New nurse and employment

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I am a newly licensed LPN and I have a dilemma.

I received my license in August of this year, accepted a job within a week of becoming licensed. I should have ran SCREAMING from this position (because of the ridiculously low pay of 10.00 an hour) but I accepted out of fear that I would not be able to find another job. I quit short notice (I know WRONG thing to do!) after I was being switched from day shift to night shift on short notice scheduling (no calling, just scheduled in) on my days off. I could not handle the day/night mix ups, I was exhausted from no sleep. So, I took another position at a LTCF. HUGE mistake. I stayed there a month and quit. I would have stayed LTC, but too many things that could cause me to lose my license. For instance, one example would be I was told (by other nurses with the approval by the DON and ADON) to give meds out of time frames, to give medications due at 10:00 p.m. at 6 p.m., among other things. Unstocked carts, you can just about name the issues and they were within this facility.

So now, I can not list these 2 places as references and I can't find a job! I do not make it a habit of just leaving a place of employment without a notice but, I had to leave these two places for MY health and license retainment. I retired several years ago as an Administrative Assistant and decided that after 7+ years, staying home was not for me. I would really LOVE to stay within the Nursing field, but do not know how to look or WHERE to look with no experience.

What would your suggestions be?

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With no experience, you're just not very eligible for jobs that aren't horrible (depending on your area, at least). My first job was a nightmare, but I stuck it out long enough to be marketable and am in a better place now. School and the real world don't even come close to matching up. Make sure your expectations are not too high.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

A) You can lie about not having worked but future employers can find out your past work history. It's best to start off on a good foot & be honest.

B) It is not as easy as you think to lose your license. What you described would not cause you to lose your license.

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