potential hire turn offs?

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Specializes in Utilization Review, OB GYN, NICU.

Do you have any turn offs when interviewing or having a potential hire shadow on the floor? Mine is when I hear "I can't wait to hold the babies". Or when going into the nursery, the new grad squealed and said "Oh look at the baby!". Yes, his mother feels the say way, and she gets dibs. OB (L/D and PP) is serious business, and prone to lawsuits. It's real nursing that requires skill!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

When the focus of every question is basically a variation of, "What's in it for me?" I want us to hire people who are actually interested in providing services to the patients.

A few questions about pay, benefits, schedules, etc. are reasonable. But when that seems to be ALL they care about is a real turn-off.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

The only thing that bothers me is a flippant, I-don't-care attitude and/or unwillingness to learn. While I can see how it can be bothersome to you, the stuff that you mentioned above I chalk up to enthusiasm and figure they'll be disabused soon enough of the notion that all we do is hold babies. :lol2:

(I'm referring to shadowers/orientees....I don't interview anyone for anything.)

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MNBRN--I would think that liking the babies and being intersted would be a good thing.....I'm sorry but I think it's sad that you would see someone as not a good candidate for a position on your unit for saying things like that. That's rediculous. And I really doubt that is implying that you don't do real nursing care--that you just sit around and hold babies. We all know baby nurses don't have a cushy job--it's serious life or death care sometimes. But you have to love babies to want to work there and I think that is all that person was showing--she was excited. You have to appreciate that.

--okay I have to say the one I used to not like when I was in medicine at the hospital was the student who is with me for the day asks me--"hey how do I get some of those cool hospital scrubs? --I tell them how I got every pair--****** on, bled on, puked on, crapped on, you name it! --they always are like--ohhhhh....I guess I don't want a pair-- ummmm. You get dirty now and again as a nurse---deal!

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Specializes in Utilization Review, OB GYN, NICU.
The only thing that bothers me is a flippant, I-don't-care attitude and/or unwillingness to learn. While I can see how it can be bothersome to you, the stuff that you mentioned above I chalk up to enthusiasm and figure they'll be disabused soon enough of the notion that all we do is hold babies. :lol2:

(I'm referring to shadowers/orientees....I don't interview anyone for anything.)

Good point. Enthusiasm is good.

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Specializes in oncology/BMT, general medicine.

I do not take part in direct interviews as I am a staff nurse, but our manager informally requires all prospective employees to shadow in our department. We care for outpatient oncology/BMT and invasive/surgical procedure patients, so it helps for someone to "get their feet wet" a little bit before they make a decision. Our manager really values our opinions from the shadowing experience.

Our department operates Monday through Friday 5:00am to 11:00pm and Saturday and Sunday 8:00am to whenever. There is no night shift, just day/evening and we work one weekend a month unless you take apheresis call which is one week + weekend per month. This alone attracts many people. However, there is a common misconception that because it is outpatient we don't toilet patients or lift. As I explain this to prospective employees, I can usually gather the "ones" that are heavily reliant on PCA's (which we have only 1) or people that are just in it for the decent hours.

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MNBRN--I would think that liking the babies and being intersted would be a good thing.....I'm sorry but I think it's sad that you would see someone as not a good candidate for a position on your unit for saying things like that. That's rediculous. And I really doubt that is implying that you don't do real nursing care--that you just sit around and hold babies. We all know baby nurses don't have a cushy job--it's serious life or death care sometimes. But you have to love babies to want to work there and I think that is all that person was showing--she was excited. You have to appreciate that.

--okay I have to say the one I used to not like when I was in medicine at the hospital was the student who is with me for the day asks me--"hey how do I get some of those cool hospital scrubs? --I tell them how I got every pair--****** on, bled on, puked on, crapped on, you name it! --they always are like--ohhhhh....I guess I don't want a pair-- ummmm. You get dirty now and again as a nurse---deal!

