New Here - Question of Advice..?

[Jokermagician]

Good Morning, Afternoon, and Evening all!

I currently have Certification as a Certified Nursing Assistant and a Restorative Nursing Assistant, a BLS through the American Heart Association, and a Fire Card. The only thing that I do not have is enough experience for CNA / RNA positions within hospitals.

I have a month*s worth of experience through a SNF. The reason I left is in regards to the people/management I worked with and the conditions of the workplace, unfortunately.

I also have a month*s worth of experience through a Veterinary Office as a receptionist. I left this place as well due to the management/conditions of the workplace, unfortunately.

I am not sure how I found two jobs in a row that had difficult conditions, but, somehow, I did. haha.

My question is in regards to these past positions reflecting on my work history. Do any nurses (of any level - RN, LVN, CNA) have any advice that they might be able to share as to how to explain to recruiters/hiring managers my position? Do you know of any hospitals in Los Angeles that would hire a CNA/RNA who is entry level, so to speak?

If you need me to explain why I left the previous positions that I mention, I would be happy to explain.

I thank you so much for your time and consideration in reading this!

Take care and I hope to speak with you soon -

- Jokermagician

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Dear jokermagician:

Your best bet for future employment lies in NOT presenting yourself as a nurse. A certified nursing assistant (even with 1 month's experience) is in no way, shape, or form, a nurse.

" Do any nurses (of any level - RN, LVN, CNA) have any advice"

[Jokermagician]

Okay. I know that I am not a nurse and I did not mean to represent myself as a nurse. I know that nursing assistants are not Licensed or Registered nurses, they are assistants. I apologize for making my error by including them in that statement.

Did you have any advice by chance?

Thank you.

[RunBabyRN]

Leaving two jobs after a month will make any manager question hiring you. You'd be lucky to get an interview with that on your resume. I had a SNF job for 2 months, and left because of the working conditions, and while it was good experience, and is relevant to many jobs I apply to, I don't want to have to explain that one, and it doesn't look good to managers, so I have left it off of my resume. It makes you look like you'll jump ship at the first sign of trouble, or that you'll just be looking for greener pastures (and that the grass is always greener). Do you have any other work experience? Have you ever held a job for more than a month? Showing some longevity, even if it was working at Walmart, may help balance that out, but you'll still need to explain why you left two jobs after such a short time.

Few hospitals, especially in CA, will hire a CNA without any experience. Consider working in home health, hospice, or a different SNF, even assisted living, to get SOME experience.

[Jokermagician]

Yes, I had a position as a sound, video, and light technician that I held for more than a year. I worked as an usher for the same show before that. Thought I haven*t put the usher position on the resume.

[Jokermagician]

I also put, beyond the year*s position as a sound, light, and video technician, a several month termed position for the same show as just a sound and video technician. These were contractually based, by the way.

[RunBabyRN]

Yes, I had a position as a sound, video, and light technician that I held for more than a year. I worked as an usher for the same show before that. Thought I haven*t put the usher position on the resume.

Just be sure to word your job description in ways that relate to being a CNA as best you can. You don't have to get into every little detail of what you did, but you can point out the things that relate to patient care. Get creative!

[Jokermagician]

Okay, understood. Thank you so much for the advice! I greatly appreciate it.

Would you have any suggestion on how to best explain/deal with providing reasoning behind the 2 jobs that were only month long engagements?

Thank you again!

[RunBabyRN]

That's on you. You may not want to even list those jobs, honestly. Anything I've held that was for that short of a time has stayed off of my resume.

It's important in an interview to never trash an old job, no matter how awful it was (I was wrongfully terminated for being pregnant, and I've never told an interviewer that's why I left that job). There's really not much you could say that would make a manager want to hire you after seeing that, frankly.

[Jokermagician]

I understand what you mean.

I wish that there was something that I could say or write or do so that I could leave those on. I feel as though if I don*t put those positions on the resume that I would be lying, or it would seem that I am hiding something. You know what I mean?

I thank you so much again RunBabyRn!

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

I've been on both ends of this question. When I hired RNs/nursing staff, if I got any whiff of smack talk about previous employers, it was a red flag. Yes, there are bad places to work. But when you are hiring, you DON'T want to hire someone with a history of 'personality conflicts' blamed on their employer or coworkers. It's a major red flag that the person is more a source of the conflict than a lily white victim.

I wanted to hire staff with a modicum of self-responsibility, who respond to problems without finger pointing and blaming. There are tons of people capable of dispensing the correct meds and not lie in the charting. Finding someone who plays nice with others is not so easy, and from experience I'd rather train a CNA to correctly give catheter care than how to stop rolling her eyes or take offense at imagined slights.

Playing nice with others in nursing jobs is at least as important as your skill set. Sad but true. Everyone has known the fantastically talented nurse who even the manager was afraid of confronting, who caused high turnover and constant drama.

So, a big favor you could do for yourself is take a hard, honest look at yourself in the previous work environments. Are you a little defensive maybe? (the generic you) A little quick to take offense, expecting people to criticize you? How juice IS the gossip? You get my drift I think. This is just as important as recognizing a genuinely bad work environment. It's never just 'them'.

Getting a thicker skin, dealing with your personal insecurities and behaving with self and other respect are as vital as knowing what vital signs to report. Everyone coming into the field has to adjust themselves a bit here and there. Your personality is probably your greatest asset, it will get you anywhere because healthcare is always a team effort, we rely on each other for the essentials. If you find some fault in yourself for the previous job situations, chin up, you would not be alone. Big Girl and Big Boy panties come in all sizes and the best of us forget to pull them up sometimes.

[Jokermagician]

Thank you so much Gooselady for your input. I greatly appreciate that.

Yes, I have most definitely thought about what faults I may have and every situation that I encountered in both positions, and especially the CNA position. I have thought about what I could have done differently, if I would have, and why.

I will say this, not that I am trying to defend myself and make it seem like just *them* as you put it: before me, there were 6 hires that left, and after me there was at least 1 more. There were CNAs who filled in on the unit I was on and said that they would never stay there for any length of time and would never come back there. And when I spoke with the upper echelon of the whole facility, explaining some of the issues, they said that they were *very aware* of the issues... So, I don*t know. haha..

Again, thank you so much!