New BSN With 4 years School Nurse Experience as ADN - Can't Land a Hospital Job

Hi Nurse Beth, I would appreciate advice with regards to applying for a hospital position. After graduating with my ADN, I accepted a position as a school nurse and have worked for my school district for the past 4 years. I returned to school yet again and am one month away from my BSN. Obviously, I enjoy school and have always been an excellent student - I currently have 4.0 in my BSN program. Nurses Nurse Beth Article

New BSN With 4 years School Nurse Experience as ADN - Can't Land a Hospital Job

Needless to say, I was shocked that I could not find a hospital position.

I feel it is now time to move on from my position as a school nurse, which I do enjoy. However, I no longer feel challenged and I also feel like I missed out on the "hospital experience. Plus, I no longer need the school time hours, would like more opportunity for growth, and more money! Unfortunately, we are paid teacher salary and it is relatively low.

I have submitted just a few online applications which were rejected. I fear that I am in "limbo land" because I am no longer a new grad and can't really qualify for entry into a new grad residency program (but will be graduating with my BSN soon) but I don't have the one year of acute hospital experience that hospitals are looking for.

When we were in nursing school, the general feeling was that we could not simply walk into the hospital and find a floor manager and drop off a resume. I feel as though I need for someone to see and talk to in person so that I can sell myself, which I believe will be more effective than being one of many online applicants. Plus, I am not sure that a hospital will want to invest in me and allow me to enter as a new grad since I really am not a new grad yet, as I said, I don't have that one year of hospital experience.

As a school nurse, I am the only medical person on campus and work autonomously so I have to think critically, have good skills, and confidence. I am not sure that hospitals will truly understand what school nurses now do because many people erroneously believe that all we do is put on bandaids or hand out simple meds. Yes, I do put on a lot of bandaids and administered meds but each of those bandaids and meds comes with an assessment. Plus, I see concussions, fractures, and students with chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthmatics. I also advocate for my students, educate, and provide community resources.

Is there anything you can suggest that would help me land a peds job in the hospital? I would also be interested in couplet care because I love working with newborns and building a relationship with and educating new mothers.

Thanks so much!

Dear Wants to Leave School Nursing,

You want to land a job in acute care and you only have non-acute experience is your dilemma in a nutshell.

I agree that it's not widely recognized the skills school nurses have: self-directed, autonomous, critical thinking, to name a few, as you did. In your resume, you want to highlight those skills with a short example.

Is your resume crisp, clear and error-free? Is it no more than 2 pages? Do you have a compelling cover letter? Letters of reference?

While you do not qualify for a new grad residency program, there are always exceptions. At my hospital, in this current cohort, they hired a nurse who has been working in hospice since she graduated. I can't wait to pick her brain about all she's learned as a hospice nurse. She brings a wealth of experience and compassion to her patient care.

In the previous cohort, they hired a nurse who had only worked sub-acute, but as a supervisor (he's doing very well!). The manager recognized the skills he has as a supervisor. I myself was so impressed with him that I purchased a Basic Arrhythmia book for him as a welcome present and tutored him so he could pass his required Basic Arrhythmia Competency. He's a real go-getter, and he was hired into MedSurg but he's already in the ED fellowship and transferring to ED.

The thing about rules is that there are always exceptions, and exceptions in hiring do not come from HR but from a personal connection with a nursing manager who interviews you and works around the rules to onboard you. Personally, I am always glad when the nurse managers think outside the box and see the value in atypical candidates, such as the mature nurse with life experience.

So yes, you are absolutely right in feeling that "if only I could have a face-to-face" they would see past the online resume to your awesomeness..

Getting a face-to-face is where you have to be creative, and take some risks if you are willing. Cold-call a manager. Have your resume with a business card of your image and contact info on it, and stop by on a Monday or Friday (fewer meetings). Have a brief speech planned, shake hands, and be memorable. Follow up with a handwritten note and again, your contact info. What do you have to lose?

What have you done so far to ensure your success? How about networking, have you made a list of your contacts and reached out to them? Does everyone know you are job searching?

You are in school, have you asked your instructors for letters of reference and letters of introduction? Your instructors are well connected in the hospitals in your area.

Have you asked any of your preceptors in clinical to help you land a job, put in a word for you, let you know of any possible openings?

Peds and couplet nursing are your goals, but initially, take anything you are offered as an opportunity to get into acute care. You will have plenty of chances to transfer to to other areas from there.

