Is this hurting my resume?

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Hi everyone! I was hoping someone could give me some insight. I'm a fairly new grad with 6 months of experience and it's time for me to leave my current job for reasons I don't want to get into right now. I took this job in a med/surg setting as I build my foundation as a new nurse but I'm truly interested in OB. I've been applying like crazy with no calls. I took a good look at my resume and I found some areas that I need to make stronger but there's one thing I'm not sure about what to do. I worked as a CNA at a LTC facility briefly while I was in school. They stopped working with my school schedule so I left and went back to retail for the flexibility. On my resume, I have professional experience which includes the 6 months I was a CNA and my current job which is also only 6 months. Those are the only 2 medical related careers that I have but looking at it, I'm thinking it's making me look like a job hopper. Should I leave my CNA experience off altogether or should I add more of my experience in retail or should I only leave my current job and put my clinical experiences from school? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.
4 hours ago, ruby_jane said:

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

Nope. I only learned about it because I went to UTA.

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Personally, I would apply to jobs you are interested in. The folks that do the hiring may know your facility's reputation and understand why you are trying to get to a better place.

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I graduated in August. I was in a medsurg position for 4 months before I was offered an L&D position at another hospital, so it’s possible. To be fair, I applied to both hospitals before I graduated. It just took longer for the other hospital to get back to me about L&D. They didn’t care that I had only been at my first job for a couple months when I interviewed. I hated leaving my first job after being there such a short time, but I couldn’t pass up the L&D opportunity since openings in those units are very hard to come by!

Just keep on applying. I know it’s hard to be patient, but something will turn up!

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Specializes in Orthopedics.

I'm in a similar boat. It helped to read through this thread. Thanks. 7:1 ratios are a lot for me to handle with 6 months'experience. I know of some nurses that transferred after 6 months. Perhaps you could transfer within your facility. Even still, I'm trying to hold out for my year at least. It's mentally taxing and I worry about mistakes all the time.

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Specializes in Surgical, Home Infusions, HVU, PCU, Neuro.

While I understand the "need" to stay at least a year before trying to relocate, I would not be staying in a place where the patients are in danger and my license is being risked constantly. If you are being told you are getting another patient and you do not feel that you can provide safe and competent care to said patient, refuse the assignment. If you accept the patient you are accepting responsibility of the patient and if something happens the BON is not going to care whether or not the assignment was unsafe but rather you accepting responsibility of the patient. Keep in mind though that if you refuse an assignment there may be repercussions from your employer, including termination. Patient safety is something that I will not compromise on though and there is not one person that will fight for your license like you, the hospital will throw you under the bus in a heartbeat. And remember they can not threaten patient abandonment if you do not accept the patient, there can be no abandonment if there has not been a nurse-patient relationship established.

These are just my thoughts on the subject and something that I would do. With future employment prospects keep in mind to not bad mouth the facility or speak poorly on their management etc, state something like it was not a good fit for you or something to that nature, chances are that word is already out on what is going on over there. Best wishes to whatever you decide and the future path you find yourself on.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
On 3/5/2019 at 7:04 PM, NurseCard said:

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!

Please take a moment to go to your state's BON website and look up the public discipline section. This will give you a good Idea of the things nurses actually lose their license over. Does your state have something like "Safe Harbor" where nurses can report unsafe staffing? California does not but we have state mandated staffing ratios. Definitely put your retail job on your resume with the focus on customer service skills. Like it or not nursing is a customer service job.

Try to stick out the job if you can maybe take some OB/LDRP classes in your off time so you are better prepared for the dream job. Good luck to you OB/LDRP was a heck of a lot of fun when I did it. Most of the days were great until we would have a bad outcome (baby, mom or both dying) bit that was pretty rare.

Hppy

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"Retail" = Customer Service Experience ;)

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I know exactly how you feel. I was a PCT at a hospital for 4 years while I went through nursing school. Our hospital was bought out by a bigger corporation and since then everything has gone downhill for me and others. The floor I worked on went to chaos and I decided that I wanted to work in another unit. After passing NCLEX I tried to move floors but evidently that made the Nurse Manager on my floor mad.

She has basically blackballed me from working as a new grad RN at this new organization. She would let me continue to work as a PCT I guess as long as I would allow it. One day I told her that I didn't feel comfortable anymore working as a PCT as a licensed RN and asked her how many RN's are working as PCTs.

Well that got the ball rolling on getting me completely out of a job, which honestly I didn't care anymore because she never had any intention on me working there as an RN. She had lied to my face multiple times all the way till I left.

Now, when I go on interviews I have to explain why I don't work there anymore and why I didn't get a job there as an RN. I wasn't fired and have until the end of June to keep my time as an employee if I can get a job there as a RN. The kicker is she told me it was now her job to find me a position as a RN. That's laughable because she did everything she could keeping me from even transferring to another hospital within the organization.

Not only has she cost me 6 months of getting a job at the same organization she also refused to give me a recommendation. She didn't tell me she wasn't giving me one, she chickened out and never responded to my email requesting one.

Again, now when I go on interviews I keep getting asked what happened at xxxxx? I gained an extensive amount of knowledge/experience working as a PCT but now it seems it was a complete waste of time due to one butt hurt manger that will probably be fired in a year.

Always remember one crappy nurse manager can cost you a career or at a minimum set you back a year or so.

Good luck and hope everything works out for you.

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