-A friend of mine did an employee referral for me to get a job at her hospital
-The referral was not for a specific position
-They emailed me last week and requested I do a personality test
-I did the personality test and passed (thanks to many of you)
-This week, I got a phone call from corporate and they did a mini interview with me via the phone
-At the very end of the phone call, the person said, "by the way, this is a night shift position"
-I was kind of caught off guard, since I never applied to a specific position, and voiced that night shift is not my first choice but explained I am still interested and do not want to pass up an opportunity in this economy
-He replied by saying this is the only new grad opening in the entire hospital
-He ended the phone call by saying he was going to forward my info over to the hospital HR and they would call me next week to set up an interview
Why I ask, "new grad/bad economy, bend over and take it?":
The way he replied by saying, this is the only new grad position in the entire hospital left me feeling like, "okay, I'm a new grad (and this economy sucks), I guess I have to bend over and take what ever they want to give me."
I'm writing to you all because I don't know how to go from here. Do I pretend that I'm all about the night shift and this is my first choice or do I go the open and honest route and express that while the night shift is not my first choice, I'm willing to give it a shot for at least a year (which is true)?
Typically, my philosophy on the employer-employee relationship is that the position should be a good fit for both the employer and the job seeker has the right to express their needs in an interview. However, since there are so little jobs available and new grads are treated like lepers, should I be willing to forfeit my rights and settle on the "bend over and take it" philosophy (and smile as I do so)?
I know there are a bunch of new grads who will say, "yes, I've been looking for a job for a long time don't be an idiot, bend over and take what they are offering and smile, don't forget to smile!" I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for saying this exact quote to me.
I should add, I know the night shift isn't a death sentence and many people really like it but I know myself and I am really sensitize to sleep deprivation and I really need sunlight to feel happy. In the winters, I deal with seasonal affected disorder and it scares me to think what little to no sunlight would do to me. This is my only concern with the night shift but I think it is a substantial one, considering it involves both my health and my happiness.
Insight and constructive criticism are welcome and I thank you all in advance.
I'm sorry Ruby Vee and others but I disagree that a lot of new grads act entitled. I have been on that graduate student website everyday for the past 7 months and I have come across only a handful of comments that have come across as truly entitled. And on this forum, we new grads, may not be on our best behavior ( for example the use of the phrase b.o.a.t.i.), but you have to admit that this is an extremely tough environment that new grads find themselves in right now and we need a place where we can come and let off some steam and maybe whine a little to each other.
I'm not asking for pity, I know that there have been many other times that the new grad market has been bad, and that seasoned nurses are even having to bite the bullet in a number of ways right now, but at least realize that sometimes we come onto this site to let off some steam and frustration from our situation and it can come across as bratty or entitled but its just that, letting of some steam and saying this sucks without someone (I'm guessing who maybe has forgotten what it feels like to be a new grad and to not be able to get a job for average 6-8 months and get tons of rejection) saying that we're entitled.
To me, any nursing job offer is an absolute honor to receive, but the process of having to find a new grad job in this market has a very b.o.a.t.i. quality. Whether its nurse recruiters who treat you like you're dirt on their shoe, or it's flying twelve hours and spending your life savings for an interview and then receiving an email two weeks later saying that the spot has been filled by students from the local nursing school (i.e. I never had a shot) it's easy to see that from time to time our attitudes are not impervious to taking a ding. And on an off-day we might go from enthusiastic and passionate about nursing to bitter and whiny. So be it. Can't we have at least one place i.e. here where that's ok without people saying that we're entitled? Isn't that the easy judgement call to make from afar?
I don't for sure if I one those considered "entitled" in this tread (I'm assuming I am) New Grads. But let me first off say that the point I was trying to get across to the OP was actually anti-entitlement message. Basically...Yeah it's not the shift you want....but...if there is nothing better....take it, get your experience, and when your contract is up. Move on (if you can) to something better.
To address the issue of deserving (entitlement) a job out of school (or anything for that matter). Well it like this.....everyday I and many other new/old grads get online or read the paper and see Ads for nursing jobs. personally I see alot of them. So there are jobs out there. Ok great! Let me apply....??????...Oh......1 to 2 years experience....hmmm.....New Grads need not appply....ahhhhh.....Not taking grads.
Ok. This makes sense to me.
1. It's expensive to train a new grad and money is short right now.
Though I think this can be remedied by a lower starting salary.
normal new grad starting salary - projected cost to train and hire= beginning salary offered.
2. The worry that a New Grad is just going to work their contract and then leave and find something they want to do. Basically I'm using the position to better ones career.
Well yeah. This "movement" to a better position happens all the time in all in all businesses at all experience levels. It's called upward mobility.
3. Some units do require I high degree of skill and experience and newbie maybe too overwhelmed and just may quit soon after hire, Costing the hospital/unit X amount of dollars and loss manpower hours.
Totally understand this. Personally that's way I don't apply for ICU jobs. I think that would be too much for me to start with. Though I have met other Rn's that said they actually started off in ICU and enjoyed it and some still are working in those units now. So I don't know how hard and fast this "experience" level rule really is.
Ok I understand these reasons and the reasoning behind them.
But....this is what get my goat.....I just keep seeing the same jobs go unfilled day after day, week after week, and sometimes month after month. Jobs that I think most New Grads could handle....provided they put in the hard work to learn the position. Basically the crash course scenario. Which mind you I understand can jeopardize patient safety. But.....I would like to point out to you on the flip-side that being short/understaffed creates a unsafe environment for patients. That can eventually cost the hospital, LTCs, etc. alot money. So.....damn if you do, damn if you don't. Personally as a consumer of the healthcare system I rather see do.
