New grad nurse given an offer through CLF Staffing for a position in a CVICU. Need advice!

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I am a new grad nurse who just received my first job offer for a position with CLF Staffing (a hiring agency) for a position in the CVICU at a Magnet level Hospital. During my application process I spoke several times with the recruiter at CLF Staffing regarding my resume and qualification but I never spoke with anyone from the Hospital itself. Does anyone else have experience with working for this agency or getting contracted to a hospital through them?

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Most staffing agencies don't hire new grads since the facility is expecting an experienced nurse that needs a couple of hours orientation to the floor, policy & procedure and basic training on the EMR.

You might want to find out what they are offering as orientation/preceptorship for an inexperienced new grad before you place your future career at risk. I know you hyper focus on Magnet but in reality in many places Magnet status is nothing more than PR not better working conditions. If this were a placement/head hunter agency you would have interviewed with the facility/unit manager.

Strongly consider inquiring whether you are receiving a proper new grad preceptorship

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Specializes in Dialysis.
Most staffing agencies don't hire new grads since the facility is expecting an experienced nurse that needs a couple of hours orientation to the floor, policy & procedure and basic training on the EMR.

You might want to find out what they are offering as orientation/preceptorship for an inexperienced new grad before you place your future career at risk. I know you hyper focus on Magnet but in reality in many places Magnet status is nothing more than PR not better working conditions. If this were a placement/head hunter agency you would have interviewed with the facility/unit manager.

Strongly consider inquiring whether you are receiving a proper new grad preceptorship

I was thinking the same thing!

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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

The most important aspect of a new grad job is not the prestige of the hospital (and having worked at both magnet and non-magnet facilities, I wouldn't personally take magnet status in to account- terrible working conditions can coexist with magnet status, and good working conditions can exist without it) or even the specific specialty but how solid the orientation process is there for new grads. That's what sets you up for the future as a confident, safe-practicing nurse or, conversely, as one of the many people who come here a few months in to their first job to say they loathe everything about their employer and nursing and want to run away.

Either this hospital is so strapped for staff that they're accepting agency staff without even reading their resumes to see that they're new grads (which is a bad sign) or they're actually willing to accept new grad contract staff (which is a terrible sign).

I would absolutely not accept this offer till you speak to someone on the actual unit you're being hired to and clarify that you are a new grad, and find out what kind of orientation they offer. For a new grad, especially a new grad in critical care, it should be several months at least, and most hospitals also offer new grad-specific classroom training, so they usually hire new grads in batches directly. I've never heard of hospitals outsourcing their hiring for these expensive, demanding training programs to agencies, so this whole situation is weird.

I can't imagine how upsetting and disheartening it would be to show up expecting a new grad orientation and find out they were expecting an experienced nurse. Good luck- I hope it turns out to be a good offer, but if it doesn't, don't let desperation push you in to accepting a position that will set you up for failure. You and your future patients deserve better.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

I googled this is not a "hiring agency" but a temp/augmented staffing agency. The CVICU RN jobs listed are contract/travel jobs for experienced RNs with a BSN & CCRN (which is ~2years ICU experience) are you sure they didn't misread your application? Do they realize that you are a new grad with no experience? If this agency did not disclose your new grad status you may be in for a rude awakening when you report for work and they are expecting an experienced credentialed nurse ready to jump in and work.

I've NEVER heard of any reputable facility using a temporary/augmented staffing agency to recruit new grads. It would add thousands to the cost of a new grad program that in a typical circumstance would be 4-6 months in a highly specialized critical area.

Are you certain the facility knows you are a brand new grad?

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