If I could take the liberty of my interpretation. I think someone who makes this statement has no idea what being a nurse in L & D or Mother/Baby entails and that's why it would bother me. Most of the time an L & D nurse will not hold a baby at all. Most probably go at least weeks if not months without holding a baby. You are hanging meds, interpreting the monitor etc. Mother/baby nurses same deal- they are taking vitals etc but probably never actually holding a baby. So to me that statement would tell me that the person does not know the job they have applied for. I am a CNM and the only time I hold a baby is at birth in the three seconds it takes me to put it on mom's abdomen and sometimes the patients want a picture of me holding the baby. Otherwise I never do. Same for when I was an L & D/PP nurse. It just really isn't part of the job. And although it is nice to like babies, it's more important to like pregnant women since they are really who you will interact with.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
If I could take the liberty of my interpretation. I think someone who makes this statement has no idea what being a nurse in L & D or Mother/Baby entails and that's why it would bother me. Most of the time an L & D nurse will not hold a baby at all. Most probably go at least weeks if not months without holding a baby. You are hanging meds, interpreting the monitor etc. Mother/baby nurses same deal- they are taking vitals etc but probably never actually holding a baby. So to me that statement would tell me that the person does not know the job they have applied for. I am a CNM and the only time I hold a baby is at birth in the three seconds it takes me to put it on mom's abdomen and sometimes the patients want a picture of me holding the baby. Otherwise I never do. Same for when I was an L & D/PP nurse. It just really isn't part of the job. And although it is nice to like babies, it's more important to like pregnant women since they are really who you will interact with.

I have to question if you are really a CNM or have to speculate that you must work in a large hospital that uses a large amount of interventions. I am an LDRP nurse and I hold babies every day. Also, its not more important to like the pregnant women, I work in a family centered birth center, the baby is my patient too.

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I have to question if you are really a CNM or have to speculate that you must work in a large hospital that uses a large amount of interventions. I am an LDRP nurse and I hold babies every day. Also, its not more important to like the pregnant women, I work in a family centered birth center, the baby is my patient too.

Nope, really am a CNM. And the reason I don't hold the babies is because that is the time for the family to be holding the baby. When I catch I baby I immediately give it to the mom and I stay until at least the baby is on the breast for the first time, answer any questions they have, and talk about what to expect in the postpartum unit. When I see my patients postpartum they are nursing, holding their babies, or their babies are sleeping. I am not going to pick up a sleeping baby to wake it up and hold it and I am not going to take a baby out of someone's arms to hold it. I often sit and chat with my patients for an hour or more on postpartum rounds, and I spend as much time as I can with my labor patients, but I rarely hold the babies for those reasons. It's not really related to interventions as by the time the baby is born the interventions are done. In any case I take a lot of criticism from my employing docs from my lack of interventions! When I was an LDRP nurse at a small community hospital I had the same philosophy although I worked nights so I often got to snuggle fussy babies in the respite nursery.

It's not that I think the baby isn't important, it's that I really try to bond with my moms and I think if someone was hoping to snuggle babies all day long they will be disappointed when instead they spend most of their time dealing with adults, psychosocial issues, and medical complications.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
In any case I take a lot of criticism from my employing docs from my lack of interventions!

What did they think a midwife does? If your pt's are delivering healthy babies through safe labor, why do you need to intervene? Sorry....whole 'nother thread...

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What did they think a midwife does? If your pt's are delivering healthy babies through safe labor, why do you need to intervene? Sorry....whole 'nother thread...

Because of the very unfortunate practice environment in the major southern city where I live. I was able to practice real midwifery where I came from but unfortunately since moving here it is difficult. "Why not just break her bag so we can get her delivered?" "Why haven't you started pit?" "Just induce her,there's no point in being pregnant after 39 weeks" and so on...

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Oh yes, its like that in the North where I work. So that 12 hr limit thing is really what its all about?

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