Having trouble finding a job

[mago8388]

Hi everyone. I been an RN since 2008 but I believe I had made poor career choices that are hindering me from getting a good hospital job which is where I want to work. I started as a new grad in med surg telemetry after passing the Nclex. I was so exited to get any job that I took a night shift job and later found out I'm not cut off to work nights. I don't mind doing the occasional night when needed but a regular high shift had me like a zombie and no matter what I did I could not sleep during the day so I left that job and took a day/evening job in Home Health. I worked in that field for 5 years with a Dr Office/clinic job in between. Then in 2013 I had my son and I took a year off to be with him and moved to another state in which I got a job at an impatient psychiatric facility. I've been there for little over a year now and do like it but I feel like psych isn't where I'm meant to be.

Now due to my husband's job we are moving to Houston and I thought I'd be easy to get a job at a hospital since there are sooooo many good ones there and they seem to all be hiring but I've had No luck. I even took a nurse refresher course that update my med/surg knowledge and skills but I feel like maybe I wasted my time and money since it seems to not matter to these facilities. I even applied to New Grad position I'm willing to take new grad pay if that gets me in a hospital.

I spoke with a friend that's in HR and she said that the fact that I have moved to different states in 3 year period and not stayed some jobs for years might be making me look like a risk and unstable person. But life happened and I know maybe I should have stayed at my first job and suck it up for longer but what's done is done.

What can I do to fix this and make myself more competitive and attractive to employers. Should I state the reason of my moving and taking a year off on my cover letter? Any advice will be welcome even if your going to tell me how stupid I was to leave my first hospital job!

[mago8388]

Sorry about the typos 😕

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

There are many areas seeing a glut of new nurses and even experienced nurses. Even though you have experience, hospitals may not be hiring anywhere near as many applicants due to there being so many applicants for each position. You may need to branch out from acute care hospital jobs and look into other types of jobs, such as home health, long term care, outpatient settings, etc.

[mago8388]

Thank you for answering Rose. See that's the problem that I feel that I'm stuck on Home health and that's not what I want to do for the rest of my career. I enjoy parts of it like the interaction and nurse/patient relationship you build with your patients and their families and you feel pride when they thrive because you know you're doing a good job but I don't like going to different patient's homes and that you never know what to expect. A lot of the times your clients live in a bad area, you open the door and have a huge dog literally jump on you and sniff you up and the lack of resources. I don't mind a Dr Office but I feel like I'm losing my skills and I felt like a secretary a lot of the times, and hospice and end of life care is just sad for me. We'll if all fails I'll start applying for home care again or for a nursing home.

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

Have you considered LTC/SNF/Rehab? That way you can get back in the game skill wise then apply to hospitals in a year. Back when the nurse overflow was super bad, many of the nurses I worked with in SNF were new RN's that eventually landed jobs at a hospital in a year or so. SNF is not what it used to be, they are discharging patients sooner and sicker than what they were back in 2007 when I entered LTC as an STNA. I have taken care of patients with wound vacs, picc lines, lung drains, etc etc so you will be able to ease yourself back in skill wise. And since you were in HHC and your an RN, you should not have any issues finding a job in LTC.

[PinayUSA]

We still have hospitals bringing in nurses from other countries and the OP can't find a job, Unreal

[ThatBigGuy]

You may want to look outside of Houston proper if you'd like to get back into acute care. Houston/Sugarland/The Woodlands is home to over 6 million people. If you're applying to the cool, exciting hospitals downtown, you're probably in competition with dozens of other applicants.

I would consider applying at an outlying hospital. A 45 minute commute brings in to reach several hospitals, like Baytown, Conroe, Tomball, Katy, and League City. You might need a couple years at one of these hospitals get your acute skills back up to par, and your resume updated.

If you genuinely want to end up in an acute care setting in Houston proper with your current resume, you'll need a stepping stone to bridge that gap. A 45 minute commute may be the sacrifice you need to make in order to update your skill set enough to be an attractive applicant inside The Loop.