Worth pursuing it? (New Grad) Sorry, it's long

[Black Jade, BSN, RN]

As some of you know, I passed my NCLEX two months ago. I had a tele job on the line and I was supposed to start the New Grad program except I failed the NCLEX the first time. As a result, I lost that position. My nursing manager was very understanding (or so I thought), because he told me not to worry and to let him know when I pass.

Well, it took me three weeks chasing him. The reason I was able to finally get a hold of him was through the day nurse manager. She told me to call the nurse's station at a certain time and have them page him. He told me that he did get my messages except he was taking his time because he was interviewing other people. He asked me to set up another interview in where he offered to place me for the August New Grad program in Med-Surg (I told him that it has been more than 7 months since I graduated and didn't feel comfortable being in Tele anymore). He also gave me the option of whether I wanted a dayshift or nightshift position, will talk to the recruiter about me and that he would call me mid-August.

Well, I found out from a co-worker that her daughter was going to work at the same hospital and unit I was going to work at, except she was already told the day to start. She had recently graduated from a BSN program and passed her NCLEX after I did.

It turns out that the nurse manager never talked to the recruiter, because the recruiter said that the August positions were already full and never heard about me. Here I am two months later, wasting my time holding on to false hopes and all along he was stringing me along. I had never applied anywhere because I was guaranteed a position at this hospital and it was the only hospital I set my eyes on. Now, I don't care for it anymore. I don't want to work with a nurse manager as flaky as he has been with me. I don't think I can depend on him, if I had problems with my patients or the staff. It's ironic that this is a Catholic hospital, but the employers are not that honest. I would have preferred that they told me, "I'm sorry, we don't have any positions available at this moment. Try back in another month." Or said that they would prefer a BSN candidate over an ADN.

But, they don't have the decency or the common courtesy to let me know what happened with my application. To this day, he still hasn't called me.

Are all the nurse managers like that? Have any other New Grads experienced something like this?

On another note, after feeling discouraged I applied to several other hospitals and clinics. I interviewed one at an underserved clinic with the help of my friend who knew somebody there and it seems that I might have a solid chance of getting it. The reason that I'm a little hesitant is the driving distance and the neighborhood. Also, because I don't know if it's the right decision to start feeling that I might be limited as a nurse. (I already decided that I don't want to be a floor nurse). My goal is to eventually end up in a clinic, since I have worked in that environment for 7 years as a Medical Assistant. I would like to know if other New Grads started in clinics, stayed there and loved it.

Thank you for letting me vent out my frustrations.

[medsurgrnco, BSN, RN]

I understand your frustration. It might help to remember that recruiters and nurse managers are working with a large number of people, so often need to be pursued in order to get a job. I've learned not to stop looking and think I have a job when I don't, as anything can happen to make the job fall through. Good luck to you!