Jumping ship to Hospital Nursing

katkonk, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2011

Dear Occupational Health Nurses
1. Was it hard to jump ship from OCC NURSING to Hospital Nursing? The company that i work as contract went bankrupt and we were told " they wont cut our hours" but we know we will be thrown into the bus anytime...What you say FEAST OR FAMINE is so true....
2. How to deal with grief, anger and denial with company employees at the same time...as contract OHN or " helpers" to the FULL TIME NURSES/EMPLOYEES deal with our own grieving as CONTRACT PEOPLE/NURSES gonna be starting from scratch looking for work back to hospital nursing and leaving OHN for good...:smokin: Surely a dark Christmas for us.
3. I have phone interview today for a HOSPITAL JOB....I am praying for a normal life again and being able to LIVE.....
4. The company where I worked have already hired nurses that they want even before we have the chance to apply
I really learned a lot from you OHN nurses here at allnurses during my short tenure with OCC HEALTH...Thanks for your kind replies...

I hope you were able to get the job. I think whether it is difficult or not depends on how long you have been away from the hospital work. I think it is more difficult to get hired if you have been away for more than 6 months, because hospitals always want "current" experience. As far as the personal transition to hospital work, depends on how invested you were in the OHN work. I found it difficult as I missed my OHN practice when I had to go back and do the hospital "thing", and the physical stamina, lifting, etc. were hard for me because I have a lot of mileage on these legs and my back :)

If you want to continue contract work as an OHN, you should check out YOH healthcare, they are an agency that specializes in occupational health. Good luck with your future endeavors. Would like to know if YOU found it to be a difficult transition.

The only thing I miss about the hospital is the 10 or 12 hour shifts, and the days off accordingly. Definitely don't miss taking call!

Aviationurse · Jan 3, 2012

Hello Katkonk....42 pines reply got lost during the allnurses upgrade....

I gave my heart and soul to this OHN job...but it is a dream job for people here with CONNECTIONS.....i would like to stay in OHN but the nurses who retired jump ship fast....mostly nurses in their 70s who needed this jump for their flight privileges....great hours...bennies..vacation etc

Kat....I will try the agency for OHN....i have interview tomorrow as case manager for insurance....i did not took hospital job bec it was an agency buyout for 15 grand working in kids psych hospital and i have to pay the hospital back the 15 grand if i break contract....i dont like working with violent kids with no health bennies...no security...15 g buy out...

it is so depressing this CONTRACT JOB ....after all the hard work....they were fast to give me zero hours for jan and feb.... im so scared of eviction ...threatening bill collectors...the list just goes on and on...

i have been interviewing for jobs and YOU ARE SO RIGHT KAT...hospice jobs....hospital ER job interviews really dont like this GLAMOUROUS OHN jobs RN applicants in their resume...i only get paid 29 /hour with no bennies...you guys know where im coming from

Thanks for listening and support

42pines · Jan 7, 2012

Reading back...

".i did not took hospital job bec it was an agency buyout for 15 grand working in kids psych hospital and i have to pay the hospital back the 15 grand if i break contract...."

What a sick concept! Yet I've seen the same thing with Tertiary Care, Nursing Magnet hospitals, locking in new grads. The way the contract is written even if you get cancer, you still owe them. It's like something out of the 17th century, we've become fodder for a new type of indentured servant status. Soon the contract agencies will have a sign: "Slaves wanted"

About Katkonk's statement:

"I think it is more difficult to get hired if you have been away for more than 6 months, because hospitals always want "current" experience."

If passed (it hasn't been voted on (I think)) the American Jobs Act will make it discriminatory to refuse to consider or to hire a person based upon unemployment status. I hope it passes. And being an unemployed Occ-Med nurse, if I find a company that I interviewed hired a person with less qualifications than I have (if the bill passes) perhaps I'll be the first to test the legal waters. (For instance if I'm certified in spirometry, and COHC, and they hire someone who is not, but need those skills).

Though frankly, I sort of doubt that will really happen as companies value experience in an Occ-Med nurse. My boss from my old company called and begged me to come and work for him. I had worked for a Fortune 50 company (read: big) but was contract. The company closed my unit and moved to the South and I'm stuck with property here in the North, otherwise I'd have moved too. His new contract Occ-Med nurse hasn't much experience and it sounds like neither management nor the line (union) workers do either. Sure there are elemental skills like can you pull a splinter out, or ID a heart attack versus a panic attack (sometimes not an easy thing) or tell a sprain from a strain, but there are other skills too, like how to get along with workers and management. "Being on the fence," is not easy, and maintaining neutrality, or skills like accident investigation (including real or malingering) count too. (Note: I'd take the job in the South and rent a place--but as I told him: "I trust you, but I'd fear that I'd take the job, move there, and 6 month later get a 20% pay cut, so I'm sorry but no thanks.")

I'm a scrapper and initially at a job it causes problems because I'll defy management if the ee is correct, and in reverse I'll work hard to expose a malinger if I can prove it, but over time, I've learned that being impartial to either group earns respect.

Being unemployed I've just taken a EMT-B course (I passed the practical but still need to take the exam, but I have no worries about that), which I think should be mandatory for any Occ-Med nurse working in any job (just my own opinion) and will be sitting for the COHN-S in March/April. All these will give me a leg-up over other candidates, I think, regardless of my age, I'm sixty, but if I ever meet you I'll deny I ever said that...hehe.

Another suggestion is to find your regional/state Occ Health Nurse (see http://www.aaohn.org) and attend their meetings/dinners/functions and network.

Consider too, that if you become unemployed depending upon the state, you might be able to get funding and even extension of benefits for obtaining skills that you need, such as COHC or COHN, or even going back to college to turn an ADN into a BSN. Doing that you bypass the "out of work for a long time" issue.

Just ideas...

And hmm...nowadays, I hate to say it but 29 hours (if a reasonable hourly rate and a reasonable job) even with no bennies is beginning to sound good to me... Ouch...

Aviationurse · Jan 10, 2012

Thanks so much for your support and feedback.. Ive applied in dangerous neigborhood hospital and hoping i get a chance to go back to hospital nursing....( direct hire ) and not through agency....

Ive renewed my volunteer work in a flu clinic for DEPT. OF HEALTH...( MEDICAL RESERVE CORP) hoping i can network with somebody

What a sticky situation Im in....

42pines · Jan 11, 2012

Persevere, that's about all we can do... there are many in sticky situations--I'm one of them, much to my surprise!

At least you feel comfortable about switching back to hospital nursing. I've been out too many years. Even having been med/surg and adult ICU, well add many years and knowledge fades.

I've been thinking about going back for an ADN in Occ-Med, at one of the NIOSH research centers, but funding for them is in question. Even there, I wonder if I should do a BSN from my RN (I have two BS's already...I'm a bastion of BS!) just to re-enter clinical work. Ah...time will tell.