I am an silent avid reader of allnurses.com and fully appreciate all the tips and sage advices that you all have given to one another.
This time--Im the one who has a problem and would like your thoughts about it.
I became an RN last Oct following an accelerated program. Being an RN is my 2nd profession as has been doing my own gigs during the past 16+ years. I was hired as an ER nurse on my first job. I passed the orientation program which lasted for 8 weeks but was forced to resign after 4.5 months otj due to "lacking of assessment skills."
I reapplied and this time got into another ED department. I worked hard and really did my best on this one but apparently after several times of being "passed" around by different preceptors I was let go before my 3rd month. It was a tough pill to swallow because not only did I do my best, I believe I was not given enough time to blossom into a full fledge nurse. In my weekly evaluation, there were good eval with the same ongoing project, type. but was surprised on my final day when they forced me to resign--they list all the "bad stuff" that I've had for which some were unknown to me or not shown on the weekly eval report or if its known, basically ive improved on the next ones.
I felt betrayed because I am new and I need to learn and I was given the impression that if a newbie is not ready by the 12th week of orientation, it will be extended to 16 weeks, etc. The reality is I did not made the cut and I dont blame them because a lot of new hires here have years and years of ED experience for which I dont have.
I feel I did good but apparently, my colleagues dont think so. Of course, compared to other RN colleagues who's had 10+ years of ER experience, I am a neophyte. Whats the point of training a newbie where you can hire an "oldie" who's got experience.
My question now is--how do I get hired on a med-surg or other units with 2 jobs within 8 month period ? How do I explain the reason for leaving ? Am I considered a bad applicant for not holding a job longer than 5 months ?
Would appreciate your thoughts on this matter. Im a newbie and it just feels so discouraging to know that you cannot trust your colleagues because of the backbiting and stuff going around this profession. Sorry for the rant but thats the way I feel right now. :confused:
Can you tell me where I can find this law, because I know a few new grads who were hired straight into the ER right here in NYC, and most did not go through an ER fellowship or have any med surg exp
Here in NYS, there is a law put in place that states that in order to have a position as an ER nurse, a minimum of 1 year medsurg is required....and I completely agree. ER nurses are on a completely different playing field and the job is tough. You've got to know what you're doing and you've got to do it fast. I think it's pretty much close to crazy that your orientation was only 8 weeks. How could they expect you to be ready and go out on your own in just 8 weeks??!!
I'm a medsurg float nurse and my orientation was 8 weeks!
When you go for a medsurg position, make sure that you tell the manager that you were only on an 8 week orientation and even though you learned a lot in those 8 weeks, there was just no possible way that you could be held to the standard of a skilled ER nurse. Point out your weaknesses, but emphasize on your strenghs and capabilities!
I'm sure that you've learned an abundance of information and skills through working in the ER and show those managers just that!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
so sorry for everything you've been through. it's a shame how some nurses eat their young. even doctors look out for each other. don't give up. start with smaller hospitals (med-surg) or if you like long-term care, work in subacute/skilled units. i wish you the best
i must have missed where there was any "young eating." what i read was that the op's assessment skills weren't up to the face-paced er environment and he was asked to resign. while it's unfortunate for the op, it is not inappropriate to terminate someone who is unable to do the job well.
i'm not convinced that new grads should be starting out in the ers or icus -- a little med-surg experience (or medical or surgical) will greatly help them get up to speed in er or icu.
I'm a new grad in an ICU setting and while its been stressful and tough I absolutely love it and have done fairly well with a ton of support and lots of training. So I disagree with posters that say new grads don't belong in ED or ICU's. You have to get a job in a hospital willing to put the time and commitment into training new grads in these high-acquity environments.
So many hospitals these days have taken cuts, are desperate for the nurses to be on par as quickly as possible and so they'll give new grads an unrealistic amount of time to get their poop in a group and if they're not they just let them go or "force resign" them which seems to be quite an epidemic right now.
