FNKA

I got the job guys! By the time I start this job, I've been out of nursing for 3 months. Its hard to think about but I really think this will be for the better. Its kind of funny actually; In my prior interviews, I tried to blow off why I left/resigned from my last position, but being honest this time seemed to actually have made a difference. I'm really happy and feel like my recruiter really understood where I was coming from. To all other people who may come across this post, I really urge you to reach out. Being in a horrible situation doesnt make you a horrible nurse/person.

Thank you all so much for your responses. The response for why I left the picu that I got on here was really fantastic so I used it and worded it in a way that came across as really positive. She also asked why I didnt communicate better with my educator. To that, I said that my break from the unit has really given me some time to reflect back upon how I can improve in terms of advocating for myself and allow myself to speak up when I need more assistancce. I ended up having to tell her that I had 15-19 preceptors, although it was hard for my confidence, I learned a lot of different methods of nursing/knowledge from different nurses and how to handle different personality types. However, the recruiter kept pressing for why I left without shifting departments and left the hospital. I ended up saying that I didnt find another department that I felt would be similar or like what I really wanted to do; but the department I interviewed for was very similar to the disease processes I really loved and thats why I want to be there. I also said that what I considered to be most important as a new nurse is learning, trusting oneself, and gaining the confidence to be independent and that I felt like this hospital does a better job for that (from website). The recruiter said that my previous hospital has a reputation for treating new nurses badly. She emphasized that they are not like that hospital and do not agree with their treatment of new grads/new nurses. She also said that the type of orientation and care that I'd get there would not be similar to my past hospital and said I'd be better suited for them. In all, I don't think I could have answered those tough questions any better than I did. Even if I don't get this job, I think I did my best. Crossing my fingers for good luck.

Thank you all so much for your responses. The response forwhy I left the picu that I got on here was really fantastic so I used it and worded it in a way that came across as really positive. She also asked why I didnt communicate better with my educator. To that, I said that my break from the unit has really given me some time to reflect back upon how I can improve in terms of advocating for myself and allow myself to speak up when I need more assistancce. I ended up having to tell her that I had 15-19 preceptors, although it was hard for my confidence, I learned a lot of different methods of nursing/knowledge from different nurses and how to handle different personality types. However, the recruiter kept pressing for why I left without shifting departments and left the hospital. I ended up saying that I didnt find another department that I felt would be similar or like what I really wanted to do; but the department I interviewed for was very similar to the disease processes I really loved and thats why I want to be there. I also said that what I considered to be most important as a new nurse is learning, trusting oneself, and gaining the confidence to be independent and that I felt like this hospital does a better job for that (from website). The recruiter agreed that my previous hospital has a reputation for treating new nurses badly. She emphasized that they are not like that hospital and do not agree with their treatment of new grads/new nurses. She also said that the type of orientation and care that I'd get there would not be similar to my past hospital and said I'd be better suited for them. In all, I don't think I could have answered those tough questions any better than I did. Even if I don't get this job, I think I did my best. Crossing my fingers for good luck.

Hey! Thank you so much for your response. I've had a couple interviews already. I'm interviewing with another hopital on a general peds floor next week. The nurse recruiter asked some tough questions when asking about my last position and I need a really solid answer come the face-to-face interview. On the phone I said that it wasnt a good fit and I prefered non-sedated patients. She asked why I didnt do an internal transfer, and I said that my time at my prior hospital was not a good experience. I'm sure she'll ask more in-depth questions next week. So next week, I'm interviewing with the nurse manager and I'm not quite sure what to say when they ask "why did you leave your last hospital?" "why did you not do an internal transfer?" or "why go down a step from ICU to general?" I know I'm not supposed to bash my last employer... but how do I say I left the PICU because my orientation was disorganized and basically felt like I was one of those new grads that were "eaten young"? I would really appreciate any suggestions or help. I really want this job that I'm interviewing for.