So to wrap-up. Look. I don't feel I as a New Grad deserve anything. But it is very frustrating to me (and I'm sure others) to be denied a chance to meet opportunities/needs in the nursing field that are out there. Especially when I think most new grad can handle the responsibility of alot those positions.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
OP, I totally understand where you are coming from. Night shift can definitely effect your mood, especially if you suffer from SAD.
I can only offer you advice from my own experience. I took a NS job in a unit that I really wanted to work in. I knew that there might be a chance for me to come onto day shift within a year or so because one of my friends worked on that unit and told me that there were a few nurses that were moving out of state. I hung in there and was able to apply for and get a day shift position.
Just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Pun intended:)
As I said in a previous post, you aren't going to see daylight during winter regardless of the shift you work. You will go to work in the dark and go home in the dark.
During the summer months, the latest it is ever daylight is 10 PM. If you work day shifts and get out on time, you will see daylight for MAYBE 3 hours, IF you don't go to bed until after the sun sets.
If you work night shifts during the summer months and get out on time, you can still have 3 OR MORE hours of daylight before going to bed, or you can go right to bed and get up early enough to get as many hours of daylight as you want.
So you actually have the opportunity to get more hours of daylight working night shifts than day shifts.
And this is for only 3 days per week. Even if you choose to stay inside and in the dark for the entire time when you are working, you will have plenty of time on your days off to get the necessary sunshine to ward off SAD.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Everybody gets to decide what they want in a job. If you have an interview and find that what they offer you is not acceptable to you, you get to move on. Really, after having worked for many, many years I make sure that I look at nursing like any other employment. There is a list I have of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable for me. Now, you might have a different list. I am sure the OP knows that when you toss a "soft" topic on this board, there is going to be some good even handed advice, and some not so much. You just take what you want and throw out the rest. This is healthy.
I understand that, and I've had jobs in retail, medical research and food service as well as nursing. I guess the bottom line is how badly do you need a job? I would think when you are making out your list of what is acceptable you adjust for the issue of supply and demand for each job, no matter whether it is nursing or anything else. When there are hundreds of other applicants and you really need a job, any conditions you set will make you less likely to be hired when the pool of applicants have similar experience levels.
your career absolutely is about you. there will be days when you feel worse than your patients do. and you still have to suck it up and fluff the blighted pillow one more time. much as i know your attitude is the exact opposite of the op's -- and his needs adjustment -- your attitude needs adjustment, too. you'll burn yourself out early unless you take care of yourself!
exactly. at eight months pregnant i wager that i feel worse most days than most of the patients, who run to the er to get admitted every time they feel that they are entitled to some iv dilaudid.
to the op - i would take the job. even before the economy went to the pooper most new grad positions were night shift. get your foot in the door, get some experience, and put your name on the list as someone who would like to move to days. when a day position opens your manager will look to you first before hiring someone new because you are already employed on the unit. good luck! :)
There is this blog that I love called Ask a Manager (Ask a Manager â€"). Really great info for job seekers. It's target audience seems to be for corporate but I like to read it anyways. I recently bought the blogger's ebook called How to Get a Job: Secrets of Hiring Manager By: Alison Green (Ask a Manager) and the there is a really great chapter entitled, "power dynamics and your job search." This particular chapter is not only included in her ebook but she included it in her blog as well so I can share it here.
i personally would just take it. it's a way into nursing, you'll learn some organizational skills, your body will adjust to the schedule (you can go to the beach every morning or afternoon when you wake up depending on where you live), and you will meet fellow nurses that you can ask how they make the best of it. it's not that bad and before you know it, there will be an opening in another area perhaps on days, and by then you will have some experience. i think many of us who have been in nursing for >30 years have learned that being flexible is many times required to get your foot in the door. at least they have a position and this economy is really unstable right now however, specialists are predicting with the new healthcare changes there will be a lot more healthcare jobs in the future. so hang in there and remember, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. ]
Specializes in Nursing Education, Research, ENT, Oncology.
Only you know your financial situation. If you can handle waiting for something better, wait. It appears that the shift is an issue for you. With that being said, it is rare that a day shift would go to a new grad. I started out on evenings as a new grad. Perhaps you could focus your search on an evening shift position?
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newgradRN001
37 Posts
I'm sorry Ruby Vee and others but I disagree that a lot of new grads act entitled. I have been on that graduate student website everyday for the past 7 months and I have come across only a handful of comments that have come across as truly entitled. And on this forum, we new grads, may not be on our best behavior ( for example the use of the phrase b.o.a.t.i.), but you have to admit that this is an extremely tough environment that new grads find themselves in right now and we need a place where we can come and let off some steam and maybe whine a little to each other.
I'm not asking for pity, I know that there have been many other times that the new grad market has been bad, and that seasoned nurses are even having to bite the bullet in a number of ways right now, but at least realize that sometimes we come onto this site to let off some steam and frustration from our situation and it can come across as bratty or entitled but its just that, letting of some steam and saying this sucks without someone (I'm guessing who maybe has forgotten what it feels like to be a new grad and to not be able to get a job for average 6-8 months and get tons of rejection) saying that we're entitled.
To me, any nursing job offer is an absolute honor to receive, but the process of having to find a new grad job in this market has a very b.o.a.t.i. quality. Whether its nurse recruiters who treat you like you're dirt on their shoe, or it's flying twelve hours and spending your life savings for an interview and then receiving an email two weeks later saying that the spot has been filled by students from the local nursing school (i.e. I never had a shot) it's easy to see that from time to time our attitudes are not impervious to taking a ding. And on an off-day we might go from enthusiastic and passionate about nursing to bitter and whiny. So be it. Can't we have at least one place i.e. here where that's ok without people saying that we're entitled? Isn't that the easy judgement call to make from afar?