Maybe I could word it like..

I learned so much in my short time in the ER internship but with not having any previous medical experience and the hospital being a level 1 trauma center, I just wasn't ready in the approx 20 days I had on the floor.

How long had you been in orientation?

July 13th-Sept 19th. About half of that being in a classroom setting

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