I worked in the PICU for 6 months right out of nursing school. Just as a reference of what it was like...The unit hired 40 new grads within a 4 month period, 10 experienced nurses quit, 3 nurse educators quit. Through my 6 months orientation, I had between 15-19 preceptors; after a while, i stopped counting. I was told that this was due to not having enough preceptors. The whole unit was unhappy that there were so many new grads starting and many were forced to precept. Many made it vehemetly clear to every new nurse that they were a pain. We were talked bad about and treated as such. One preceptor yelled at me in front of the patient and family for recycling a blood pressure that was reading 174/100. Reason given was that I was standing by the patient so I was making the sedated/paralyzed pt anxious and thus giving the elevated BP, but also yelled at me for walking out of the room with a high blood pressure. As for me, I never did well at standing up for myself and as my rotation of preceptors changed every week, my confidence plummeted since each preceptors did not approve of the prior ways I was taught. Each week, I had to gain the confidence of the new preceptor. I honestly lost complete faith in myself. My focus changed from being patient centered to focusing on making my preceptor like/trust me. It got to the point where each decision I had to make made me so anxious that I was unsure of which line I should give zolfran. Prior nurses had made me sit down and back up every decision why I wouldnt choose the other line, so choosing the CVL or the Broviac had me frozen. Another instance, my paralyzed/sedated pt BP and HR shot up 30-50 points over 10 min. I had PRN pain meds to give and wanted to use them; my precetor at the time railed me for 30 minutes and had me sit down and make an INRS chart, explain each reason that could cause an elevated HR and BP. In the end, she did not want me to give the PRN pain med, so I didnt. HR and BP remained elevated until next dose of methadone/ativan. I talked to my educator multiple times regarding feeling stagnant. I asked for an extension of orientation and a stable preceptor. I was told yes for the extended and no for the preceptor. Reason given was that I had to learn to ' trust all the nurses on the unit'. I also discussed how I was treated by some of the nurses. The educator told me I needed to 'get over it' and that 'it's a female domiated unit, and thats just how it is.' As my orientation continued, my confience hit rock bottom and I made mistakes I should never have made. At the end, the unit decided to not give me an extended orietnation and instead asked me to resign or get fired. I chose to resign hoping I could hold onto my good relations with my educator.- Now, after 2 weeks of me asking her to stand up on my behalf, she has declined. Now that I'm 1 month out of nursing, I'm having difficulty explaining to new employers my experience and reason why I'm not at the HOSPITAL anymore. Furthermore, my leadership wont act as a reference upon my behalf. I'm feeling scared and trapped as an inexperienced new grad who already practically got fired. Please help me. I'm feeling lost and desperate. I feel like I've lost my dream career.

I worked in the PICU for 6 months right out of nursing school. Just as a reference of what it was like...The unit hired 40 new grads within a 4 month period, 10 experienced nurses quit, 3 nurse educators quit. Through my 6 months orientation, I had between 15-19 preceptors; after a while, i stopped counting. I was told that this was due to not having enough preceptors. The whole unit was unhappy that there were so many new grads starting and many were forced to precept. Many made it vehemetly clear to every new nurse that they were a pain. We were talked bad about and treated as such. As for me, I never did well at standing up for myself and as my rotation of preceptors changed every week, my confidence plummeted since each preceptors did not approve of the prior ways I was taught. Each week, I had to gain the confidence of the new preceptor. I honestly lost complete faith in myself. My focus changed from being patient centered to focusing on making my preceptor like/trust me. It got to the point where each decision I had to make made me so anxious that I was unsure of which line I should give zolfran. Prior nurses had made me sit down and back up every decision why I wouldnt choose the other line, so choosing the CVL or the Broviac had me frozen. Another instance, my paralyzed/sedated pt BP and HR shot up 30-50 points over 10 min. I had PRN pain meds to give and wanted to use them; my precetor at the time railed me for 30 minutes and had me sit down and make an INRS chart, explain each reason that could cause an elevated HR and BP. In the end, she did not want me to give the PRN pain med, so I didnt. HR and BP remained elevated until next dose of methadone/ativan. I talked to my educator multiple times regarding feeling stagnant. I asked for an extension of orientation and a stable preceptor. I was told yes for the extended and no for the preceptor. Reason given was that I had to learn to ' trust all the nurses on the unit'. As my orientation continued, my confience hit rock bottom and I made mistakes I should never have made. At the end, the unit decided to not give me an extended orietnation and instead asked me to resign or get fired. I chose to resign hoping I could hold onto my good relations with my educator.- Now, after 2 weeks of me asking her to stand up on my behalf, she has declined. Now that I'm 1 month out of nursing, I'm having difficulty explaining to new employers my experience and reason why I'm not at the HOSPITAL anymore. Furthermore, my leadership wont act as a reference upon my behalf. I'm feeling scared and trapped as an inexperienced new grad who already practically got fired. Please help me. I'm feeling lost and desperate. I feel like I've lost my dream career.