My preceptor is one of my floors absolute best nurses. He has been on our unit for over ten years. My preceptor told me about how when he was done with his new grad orientation he was a disaster. He would shake like a leaf d/t anxiety, was always behind, and frequently had to have other nurses step in to help with his patient load. He went back onto orientation to get the extra time and help he needed. He was never given up on, he was never "forced to resign," no one made him feel stupid, lazy, or inadequate. No one mentioned that he wasn't cut out for the ICU. He got the support that he needed and eventually thrived in the ICU.
Having a new grad be forced to resign should be a rare occurrence not the epidemic that it is these days with the hospitals that act as if they don't have the time, money, or staff to properly give new grads in these facilities a chance. Its incredibly disheartening.
]The ER is a very difficult place to work. I went in as a new graduate, but I had worked there my entire senior year of nursing school so I knew the routine, the pace, and exactly what I was getting myself into.
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]You don't always have to be fast and think on your feet, but you really never know what's going to roll thru the door and minutes, even seconds are precious. Not everyone is cut out for or thrives in that environment, and that's just one of those things that you figure out as you go along.
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]There are so many different areas in nursing, you just have to find your niche. :) I have done ER- was great at it, and loved a lot of things about it, but the bad outweighed the good. I moved on to the PICU, and it's not for me. I don't like waking up in a sweat after having a nightmare about a patient self-extubating, not having a bag in the room, and a dead Vocera battery. I am literally ridden with anxiety the entire shift (for a number of reasons), and I never would have dreamed that would be the case because I could take any level 1 trauma or acute MI and not even blink an eye. I recently applied for a transfer to the OR and bombed my peer interview miserably- which was probably for the better because I'm horribly ungraceful and uncoordinated and probably would have been breaking sterile fields and ******* off surgeons on a regular basis. None of those things make me any less of a nurse...I'm just still trying to find my niche after all these years. I'm about to start my 3rd nursing job, and it's very different than anything I've done before but I'm hoping it's a good fit and somewhere I am happy to stay for awhile.
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]I think that most recruiters and nurse managers say that, and I really think that if you applied on a med-surg floor that they wouldn't think anything more than you are a new graduate trying to find a good fit, and right now it wasn't the ER. Some people love med-surg, some hate it but you should learn good assessment skills and time management which will help set the foundation for you to grow on as a nurse.
The 2 hospitals that I worked at were NOT teaching hospitals but private ones. They're not into training new grads on the floor. When I was there at both facilities--I was the only new Grad on the floor on BOTH day and night shifts.
Anyway, I've been applying to ALL sorts of RN positions (except ED) to all hospitals in the past 2 weeks but so far no interviews and its so disheartening. When I resigned from the 1st ED job, I got the 2nd position within 1 week.
Whats so funny was I got a call from an ER manager in a hospital which I appied for asking me if I would be available for interview. SHe said that their HR recruiter passed my resume to her even though I applied for a different position.
This is crazy--am I now branded as just for ED or what ? What if I have exhausted the list of hospitals in our place ? I am in a situation where I cannot just uproot or relocate due to family circumstances.
Well....does this hospital that contacted you have a good training program? It sounds like one of your mistakes was going from one place that wasn't set up to train new grads to another. 8 weeks is nothing- I got just over 4 months of orientation with repeated assurances that I could extend if I needed to, and once I went off orientation my coworkers and the charge nurses made an extra effort to keep an eye on me and check in and offer help. My department has a lot of experience with new grads and I think that makes a huge difference.
Maybe the ER is not for you, but maybe you just need the support of a department that has a successful track record of orienting new grads. I'd go to that interview, ask lots of questions, be open about what your weaknesses are and what you feel you need from your employer in terms of support. If it doesn't seem like they'll be able to give you the time and support you need, walk away. But I don't see any harm in going and interviewing THEM, you know?
:confused:
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RNDreamer
1,237 Posts
Can you tell me where I can find this law, because I know a few new grads who were hired straight into the ER right here in NYC, and most did not go through an ER fellowship or have any med surg exp