Read ReVamp Your Resume and

How to Land a Job

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

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Nurse Beth

About Nurse Beth, MSN

Career Columnist / Author

Nurse Beth is an Educator, Writer, Blogger and Subject Matter Expert who blogs about nursing career advice at http://nursecode.com

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Specializes in ICU.

Nurse Beth hit the nail on the head. You need to translate your experience that you have talked about into your resume and you can't just submit online if you want to stand out. You need to make phone calls, you need to network. Finding a job can be a job itself.

Try different tactics. I had applied online to various hospitals and it seemed like I was never going to get a call back. I decided to call one of the hospital's HR department and they forwarded my message to the person who had posted the position on the website and I got a callback for an interview the next day. Sometimes you will have the opposite situation where they will just direct you to the website again, but it's worth a shot to call them about the position. Sometimes they think you aren't really serious until you call. It depends on the place.

Polish your resume a bit and for the meantime maybe take some classes that will boost your resume. BLS, ACLS, PALS etc. Those are expensive I'm sure that will perk up HR interest! Study for some certification if you can, not sure what kind you can take with your experience. I have a PCCN and that always seems to stand out!

Specializes in Cardiac (adult), CC, Peds, MH/Substance.

Your state nursing and the ANA, other nursing associations likely have local or nearby meetings. Locally to me, at least one nursing association has some sort of luncheon, lunch and learn, or other meeting every few days if not at least once a week. I live in a large metroplex, so that may not be the case for you, but certainly there's one within 25 miles or so at least once a month. Find them. Socialize. Casually mention during conversation when it inevitably comes up about what you do, that you've been doing it for four years, but have become interested in hospital nursing. You'll be amazed at the number of hiring managers who attend professional organization meetings. Might just turn into an informal interview on the spot. And if not, they may have a friend of a friend who just lost three nurses to grad school starting in three weeks, or whatever the case is. Systems or HR people screen resumes that are submitted online. You're unlikely to get anywhere near a hiring manager if the requirements or "preferred" include "at least one year of..." and you don't have it. Casually talking to people at a professional organization meeting removes that step.

Do you have any contacts from your ADN program who might be willing to make introductions (or at least give you a manager's name)? Or maybe from your BSN program? I was initially hired part-time at one hospital. A few months in, I was ready to get a to get a second part-time job with a different hospital system. However, I wasn't getting any call backs from my online applications to their posted positions. I finally got a call for an interview when a position posted for a unit where a former classmate was already working. She gave my resume and cover letter to her manager and the rest is history. Good luck!

Specializes in ICU, Postpartum, Onc, PACU.

I'm in the same boat...9 years of acute care nursing (most of it in ICU/PACU) and haven't been able to land a hospital staff job even after hundreds upon hundreds of applications. I've even called managers, but they always say they don't have the staff to train someone (when I applied for a new grad position in peds, which I don't have experience in) or they've already filled the position.

It makes no sense to me, but that's why I'm having to stick with travel nursing for now even though I'm over it (I want good insurance, PTO, and stability again!). I've applied to areas of nursing I don't even want, like Psych, and on-call/part time/per diem just to get my foot in the door anywhere, but no dice.

We can both take the resume advice, though I just revamped mine a few months back, and see what happens!

Good luck to you and you're not the only one!

xo

Don't give up. If you want to work in the hospital setting you should apply in Alaska. We need good nurses like you working up here. You have a wealth of knowledge and skills that would serve the population well. Maybe consider looking in new places if you don't get any interviews soon. Alaska hires new grads all the time, so perhaps it's time for a new adventure :)

Do all of the things that Beth has suggested and go a step further. Apply online so that HR has your information. Then call the hospital and ask the operator for the name of the department director for whichever department u would like to work in. Call that director personally and explain that you have applied for the position through HR but you would like to personally come by and speak with him/her at their convenience. Or even better, as someone else said take a copy of ur cover letter and resume and drop by unannounced and ask.for a few minutes of their time. I have never been turned down by doing this and have landed several jobs in this fashion. The people in HR are screening the applicants and they don't have a clue about nursing from environmental services. And I'm not bashing HR as they have their own job to do but they. Are not trained to hire nurses and shouldn't be screening. Everytime I have done this I have asked the director if they had received my resume and application from HR and Everytime they had not. Be assertive and aggressive and u will get a job.

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