Is this hurting my resume?

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2019

Unless you are about to be fired for something....

Stay there for another six months. You will be able to move but you need that golden first year of experience in acute care. Unless you think you'll never, ever want acute care again, in which case you can apply for ambulatory care - but you'll never get to OB that way. Best of luck.

beekee · Mar 5, 2019

The six month CNA job during school isn’t horrible. I wouldn’t think it’d be a deal breaker. The six month RN job is the red flag. Stay where you are for at least a year before you start looking.

Sour Lemon · Mar 5, 2019

Six months as a new grad in med surg is more like three months after you subtract orientation time. Would you hire you? Seems like a gamble to invest in someone who will need extensive training and hasn't shown an ability to commit for more than a few months.
I'm not saying you shouldn't quit ...but the reality is that it won't make you look great.
I had no medical experience when I looked for my first nursing job, but the person who hired me commented on my employment stability ...same with my second nursing job. They figured I was likely to stick around for a while.

TriciaJ, RN · Mar 5, 2019

I also think the big red flag is the new grad wanting to change jobs after 6 months. That's what's making you look like a job hopper.

The jobs you held prior to becoming a nurse are less important now that you are establishing a nursing track record. Working retail to work around a school schedule won't be held against you. An employer wants to know if they'll at least recoup the money they put into your orientation.

I would not advise putting your clinical rotations on your resume. That kind of blatant padding just makes you look flaky.

BeachsideRN, ASN · Mar 5, 2019

definitely include your retail experience on your resume. LD/MB is a hard unit to get into as those RNs typically do not leave. I would suggest learning as much as you can, maybe shadowing a LD/MB nurse at the facility you want to work for. I also I highly recommend a professional resume writing service. The professionals can tease out skills from your previous retail position that are transferrable to RN practice. Network with people in the unit you want to get into

nursex23, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2019

Thank you all for your input. I originally planned to be there at least a year and as I started getting more comfortable I began considering staying a bit longer. Unfortunately, a lot has changed since I started here. Management began to change after an investigation by the state a few months ago to the point where I saw a very ugly side of nursing. Anyway, the past month or so they've been putting more responsibility on nurses to the point where it feels dangerous. I was told I would have 5 patient, 6 on a bad day but I've been consistently having 7 patient while some nurses are having 8. They are also increasingly admitting patients that shouldn't be on our unit and subsequently code and/or need to be sent out to the ICU. I see the doctors less and less and I've learned that many of them aren't even rounding on the patients. I went from feeling those anxious new grad feelings to feeling comfortable and suddenly things have been changing and now I sometimes fear for my license. I thought I was being irrational but as I've spoken to many senior nurses, many of them who once told me this was a great place to work are now running out of there and advising me to do the same. I turned down another job that I didn't see myself at long-term because I want my next position to be permanent. I'm going to try to stick it out at this place for another 6 months as you all suggested but I also want to put my resume out there and try to get out sooner rather than later.

allnurses Guide · Mar 6, 2019

The possible problem is... if you start sending your resume to places NOW that you might like to work in in the future... they are going to get it in their heads right NOW, that you are a possible job hopper.

What you might do is include a cover letter that says something like "hello, my name is nurseX23, I am currently employed at Wrongway Regional Medical Center in Podunk IL (that's humor), but may be interested in your facility at some time in the future. Thank you for viewing my resume".

Or, instead of sending your resume to individual facilities, you could truly put it "out there" as in, put it on job search sites such as Indeed. The problem with that is, you tend to get inundated with requests to interview, and often from places that you would never want to work in a million years.

I'm with everyone else for the most part; try to stick it out. You aren't going to lose your license as long as you are doing everything that you are supposed to be doing, to the best of your ability, and DOCUMENTING everything.

Good luck!

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2019

14 hours ago, nursex23 said:
I was told I would have 5 patient, 6 on a bad day but I've been consistently having 7 patient while some nurses are having 8. They are also increasingly admitting patients that shouldn't be on our unit and subsequently code and/or need to be sent out to the ICU. I see the doctors less and less and I've learned that many of them aren't even rounding on the patients.

You're not being irrational. That's a poopstorm and not a tempest in a teapot right there. HOWEVER....do whatever you must to stay another six months. Docs not rounding? Document. If you feel the assignment is unsafe, research Safe Harbor (but be aware that while it offers protection, it opens up its own can of worms.) Your ICU is likely just as understaffed and that's why you're seeing the apparently inappropriate referral to you. Hang in there.

TriciaJ, RN · Mar 6, 2019

I can see why you don't want to go down with that sinking ship. I don't imagine you are unionized, which means you probably aren't familiar with unsafe staffing forms. (Although I firmly believe this whole issue should be part of every nursing school curriculum.)

NurseCard mentioned protecting your license by documenting everything. I would keep a little notebook at home and every day after work document (without identifying info) what your day was like. ESPECIALLY make a note of who you asked for help and whether you got it.

Something like this: Rec'd assignment of 7 patients, 2 on insulin gtts, 2 fresh postops, 1 CBI, 1 uncontrolled pain, 1 ambulatory but emotionally needy. Requested help from Suzy Q, charge nurse to cosign insulin gtt. She arrived 1 hour after request due to her own patient load. She told me she had requested add'l staffing but was turned down. Lunch coverage also requested by me; no one available; no lunch break.

Taking a few minutes to do this when you get home can save your bacon if something bad happens and you get thrown under the bus.

If you do decide to just get out of Dodge, you can tell your prospective employers that you were starting to feel competent when changes occured that set off an exodus. They'll get the picture without you having to speak ill of a previous employer.

Good luck.

DowntheRiver · Mar 6, 2019

8 hours ago, ruby_jane said:
If you feel the assignment is unsafe, research Safe Harbor (but be aware that while it offers protection, it opens up its own can of worms.)

Safe Harbor is no good unless you are in Texas.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Mar 7, 2019

15 hours ago, DowntheRiver said:
Safe Harbor is no good unless you are in Texas.

WOW! As it happens, I am....and there is nothing comparable in the other 49 states??? I learned a thing today, Downtheriver.