Lost my Job

Nurses New Nurse

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I graduated in May 2008 so i'm out of my "first year" but I still feel like this was the best place to post this. It's long so if you are able to read it all I'll be really impressed but I just need to vent!

I haven't had a lot of time to be on the site but I am going through a hard time right now and don't have anyone to talk to so I thought, this is the best place!

About 2 months ago I started becoming very uncomfortable in my position as a home health nurse. I only worked in the hospital for 6 months before I moved here and had to get a job. Home health was the first job I was offered and the concept sounded great, make my own hours, go to peoples homes etc....

In home health you have to work completely independently, you may be the only person to see that person for weeks. Well, I consider myself a very good nurse and I am very quick to learn and love to learn. So i learned every possible thing I could about all my patients and a lot of things I had to teach myself. To make a long story short it got to the point where my employers were expecting more of me than they were willing to take the time to teach. So I asked to switch from full time back down to PRN.

I was willing to take on all the patients I had scheduled...just like a two week notice...but they called me and said don't worry about it they had it covered already....so this was out of my control.

They stopped giving me patients all together and I had to get a temporary job at another agency. That went great for a while but now its over and I got an email from my old company saying

"Sorry but we won't be able to use you anymore because we are too afraid you will leave again".

So now...I'm out of a job. I have applied at all the local hospitals but everyone is pretty much on hold right now and I don't have much experience.

Luckily I got a lot of infusion and IV experience with my home health job. I am using this to my advantage and just interviewed for one infusion nurse position I was lucky to find on the internet and did a working interview. I really loved the facility and would love to get a job

I also joined up with a staffing agency who was able to get me a great interview at an oncology office in DC. I am just very nervous because they advised me to really talk up my IV skills. I am very very good with Port access and PICC lines but I need more experience in starting IVs before I can say i'm really good at that. I do feel comfortable starting IVs I just can't say I'm the absolute best person!

Sorry this is so long...I just needed a place to get my thoughts out! Thank you for listening if you got this far!

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Hang in. Sounds like you'll pick up a good spot soon.

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Hope things get better. :up:

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

you sound like you will be fine. your former employers let you go for the obvious reason of not having you available the way they would like (this happens) rather then a reason that paints you as a bad nurse. i agree with your agency that you should "talk up" your infusion and iv admin skills because that is what the job is looking for in a nurse... thus, if you are interviewed and they ask for a weakness i would not state iv starts as a weakness or strength. i would state something else for both. to be honest, very few nurses are great at starting ivs because very few nurses were ever really taught the proper way to start ivs in school. in fact i have thrown out the way i was taught because it messes me up every time!! for example, at my last job in med surg i sucked at starting ivs. now i work in an er where i have to start a lot of ivs and i am doing very well.

what is the difference? while working med surg i had experienced nurses who came along and started ivs for me if i was unable to do so. i never got better because no one taught me to be better. on the other hand, prior to starting in the er, i had a nurse with over 20 years experience take me to a unit and watched me start ivs on real humans. while i was doing it, she critiqued me every step of the way. after that i was able to correct myself without assistance and get all my sticks on a first attempt (knock on wood). therefore, i suggest you grab an experienced nurse after getting your next job and get that person to critique you if needed. i think you have the qualifications for this new job and you need to think so too! gl!

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.

what is the difference? while working med surg i had experienced nurses who came along and started ivs for me if i was unable to do so. i never got better because no one taught me to be better. on the other hand, prior to starting in the er, i had a nurse with over 20 years experience take me to a unit and watched me start ivs on real humans. while i was doing it, she critiqued me every step of the way. after that i was able to correct myself without assistance and get all my sticks on a first attempt (knock on wood). therefore, i suggest you grab an experienced nurse after getting your next job and get that person to critique you if needed. i think you have the qualifications for this new job and you need to think so too! gl!

the way i learned was to try no matter how impossible it appeared. now everyone asks me to do them for them! if they'd just try they'd probably be decent at it too. i still have my off days now and then. when you're hot youre hot, when you're not you're not.

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