Not a good fit for my family now

[army mommy of three]

Hello! I'm a new CNA, 38 years old, who has been out of the workforce for more than 16 years. All this time I have been raising my kids while my husband who is an officer in the Army for the last ten years work. Two weeks ago, I applied to a couple of vacants at at hospital near my house..some shifts are 12 hours other is 8 hours, rotative, weekends etc. They called me and I have an interview tomorrow at 1pm but don't exactly know which of the three positions. What is bothering me is that my usband was told yesterday he could be deployed anytime to Afganistan and I was not counting on that. Now, I have this interview and I know I will have to leave my children alone to comply with my schedules. I should have waited longer and focus on a day shift at a nursing home since they are 8 hours, or at the same hospital I applied but only as a part-time with 8 hours during the day so my family doesn't pay the consecuences.

I guess my questions are: Should I go ahead with the intervire process for this night shift, etc jobs, should I decline the interview (it is a 1pm), and how (personally, calling, what to say). It is important for me to not burn bridges there since I would like to be a nurse there one day.

Thank you so much for any input!

[Snowbird17]

I don't think I would back out of the interveiw at this late of a time. Definitely ask which shift you are interviewing for while there. They may have more shifts than you realize available!

If it doesn't fit with your schedule, don't take the job. Also, if it would ease your mind- ask how they handle employees who have spouses deployed. They may be willing to work with you if that time comes or let you take a LOA. Or don't mention it at all. Go through the interview process and just don't take the offer.

If you are absolutely sure the job will not fit with the needs of your family right now, don't take an offer. But interviewing should not pose any issue. People interview for multiple jobs all the time and only take one! Bailing last minute is kind of a No-No....

Good luck either way and Thank you, your family and husband for his service to our country!

[itsnowornever, BSN, RN]

How old are your children? If they are old enough to reason, then I think a job would be good for all of you. The time will go by faster and they will see that their family can continue on while dad is away. Routines are good for EVERYONE and that includes you! A job will give you something to focus on while your husband is away instead of sitting at home worrying! My husband has been wanting to do one more deployment (He was OIF 1) for the last few years and I told him to wait until I was working this way I'm busy and I can establish a routine for the kids, they are 9 and 8.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

If your goal is to become a nurse one day; why not just start classes and work toward that goal. Just a thought :)

[army mommy of three]

Thank you all for taking the time and responding!!

I wen to my interview and I was scheduled to see the nurse manager and the hr manager separately. My interview with the nurse manager did not lasted more than 20 minutes...(when they said be prepared for two hours..one hour each manager)she expressed having difficulties formulating questions for me since I have no job experience (which was clear on my application-then why they called me?). She ended up asking me if it was okay to do a couple of hours of job shadowing tomorrow (it is for PCU/MED SURG Floor) so I could see how hard is the work there and for her to see if I was a good fit for them as well. Is that normal to happen? Is it a good positive thing? The thing is that when I went back to the HR office to wait for my other interview withthe other lady, the front desk tells me it has been cancelled, that they will see me tomorrow for the job shadowing and hopefully they will have some paperwork for me (meaning job offer). I don't get it...is all this good or bad?

I went ahead and applied to a nursing home where I did part of my cna clinicals.

[army mommy of three]

Hello Sun0408!

Oh definitely! I have all my pre-requisites and I am going to apply for the ADN at my community college this Summer. I have been accepted to an LPN school this Spring 2013 but I want to give myself a break and apply to the community college. If they don't accept me I will start my LPN in July 2013.