Hey, thanks for your long reply. I really appreciate your input. The reason why I had so many preceptors and the reason I thought it was unsafe was because the unit lost ~10 experienced nurses in 6 months and hired 40 new grads. I don't think I was ready to be a new nurse surrounded by nearly just as many inexperienced people like me. Although my orientation period was long, I didnt get the advantage of building up my skills seeing as each time I had a new preceptor, I would have to restart with the trust building and skill proofing. By the time we developed a common ground, I would have a new preceptor again. I would say I'm a big self motivator; however, I'll acknowledge that I have my faults too. I dont stand up for myself when I should and tend to get walked over at times. I think those attributes are some that kind of scare me away from ED. Thank you again for your help, input, and advice :)

Thank you pkstien! Im sorry you had that experiene as well. Would you mind telling me how you transitioned? I'm trying to weigh my options going forward. Although I know that the second time likely wont be as bad, I know that ED nursing tend to have a certain personality type and need of thick skin.- to be honest, my skin is pretty thin after the stint in the PICU

Hello! Thank you for responding. I didn't have problems with the acuity. I actually loved the high acuity, but the unit culture and lack of a proper orientation made it really hard for me. I also think my prioritization needed work; i often found myself running around all shift regardless of what was happening. Maybe the ICU isnt for me; it sure isnt right now. I think I'm just worried that after my confidence has been shaken pretty badly that starting in another high intensity area with a large chance of failure will hurt my career.

Hello! I need some perspective. I'm a semi (?) new nurse. After starting int he PICU and a 6 month orientation and 17 preceptors, I decided to leave due to safety issues, lack of support, and bad unit culture. The unit kind of broke me down and destroyed my confidence as a nurse. I'm now in the process of finding a new position with my eyes set on ED nursing; however, I fear that if I don't do well there, I dont think I can recover as a nurse. Am I aiming too high? I know that ED nursing has a specific personality type and need thick skin. I really love the ED due to the mixing of different clinial presentations and psych patients. Please give me your feedback and experience starting anew in the ED from a bad prior experience. Thank you!

Your GPA's are great, you'll definitely get in as long as you do decent on the HESI and the interview. I'd like to say that you can likely get into any nursing school with those stats and I'd recommend a different program than the one at the UofA for various reasons.

Don't worry people. They will most likely hold an interview workshop before the interview in Tucson. They did that last year and I assume they will do the same this year.

In the summer, I think its 7-10 days if I remember correctly. The winter break was the same as the rest of the university.

Nope, you do not get to choose, but they try to get you into every major hospital in town. However, in level 3, you get to choose a rotation which is exciting!

Hey! So our weeks really depend on which level you're in. The first level, you'll start front-loading with class Mon-Fri until august, then you'll start clinicals which are usually 2-3 days a week. You will be getting some help in level one with study guides, so there will be some help with the reading:). The classes are usually from 0900-1600 with some breaks in between. Please do not assume that my schedule will be the same as yours, the administrators do change the schedule based on their needs as well. So your cohort may be little or very different from mine. All applicants who get an interview get to talk to my cohort afterwards! :) We're a helpful bunch that are eagerly awaiting you guys!