Need some help. Insight, support, just something

jamie.glaze · Jun 28, 2012

I have another interview tomorrow with an urgent care clinic, it is $18.50/hr plus shift diff of +$4.50 after 5pm Mon-Fri and +$7.00 on weekends. I am not so concerned with how much $$ as much as stable and reliable work that will pay the bills. The other advantage is the urgent care clinic will give me the "acute care" experience hospitals in my area are demanding of staff RNs, at least until Residency/Internships applications open up again in September (January start). If I don't get one of those, I may stay on for a year or two to get that mythical "1-2 years of acute care experience"

chevyv, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2012

Not to mention no 1099! Good luck :)

jamie.glaze · Jun 29, 2012

Well everything went well with the interview, with the exception of my phone ending up next to my altoids case and buzzing loudly...twice... I handled it with as much couth as I could, with the interviewer apologizing to me as well for her desk phone buzzing twice. I left feeling great about the interview, and ready to rip off whoever's head that called me knowing I had an interview today. UNTIL I saw the number. Remember my low point? Breaking down on the phone with the recruiter? Well it was her - she wants me in for a panel interview on Tuesday, because they ended up with a Med/Surg residency opening. Not counting my chickens, but it would definitely be the best opportunity I have. It is the largest hospital network in DFW!

allnurses Guide · Jul 2, 2012

Now I am trying to guess which one is the largest - THR, HCA and Baylor are all huge here. Good luck on the interview!

jamie.glaze · Jul 2, 2012

THR!! By far, they have the most hospitals I'm pretty sure.. I could be wrong lol

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Jul 2, 2012

Go for it. You literally have nothing to lose.

jamie.glaze · Jul 2, 2012

Happy to say everything is looking up. Second interview with CareNow on Friday, don't want to commit too soon in case THR offers, any words of wisdom there?

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jul 2, 2012

You are doing something right so carry on. Just be positive and enthusiastic and hopefully you will have your pick!

jamie.glaze · Jul 2, 2012

I hope so. Just applied with Bureau of Prisons for the local women's correctional medical facility too.

jamie.glaze · Jul 5, 2012

Just wanted to update! I accepted the position at THR Denton today! GN Internship (even though I already passed my boards) with 2 yr contract on Med/Surg unit. I am so relieved!

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Jul 5, 2012

Awesome. I love it when a good plan comes together.

mkim · Aug 1, 2012

I know I am very late here, but I just had to respond because our stories are EXTREMELY similar...I don't have any advice, but I do have condolences and a pat on the back for you because it really isn't easy for some of us to make it through nursing school. I just graduated on July 27th from nursing school and it was the longest year of my life. My husband decided that he had fallen in love with an older co-worker of his before I started school and he left me and our two young children. I, in essence, lost my ability to function and lost a good paying job under all the stress. So I went from having two incomes, to having zero. I floated around a bit and starting dating. I was encouraged to start nursing school, as I'd always wanted to be a nurse, but I didnt know how on earth it was going to get done. I moved in with my boyfriend (who turned out to be abusive) and then was facing a decision of moving into a shelter or back home to my parents' house. To top it all off, my ex husband stopped paying the note on the car he was driving around and both cars (they were BOTH in MY name) got repossessed, the final car being repossessed the day before I was to start school. My school, BTW, was 70 miles away. I borrowed a car and then my parents bought me a cash car. Yhis car lasted about a month before the engine completely died. I took what I could get from selling the car and bought an even cheaper, raggedy cash car. This car lasted me about 3 months. I was living off student loans, tax refunds and my family's good will. It was extremely hard to relate to the classmates who were happily married, well supported and living right up the street from campus without a care in the world. I look back and Im still in shock that I made it. Thank God...it's done. If you ever want to talk, please message me. I am in DFW :)

OK... so there are no words for how frustrated I am today. I want to scream into a pillow. Or something else generally "therapeutic"... but first some background-
I graduated my ADN program May 11, 2012. I have had a hell of a time just getting to graduation - ex-hubby asked for a divorce when I got home from the first day of nursing school, left me with two kids & no income so that our house was foreclosed on in my second semester. During my summer psych (third) semester I had to move into my parent's roach infested home because it was there or the homeless shelter - just to stay in Nursing school. Then, during my fourth semester the front tire on my car blew which then caused the vehicle to bottom out and dislodge the oil pan just enough to render the vehicle undriveable. Finally, during my final semester I have so far not been able to find a residency because I am "not competitive enough" as stated by the *large Dallas hospital* recruiter and many others. Honestly I have been through alot, there are other who may have been through more I guess, but the fact that I made it through all that with a better than 3.0 GPA and no previous medical experience should speak VOLUMES about my ability and my passion for the field. I should also add that I did that with no special accomodations for my situation, many of my instructors didn't even know what I was going through. Alas, all residencies in the DFW area are now full (with the exception of the *closest county hospital* - whom I desperatley would love to work with, but have not heard a single word from other than *this is the last email you will get unless you are selected as a candidate*) and I am left with nothing but the reassurance from others that it "gets better once you have RN behind your name."
I said I graduated May 11 right? It is now June 3 and I still have no Authorization to Test. The board you ask? NO! Two people in my Nursing class failed to apply for graduation, so it held up ALL of our Affidavits of Graduation at the college. Now test sites and dates are filling up and I may have to make a bank-breaking drive 4 hours away just to test NCLEX. I have made it through school without once screaming "It's not fair" but this one time, I think I am justified - why should 2 people hold up a class of over 100??? I don't know what to do I am so stressed and I only have a month or so of expenses put away to care for myself and my children - I am running out of options. I don't want to leave the field. I want to go higher, because Nursing seems like the only fit for me - BSN, then MSN/DNP in Midwifery and CNM!! But it seems as if nobody cares....... HR is an impenetrable wall. I just feel so discouraged, I try to keep a positive outlook, a smile on face even though I am crying inside. I just need some support, somewhere to turn before I break. I am so tired of the "it's not what you know, it's who you know culture" here in DFW.
Any ideas that could help me stand out? Maybe draw a recruiters attention and help me be more "competitive?" I am already a AWHONN member (won a free membership at a meeting, luckily) and am getting ready to take the Intro to Fetal Monitoring class - but I am not limiting myself to just WH/OB/L&D internships because what I need more right now is a way to feed my kids and get them out of my parents deplorable home, while I grow that and do my BSN (already enrolled)...