please help me, please.. please...

[rosey77]

hello every body,

i worked as a rn on med surg about 6 months. then i moved out of state. applied many positions to many hospitals. but, i did not even get a call for interview from any hospital eventhough i applied to a staff nurse 1 position. i feel like i am helpless and i do not know what to do now. i have no idea what is wrong. i make many phone calls to many recruiters. they said that my application is on file. that is all they said. as far as my licensence status , it is ok. i also gave two weeks notice to my employer before i left. so, i wonder if my resume is an issue. would you give any suggestion and critique on my resume.. please,, please... this is the resume that i was using. i do appreciate to your help. should i give about $100 to an agency to write my resume?

name and address

objective

to obtain a position as a registered nurse

education

university xyz 05/0000

bachelor of science in nursing, gpa 00/4.

work experience

registered nurse

xyz hospital 01/07 - 01/08

• provided a broad range of age appropriate nursing care of patients with varied diagnosis on medical surgical unit.
  
• assessed conditions and implemented appropriate nursing interventions.
  
• dealt effectively with critical incidents.

student nurse

xyz hospital 00/07 -00/08

• providing bedside care, treatment and clinical documentation for patients on abcd floor under the supervision of a rn.
  
• performed standard assessments and took vital signs, i&o and assisted nurses with procedures.

skills

• proficient in use of microsoft office software and computerized charting and documentation methods related to nursing care.
  
• proven ability to build positive relationships with patients, family members, physicians, coworkers and other medical professionals.
  
• dedicated beyond normal expectations.
  
• team player; adapt easily to change of environment and work schedule.
  
• relates well to people from a variety of cultures.

licensure/certification

rn licensure: lic no. and expire date

cpr certification: lic no. and expire date

reference

available on request

[sally22]

HI Rosey77,

firstly you need to include references in your Resume. The employer will not want to recontact you for this they are too busy.

Your resume is a little light on as well in details re study and work experience. include more details.

This link will take you to a page with numerous Resumes. The most important thing for your employer is to know your skills simply summarised, your dedication, other skills, but emphasize your skills in the nursing. Yoou also need to ake into account the country you are applying in and understand the requirements for employment and wheteher or not they have shortages or an oversupply of applicants

good luck and keep trying.

I also suggest you keep a vision of actually working as a nurse in a hospital or other with a belief you are doing this and be grateful for it even though it has not happened yet.

this will assist you in achieving your dreams

http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=resumes&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

[tylenolnurse]

thanks you for web sites

[llg, PhD, RN]

Perhaps it is the types of jobs you are applying for ... the types of facilities ... or your location. In some cities, there is a shortage of nurses and you should have no problems getting a job as a med/surg staff nurse. However, some cities have no shortage.

Also, this is not the best time of year to be looking for a staff nurse job. Many hospitals hire tons of new grads during the summer -- and their Human Resources and Nursing Education Departments are overloaded with all those new hires to process and orient. Even departments with vacancies sometimes have to delay hiring for a month or two until that large group of new grads gets "through the system" and settled in their new roles.

Do you know anyone in the region who can clue you in as to the job market in your area?

Perhaps if you told us what city you are in, someone here could tell you whether or not there is a nursing shortage or over-supply there.

[rosey77]

I am in san jose, ca area. I applied to all hospitals around that area including sanfrancisco. All of those hospitals have many RN positions. But I did not get any one. I just moved in to san jose. I do not know anyone here. Do you have any suggestion about that area, please. Thnks you so much.

[Music in My Heart]

Sorry to say, you picked a region where it seems to be very competitive to land nursing jobs. North Bay to South Bay over the Sierra Nevada foothills seems somewhat impacted.

With 6 months experience, you're kind of a "tweener." You're definitely not a new grad but you're not really very experienced, either.

Having worked only six months before leaving is a red flag. You might want to address it on your resume (I'm of the opinion that cover letters are rarely read except perhaps as background before an interview).

You need to make contacts with people -- nurses. Me, I'd probably look to take a CEU class at a local JC or through a hospital.

In a tight job market, it's all about networking.

[Music in My Heart]

firstly you need to include references in your Resume. The employer will not want to recontact you for this they are too busy.

I've been through outplacement counseling twice after being laid off - albeit not for nursing jobs. Both places said not to put references on the resume but to have a separate sheet ready to produce.

My experience has been that references aren't requested or checked until you're invited for an interview. It takes too much time during the screening process and it creates the potential for liability.

I don't know what is the "correct" answer or if there even is one. I'm just sharing my experience for whatever it is, or isn't, worth. Again, my experience is in engineering, not nursing, so take it with a grain of salt.

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

I would think you could apply for an internship program with only being an RN for 6 months. You might try that.

[RN1989]

Are you filling out applications in addition to resumes? Resumes should be more exhaustive. What you have on your resume is what would fill the lines on an application.

If you have other work experience besides nursing, other than high school part time at the ice cream shop, you need to put this on there and have it reflect how it helps you as a nurse. Your nursing experience is light to you need to beef it up with specifics as to what you did. Act like the person reading the resume doesn't know anything about what a nurse does and you have to explain it: planned patient care for 6-8 patients, ensuring that all interventions were accomplished and positive outcomes achieved. I know it is hard to really pinpoint what we do but we save lives and our resumes should reflect it. Keep working on it. If you want to repost or pm for more thought on it, feel free.

[loricatus]

Could I suggest that you put information about the hospital and your specific work load? Eg, 500 bed acute care teching hospital. Ratio of 1 nurse to 10 patients. responsible for admissions, discharges, dressing changes, initiating IV therapy, post mortem care, patient and family education.

I really don't want to come across being critical; but, the resume you have is geared more toward the regular work force. It is wonderful if you were competing for a corporate job because of the extensive use of power words. However, it is too general for the healthcare environment, especially since you only have 6 months experience. You need to show the employer that you can do the job, so try specifics of what you have done and see if things change for you. Also, you may want to add that you are open to being trained in a new specialty in order to give the impression that you were using the med-surg as a stepping stone to critical care. This could be put in the objective.