New Grad-Fishy interview-HELP!

jy&mk · Oct 26, 2007

Hi, I am a director of nursing in a free standing rehab hospital. I do the hiring of all nursing staff and can tell you that this is probably a legit job but let me make a suggestion to you. You really should get at least 1 to 2 years of med/surge experience before you move into a specialty area. Being in Rehab going on 3 years, my experience in med/surge in invaluable. Think about it. You are dealing mostly with the elderly population and with that comes cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest. If you are an RN you will be expected to be the one to run the code...do you really feel qualified to do this. I urge you, do yourself and your career a favor and get some med/surge experience first!

Hi all,
I need your feedback.
I went to an interview today for an RN position in acute rehab. 60 beds, freestanding facility. Pt/nurse ratio is 8:1 most days, sometimes 9 per the nurse manager. But this facility also uses LPN's...but not all days. So....wouldn't my workload be higher than 8 actually if an LPN was on board? Anyone know how this works? She tried to explain but it was all over the place and I don't get it-not at all like the hospital. She said that she thinks I would like it much more than I thought, that it is not like "what you are thinking". Hmmm. guess I looked susupicious, lol. I would get 4 weeks preceptor training-no classroom-more if I needed it.
It was a very strange interview. I don't know the turnover rates of this facility but the interviewer didn't even ask any real questions about me. Just basics like when I graduated but nothing they usually ask ("give me example", strengths/weaknessness, etc). In fact, she went right into whether I wanted full time or POOL right at the beginning of the interview. POOL would be 3 shift per WEEK requirement (like full time), so it would be more like pay-in-lieu of benefits. I did not think new grads could get these jobs! Anyhow, the pay difference is $13.00/hr!!!! Is that typical? Jeez, if so, their benefits sure must be good, lol. There has to be something she isn't telling me, right? I don't need bennies so I am somewhat interested but this seems too good to be true.
It was just fishy. Not enough q's about me, quickly laying out for me the pay, etc. She didn't offer the job but asked if I wanted to go get drug tested today. I told her that I would call back tomorrow with my decision and come pick up the form for drug testing tomorrow afternoon if I decide yes. As far as the type of patients, well, it seems like I'd get enough experience as a new grad here-all kinds of diagnoses. Some IV meds. Dressing changes. Hanging blood, even, sometimes.
This is only my second interview as a new grad so I just don't know what to make of this. The POOL/in-lieu rate is $36.00/hr, with 3 day/wk committment. Why would she offer me pool? She said I would get POOL level 3 (3 shifts per week commit-so it would be like FT for a new grad) but they do have levels 1 and 2, so I assume that once I was trained I could move to those if I needed to (a major plus for me)...Full time benefited new grad rate is 23.90, BTW.
How does this job sound, really?
HELP. Clue me in if you can.

1studentnurse · Oct 30, 2007

I'm a June 2007 grad and I started in rehab. I work in a general/SCI unit. I was never dissuaded by management from going into this area as a new grad, nor by faculty at school. I'm a BSN.

I work in a 100 bed rehab hospital and we have 20 beds on our unit. Most of the time, we have a patient load of 4-6 patients on days, more on evenings and nights (nights usually can have up to 9 pts per nurse).

Rehab nursing requires a lot of med/surg skills and psych skills. I've felt overwhelmed a lot, but we tend to staff so there's some differentials in staff skills, which is helpful. I can do just about everything from manual and cycled peritoneal dialysis, dressings, WoundVACs, bowel routines, you name it.

If you want to do rehab, go for it! Just check out the competition, too, so you know what's normal for your area before you start.