NOT SELECTED, Am I being perceived as a second class nurse?

U.S.A. Arizona

Published

Specializes in WOUND CARE, MEMORY CARE, GERIATRICS.

Could someone please HELP ME? I am beginning to feel like an undesirable to the Acute/Hospital Care Community.

I have been a registered nurse for the last three years, with a two year degree from one of the best community colleges in Phoenix, AZ, Gateway Community College.

I practice Home Health Care Management and Memory Care, one year experience with pediatric home health, 2 years' experience with adult home health case manager, as well as 1 year experience with Assisted Living Memory Care and Hospice Care as a floor supervisor.

I am 100% fluent bilingual (Spanish), What Am I doing wrong?

I apply to the hospitals in my area religiously every month; I apply for entry level 1 year experience and bilingual preferred. However, within 1-2 days my applications on line are promptly marked

NOT SELECTED

I had my resume reviewed by the State Employment Agency Counselor and according to his expert opinion "there is nothing wrong with your resume" he stated. The last time I was consider for a hospital position, was in 2010 as a new grad.

Is there someone here with experience and would you be willing to help me?

Resume Writers? I have not come across one that specializes in Nursing.

I have received calls from past employers/supervisors asking if I would be willing to work with them again for the same agency or at their new agency. My patients seem to like me. Patient's families seem grateful for the care I provide to their love ones every day. My colleagues tell me I am strict when following policies and procedures and seek my advice.

If I bored you, I apologize, thank you for reading and God willing one of you may have the answer I have been looking for.

Sincerely,

Syntia Alcantar, RN

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

If acute care hospitals in the Phoenix metropolitan area have been trending in the direction of other facilities across the US, I would venture to say that HR is choosing to interview and hire candidates with BSN degrees over their ADN/ASN counterparts.

Ever since the economic slump of the late 2000s, many hospitals have either been preferring (or outright demanding) that applicants be educated at the BSN level. Although this is not happening in some regions, most of the major cities have followed this hiring pattern. Good luck to you.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Just another point to add here . . .it's very unlikely that it is something you are doing wrong in any way. There are so many applicants for acute care positions in many areas right now, they are thinning them out and not hiring people who would be hired right away a few years ago.

They will be looking for someone who requires the least amount of on-the-job training so they may see that the areas you have experience in don't translate exactly to taking a full-patient assignment on an acute care unit.

I wish I had the answer to the "how do I get acute care experience when nobody will hire me with no acute care experience?" dilemma. But just shoo away those self-deprecating thoughts! Wish you the best!

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When I applied to a certain hospital system here in AZ with a not so great reputation the HR department informed me that they were only looking for BSN nurses. This was after I informed them that I was about to finish my BSN. They told me "apply after you graduate.

At the hospital system I work for now I have asked new employees about how they got a job and every one of them so far has had an "in" into the system. They all know someone who referred them to the job. Supposedly they are in a major hiring phase according to the hospital but then you read stories like yours and it makes one wonder how many applicants they are receiving. Do you know anyone who will refer you? Don't give up it may take a while. It took 1.5 years for me but I finally got a job:)

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You may want to consider changing your approach on posting here with one being able to learn too much about you. Posting with your name in full view may work against you. Employers, managers HR people could go on here and read your rant. Just trying to suggest that anonymity be a good idea on here.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

There's probably nothing wrong with you. The job market for nurses is horrible in the Phoenix area and Tucson.

I'd suggest earning that RN-BSN degree.

The economy has pushed many new RNs into areas they never thought they'd end up.

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Specializes in Progressive Care Unit.

Most hospital are looking for RNs with acute hospital experience. Unfortunately, some of them consider RNs with non acute experience in the New Grad category. Keep trying. My first hospital job here in AZ was almost 50 miles from home.

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You might be in denial or worse yet...

It's very competitive out there. It appears you have no acute-care experience, you lack a BSN, and you seem to be bouncing around with many jobs over short periods of time.

What are you doing wrong? Don't expect the environment to change for you. Take responsibility for your own choices. Make changes. Think long and hard about what it is you want. Set your goal. And start acting on it. Expect it to take time.

Best of luck!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

To answer the OP's question, you're not being perceived as a second-class nurse. Rather, you're being viewed as a nurse with the wrong mix of education and experience for the tastes of your local acute care hospital community.

I have a similar problem because I have 7 years of experience, but none of it is acute care hospital experience. I have been working in a freestanding acute rehab hospital for the past three years, but many recruiters dismiss my experience because it is not taking place inside a major medical center. Also, I only have an associates degree.

As a nurse without a BSN degree or acute care hospital experience, I am viewed as someone with the wrong mix of education and experience for my local metro area.

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Specializes in WOUND CARE, MEMORY CARE, GERIATRICS.
You might be in denial or worse yet...

It's very competitive out there. It appears y

ou have no acute-care experience, you lack a BSN, and you seem to be bouncing around with many jobs over shortperiods of time.

What are you doing wrong? Don't expect the environment to change for you. Take responsibility for your own choices. Make changes. Think long and hard about what it is you want. Set your goal. And start acting on it. Expect it to take time.

Best of luck!

Hi, thank you for your candid response.

Yes, my major difficulty is that I do not have acute care experience. I was not blessed with a hospital job as a new grad.

I have student loans to pay and unable to secure proper funding to continue my education.

The reason I have acquire experience in different fields, it is not because I change practices, rather I work them all at the same time.

Most places I work for "prefer" part timers 32 hrs or less, no benefits, and less than the standard $25.00 an hr.

I like to keep my nursing skills sharp and practice wound vac care, PICC line infussions, urostomy/colostomy care, peds vent care, physiotherapy care, phlebotomy, medication management, and all out of my inmmaculate trunk.

I am paying my dues, and my goals are to help others heal, mend their wounds, help them control their pain, visit the sick and lonely seniors that live alone in their homes with no one to help them. What I want is the opportunity to learn more, gain more skills in the hospital setting to better help my community and be more educate, more skill.

I want to help others, but I need to know more so that I can help better.

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Syntia Alcantar, RN

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Specializes in WOUND CARE, MEMORY CARE, GERIATRICS.
You may want to consider changing your approach on posting here with one being able to learn too much about you. Posting with your name in full view may work against you. Employers, managers HR people could go on here and read your rant. Just trying to suggest that anonymity be a good idea on here.

Thank you kindly for your words of wisdom, I understand the need for annonymity. However, my ply is serious even if it works against me because this is a serious matter. I am a nurse, I care for my patients, I care for my community, I want to help, and I need to be an educated nurse. I need to practice acute care to be better informed, to become more experienced, and in return serve my community better. Most of all I need to know how I as nurse Syntia can acquire this knowledge, if I had decided to be annonymous. Then I am a ranting voice with no substance, just another blah in the sea of blahs, and that is exactly who I am not.

Thank you so much for your time,

Sincerely,

Syntia Alcantar, RN

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Specializes in WOUND CARE, MEMORY CARE, GERIATRICS.
If acute care hospitals in the Phoenix metropolitan area have been trending in the direction of other facilities across the US, I would venture to say that HR is choosing to interview and hire candidates with BSN degrees over their ADN/ASN counterparts.

Ever since the economic slump of the late 2000s, many hospitals have either been preferring (or outright demanding) that applicants be educated at the BSN level. Although this is not happening in some regions, most of the major cities have followed this hiring pattern. Good luck to you.

Thank you so much, for your insight :)

I see the merits of your oppinion, it is a major point that I will address in the future.

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