Getting a NICU job....

[SweetNothings]

Hi everyone. Hoping to get a some advice. I've been an RN for a little over a year now. For about the past 8 months I have been working part time at a Public Health Clinic (due to this economy it's all I could find) while still actively looking for work at the hospital. I've also been caring for a child with specials needs off and on while looking for work. Like many new nurses out there, I have been unsuccessful in finding a hospital job due to "lack of experience", hiring freezes, etc. Recently 2 positions became available at one of the local hospitals In NICU, which is a floor I really want to work on. Even though it's a specialty floor, the job description stated that it required no experience so I applied for both positions. This particular hospital also has an RN internship(which I tried getting into last year) but I was told that I don't qualify for the program anymore because I now have more than 6 months worth of "experience" (sounds odd when all I hear is that I DON'T have enough ). Anyway, I put in my application online for both positions. My question is, should I make the next step and contact the nurse manager of the floor just to kind of introduce myself and show that I'm really interested in this job? I just put in the application yesterday, so I definitely wouldn't be doing this until next week sometime. A few nurses that work/have worked at this hospital have told me it would be a good idea to contact the nurse manager because the HR department there is terrible and they don't always forward applications. I've always gotten mixed reviews on whether this is a good idea or not. I know competition is tough right now with so many people out of work, but I want to stand out from the crowd without over stepping my boundaries. Any advice on what I should do??

[LoveANurse09]

Yes!! Definately contact the manager tomorrow! Do not wait. I made this mistake. A NICU position came available at my hospital I thought I would wait a week to call the manager and when I did the job was filled! Let her know how much you want it. Let her know that you applied last year as well. This will show your dedication. Good Luck and fight for it! Unfortunately this is what we have to do.