interview soon

[hopern84]

I have an interview coming up at a hospital. I was asked if I was currently at my old hospital, I quickly said that I resigned and hope to be given another opportunity.

My first nursing job turned out to be an ultimate disaster a real toxic place that wasn't nice to new graduates at all. How do i explain all of this to another hospital. If i am able to land this other job, I would be so grateful and appreciative. I really need the experience and I really really need a hospital job. Please help me with advice.

[Aunt Slappy]

How long were you there? What constitutes "toxic" and "not nice to new grads?" Did you give at least two weeks notice? Did you break a contract when you left?

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Without sounding to generic or scripted you could say something like:

"In order for a nursing unit to provide high quality care to its patients, there needs to be a spirit of teamwork between those providing care. On the unit at my previous job, that teamwork was sorely missing."

Hopefully at that point, you can tie it back to the unit for which you are interviewing..."I heard many times about the quality care that is provided at XYZ hospital," or, even better would be, "I had a family member who was a patient at this hospital, and I was greatly impressed by the care he (she) received. When I came to visit him (her), the nurses were always attentive and you could tell everyone on the unit was working together to obtain a positive outcome." Obviously don't lie about having had family/friend/self in this hospital, but it is nice if you can bring it back to why this is the place for you, rather than just talking about the negatives of your former job.