reason for leaving?

Nurses General Nursing

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i wasn't fired from my last job (i was there only 3 months), but i left because working conditions were horrible. not having time to eat, drink, or pee, blood pressure rising an average of 30 points, hair thinning out, etc. on top of that, i have meniere's disease and the progressive hearing loss is making listening through a stethoscope difficult when the patient doesn't have a great respiratory effort.

so my question is, how do i put a positive spin on this when asked the reason for leaving when filling out applications? i've taken about a month off to recuperate, and all of my health issues are resolved (except, of course, the hearing loss). so i don't want to scare off potential employers, but i was honest with my nurse manager when telling her why i was leaving. i don't want to give an "unsatisfactory working conditions" answer and have the prospective employer call my old boss and find out something different. any suggestions?

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Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

just say it was not a good fit ,better commute if it would be at new place,looking for different environment to use your skills ,etc .i have left a job at 3 months and thats how i explained it .i never complained or said anything neg about old job or if you have enough experience skip that job on your resume.

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I always hate having to answer that question on applications. How many people actually leave a job because everything was perfect anyway? I've stayed on at jobs myself just because I didn't want to have to give a bad reason on my next application. Sorry I can't give you anything good to tell them, but I'm interested to see what good ideas others have for answering this.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
i wasn't fired from my last job (i was there only 3 months), but i left because working conditions were horrible. not having time to eat, drink, or pee, blood pressure rising an average of 30 points, hair thinning out, etc. on top of that, i have meniere's disease and the progressive hearing loss is making listening through a stethoscope difficult when the patient doesn't have a great respiratory effort.

so my question is, how do i put a positive spin on this when asked the reason for leaving when filling out applications? i've taken about a month off to recuperate, and all of my health issues are resolved (except, of course, the hearing loss). so i don't want to scare off potential employers, but i was honest with my nurse manager when telling her why i was leaving. i don't want to give an "unsatisfactory working conditions" answer and have the prospective employer call my old boss and find out something different. any suggestions?

Last things first. Generally your old employer is not allowed to give out a lot of informaton regarding your employment with them. Basically it boils down to 'did you work there'. I have seen some answer the question 'would you re-hire this individual' but am not sure of the legalities of that question. They are not allowed to black-list you.

Next - need a few more details to be more helpful. Are you looking for work in the same city, or are you going to relocate a bit? You can always just put down 'relocated to __________' as your reason for leaving. Will you be looking for a job in the same specialty area? 'Looking for Critical care experience' is another reason, or something similar if it is a different area than what you were working in. If the hospital you are looking at is smaller than the one you were in, 'looking for position in a more personalized patient care setting' might be an option, or if you are going larger you can say 'looking for more diverse experience' as a reason.

Bottom line, stop and really think about why you left specifically. You may need to reconsider what type of nursing you were doing (?Med Surg? OB? Critical Care?) and change to something different (MD office? Nursing Home/Gerontology? Hospice? Home Health?) Obviously you have some health concerns. I would be up front about those or it could bite you in the buttocks later. Make sure to ask questions of your potential new employer - is there mandatory overtime? What is the nurse-patient ratio?

Good luck!

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i guess the meat of my question is actually this: should i be honest, or should i be positive? because it's hard to be both. is it considered okay to say "unsatisfactory working conditions"? because if i go with the honest-is-the-best-policy tactic, this is the honest truth. or is that considered being negative? yes, it is a negative answer, but i wouldn't have left my job if i was happy with it. anything else is a lie, really.

for the record, i don't think it's possible for me to continue doing hospital nursing (too easy to miss a respiratory problem), so i'm looking for non-hospital nursing jobs and even non-nursing jobs at the moment.

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Be honest AND positive, there are always ways to put a good spin on things. If you are personable and tell them that you left for concerns for patient care being reduced due to not being able to hear through the stethoscope they may well admire your honest and integrity.

good luck

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Do you have a stethoscope specifically designed for those with hearing problems?

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