New RN Temporary Position?

[cougSN]

Hello all,

I am a new graduate RN in Washington state, passed my NCLEX in late February and have a somewhat unique situation. We all know the job market is terrible right now, so getting hired even without any hitches is hard enough. I am currently in Europe, taking some time to relax after almost 5 years of school because my boyfriend of three years is a professional athlete over here. Because of the restrictions set in place by the European Union, I can only stay here for 90 days total over a six month period and am scheduled to return home the beginning of May, where I will be for about 3-4 months until his season begins again.

As you probably already guessed, this really leaves me in a pickle regarding job situations. I cannot start a "real" job and just leave it a few months later (well I guess I could, but would never want to do that to a company). I got excited after learning about the Mollen Immunization Clinics because I thought they might be organizing summer child immunization programs or have something for me to do from May until August. However, from looking at the posts on this site I have come to discover that I am almost positive they only do seasonal flu shot/H1N1 clinics?

I then got excited after hearing about an organization called "Healthwaves" as someone earlier had made them sound like a national organization (maybe that was just me being hopeful) for corporate wellness (which is somewhat of an interest to me) and it sounded like something that could be done on a temporary basis, but alas it is only in Arizona.

Does anyone know of ANY positions or ANY organizations I might be able to try out for a temporary job (May to September, at the latest)? I feel like I have scoured and searched everywhere and right now I am completely heartbroken as this does not appear to be feasible at all. And before some of you say it, no I will not chose REAL heartbreak (ie, break up with my boyfriend) in order to become employed for a longer period of time, especially with our job economy in its current state!! Just was really hoping for some nursing experience and a little bit of money for now and right now I feel HOPELESS. Help me out if you know anything, I would really appreciate it! Hoping to be able to do nursing on a temporary basis rather than having to resort to something like data entry, lol Thanks to you all, hope your job situations and new grad job hunts are working out a little better than mine!!

[aura_of_laura]

That is tough, since temp agencies usually want someone with > 1 year experience. Have you thought about trying for home health? I'm actually looking at moving to the Seattle (Everett) area soon, and I've noticed a number of jobs in home health.

Honestly, don't worry about hurting the hospitals. If you can get in somewhere even for a few months, take the opportunity. It will give you time for some solid orientation, and something to put on your resume. Just make sure that you give adequate notice when you leave, and make sure you are on good terms with your manager and coworkers. Ask for letters of reference when you leave.

There are far too many nurses who just up and walk out on a job, or make job-jumping a career habit. Your circumstances are a little different - sound like you have some great opportunities for travel, take advantage of them :)

[BKCinNOLA]

Definitely a tough situation..

I'd say look into private duty/home health nursing.. there might be medically fragile kids in your area who need a nurse/nanny for the summer months while school's out. Though, you'll probably need to invest in your own medical malpractice insurance if you do private duty without an agency behind you.

Good luck with your search!

[roser13, ASN, RN]

"Honestly, don't worry about hurting the hospitals. If you can get in somewhere even for a few months, take the opportunity. It will give you time for some solid orientation, and something to put on your resume."

I couldn't disagree more. OP, I think you're on the right track to avoid stabbing any hospital or corporation in the back like that. I admire your unwillingness to do that. It costs the hospitals thousand of $$ to train new employees, and it is not likely that you will work long enough to garner any positive references or viable experience.

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

"Honestly, don't worry about hurting the hospitals. If you can get in somewhere even for a few months, take the opportunity. It will give you time for some solid orientation, and something to put on your resume."

I couldn't disagree more. OP, I think you're on the right track to avoid stabbing any hospital or corporation in the back like that. I admire your unwillingness to do that. It costs the hospitals thousand of $$ to train new employees, and it is not likely that you will work long enough to garner any positive references or viable experience.

IAWTC. Not to mention the fact that in the new grad world, a few months of experience is almost worse than no experience at all -- you're still not qualified for the vast majority of jobs that require at least one year, and most new grad programs will turn you down, since you're no longer what they consider a new grad (i.e. someone fresh out of school).

I wouldn't suggest breaking up with your boyfriend over this issue, but it sounds like you're at a crossroads: do you want to keep spending as much time overseas with him as possible, and taking advantage of all the (non-nursing) opportunities that that will bring you, or do you want to keep your options open for a real career in nursing stateside? If it's the latter, you may have to bite the bullet and commit to spending at least a year away from him (although not necessarily apart; it sounds like you're already used to doing the long-distance thing) in order to get a real, solid orientation experience under your belt. There's no "right" choice here -- it all depends on what you want to do with your life.

[prinsessa]

What about being a nurse in a camp? I know there are some camps looking for volunteer nurses at least. That could give you some experience to put on your resume....and you wouldn't burn any bridges.

[cougSN]

Wow, thank you all for posting. allnurses didn't let me know that I was receiving replies so I figured nobody had taken an interest. Yeah, for right now I am looking at being a wellness nurse for Maxim (I know, I have heard all about this company).... People generally don't seem to enthusiastic about Maxim, but I figure doing wellness probably isn't as stressful as doing direct patient care activities. I'm not exactly sure what the job entails, but it sounds like going to corporations and businesses in the area and performing BP/glucose/cholesterol screenings, etc. Anyway, I have yet to even send any information in yet, but its my hope to work with them temporarily this summer. These are all great ideas; if Maxim doesn't work out I will definitely be checking into these opportunities. Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses. :)