9 months Postpartum experience in NYC; hoping to move to California and work Med/Surg

[new-ishRN5]

Hi everyone,

I would love some tips/advice on my current job search.

As a new grad I applied to acute care jobs in all of southern California for a year and never got anything. I refused to do clinic/hospice/nursing home because I was afraid I'd get stuck and never land an acute care position after that. I was tired of it and ended up moving to NYC where I very quickly got a job in postpartum at one of the best hospitals here. I dreamed of working in OB and so obviously I love this job. But I'm struggling with two things now; extreme homesickness to the point where I wanna quit and run back home to be with family; and feeling "unskilled" working postpartum.

As a result I started applying to jobs back home (San Diego) at my 6 month mark, but have had no luck. I'm now almost at 9 months experience but I know it'll continue being hard till I have at least 1 year. The problem is I'm having such a hard time with being completely alone here in NY with no family, I can't even imagine spending the holidays here alone. My hope is to find a job in SD so that I can move before December.

During the peak of COVID I floated to med/surg floors which were really just COVID floors. It made me realize that I have almost no skills in Postpartum and it got me very excited about moving to med/surg. Obviously with only postpartum experience, and only 9 months, the job hunt is VERY rough. 

I am such a people person and I love my patients, and I don't even see myself getting burnt out the way some of my colleagues are. I will NEVER be rude to a patient, talk down to them, I never complain about my assignment even if it's a tough one (I would complain, however, if it was an unsafe assignment that was putting patients at risk). I feel like overall I'm honestly a really good nurse but it's hard for me to describe that in an application. If I had connections and knew nurse managers I feel like they'd be able to see these qualities in me and would give me a chance, but I have little to show in a resume and cover letter.

I've had friends suggest I start calling HR departments directly so that I stand out and look interested, but I feel like that would make me look bad instead--seems too desperate. I have BLS, NRP, and just got ACLS. I also have a small bit in my resume that talks about my experience working in the COVID units. What else can I do to make myself look better on paper?

I would so appreciate any advice anyone might have for me.

[Sour Lemon]

Can you keep floating to the medical units or maybe even transfer to one? Experience and stability seem to be near the top of every hiring manager's list. They want to know that you're fairly competent and that you're likely to stick around for a while. Your feelings about being a great nurse aren't likely to carry much weight. And not being rude and not talking down to the patients is an expectation, not something to pad one's resume with. ?

Now may not be a great time to look for work, though. I'm in Orange County and our hospital census is still low. Furloughed employees are back on board, and closed units are reopened, but nurses are still getting canceled often and I don't see many new ones on-boarding.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

Try your luck with the Sharp Healthcare system in SD, they seem to be hiring quite a bit of newer nurses lately, especially ones that are switching over from focused specialties (like yours for instance and psych) into PCU and med/surg positions.

[sunshined, ADN, BSN, LVN]

Sharp's new grad application is open until October 20, and requires less than 12 months to qualify as a new grad still, and there is lots of med/surg. Other than that, you will need a year of experience just about everywhere here in SD that is attached to a hospital system (even their clinic roles). Unless you are willing to go to a clinic environment like DaVita, which has been hiring a lot lately. No dialysis experience required, and they also hire new grads.

Another option is Paradise Valley or Alvarado. The pay is not great, but they are constantly hiring med/surg/tele and hire new grads/nurses with less than a year of experience. They do not do new grad programs, but a lot of people get their year there and move on to the bigger systems.