Need help or suggestions about career changes.

[Destined2sing]

Hey all,

Let me start with a little bit about me for background.

I have been working in health care for about 10 years now. Early on my experience was as a CNA and Nursing extern. I have been an RN for 5 years now. My experience has overwhelmingly been as a Post-partum nurse, but I have had experience in a level 3 NICU (and my current facility has a level 2 nursery). My L&D experience is minimal, because my facility typically does not do any overlap between L&D and Mom/Baby. What I have experienced is mostly just standard nursing care of the L&D moms when the unit is under staffed. There are specific care actions that I am not allowed to perform, but conversely the L&D nurses that float up to our floor cannot take babies or mom's with certain medical issues.

I have gone from having my ADN to getting my BSN and eventually having my MSN completed last year. I received my MSN as a Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner, but unfortunately I did not pass my first certification exam last December (number of silly reasons on my part), and I am taking the exam this coming Monday.

I have been fighting for more duties or tasks at my current employer (where I have been for the last 6 years), but there have been barriers placed in my way. My feelings are that it is a matter of floor political structure, but the reality is that I am sure there is more to it than that. An example is that I had been asking for a long period of time to be trained as a "charge nurse" on our floor, which is a duty that is just rotated depending on who is working that night. The reality is our "charge nurses" are really only responsible for assignments and canceling/calling in nursing staff dependent on floor census. While being told over and over that they were going to set me up for training, it was only about 6 months ago that they followed through. This has been the status with pretty much ANY advancement like opportunities available to our floor.

About 8 months ago we had a change in management, and the nursing staffs immediate manager is an individual that has been a nurse for about 3 years longer than I have, and only has her ADN. She has ONLY Mom/Baby experience as well. I applied for the position, but was told that I did not have the supervisory experience needed (which I can understand), but was told that there was likely a position opening up shortly that would be an Assistant Nurse Manager. I was told that I should try to get some supervisory experience in, and they pushed me to take on a number of Chair and Co-Chair positions on various committees. Well, the position eventually came up, I applied again, and once again was told I did not have the experience needed. The reality though, and I am certain of this, is that the manager had already planned to give the position to a close friend of hers, and the application process was a formality. That may sound bitter and angry, but this is one case where I am certain of it, considering that there were a number of other people that applied for the position that had significant experience, training, and a long history of positive evals (of which the "friend" obviously had no where NEAR the qualifications that these other individuals did).

Well, to make things more annoying for me, we cannot access our work emails at home, and the new manager decided we needed a Nurse educator for our floor. She sent out an email that pretty much said the first person to respond to this with a desire for the position gets it. I was not at work that day, so I did not find out until the following day. Surprisingly the position went to another 'friend' of the manager. This is one I AM bitter about, as the individual that received the position had only had her ADN and RN for a year, and was someone I was preceptor for during their new nurse orientation (which had only ended about 3 months prior).

I have come to realize that I have absolutely NO chance for any job advancement working with this current hospital, and specifically this current floor management.

Since that point I have been applying for numerous jobs that are not floor nursing positions (Management, Assistant Management, Nursing Education, Patient education, and so forth). My reasoning for this is that I am looking for a position that will be more commensurate with my education and experiences.

I have had a number of applications that have resulted in interviews and several follow up interviews. In the end each place has passed on me for various reasons, but frequently it has something to do with experience or concerns about how my age will be received in a position of authority (I am 28). The last position, which the Nurse manager for the hospital said she felt I was more than qualified for the position, but wanted me to interview with another individual. This was because she had limited Women's health experience, and wanted this other individual to assess my knowledge of the field. The follow up interview was ANYTHING BUT THAT. The woman interviewing me was apparently a Nurse Manager for Women's health at another facility, and she only asked about why I had so little experience in L&D, why I did not have my RNC, why I did not have my NRP instructor license (mind you, the only certification required for the position was RN and BSN). She asked me nothing that would assess my knowledge of Women's health, and seemed to feel that time in the position was the only thing that mattered. Well, I she ultimately said that she could not advocate me as a candidate for the position, and suggested that I spend another 5-10 years as an RN before considering a management or education position, and that was even after I get my WHCNP certification:uhoh3:.

I was really upset about this interview, and how it did not turn out like I was told. To make matters more infuriating I found out that the person that interviewed me (the Women's Health Nurse Manager) was two years older than me, but had been a nurse for 2 years LESS than I have been. I was just ****** that she lectured me about needing experience, when she in fact had LESS than I did...

So I guess I am really torn right now as to just what to do with my career at this point. WHNP jobs are few and far between right now in this area, and what are there get applications from FNPs, ANPs, and WHNPs. I realize that I should have listened to my hubby and done an FNP position, but too late now.

Should I stay at my current employer? Look for another floor RN position in Mom/Baby? Try to find another floor RN position in some other area of nursing?

Any suggestions would be HUGELY appreciated!

Thanks

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I am horrified at the idea of raffling off an educator job as first-come-first-hired. That is insane - you're working for a deranged person, not a qualified manager.

Sounds like you need to find another 'garden' if you want your career to grow. I know that it's scary right now to leave a stable job (even if it is a dead-end rut) and look for something new, but it doesn't sound like you have any chance in the 'girls club' you are describing.

Go get 'em!!!