HummingBrd323

Hi there. I spent A LOT of time and research when I had to update my resume this last year. I must have been out of the game A LONG TIME because gone are the days of having "objectives" LOL. You might already know about ATS systems (I didn't until I started looking for templates myself). Which led me down the rabbit hole of the do's and don't's, depending on the job/position or circumstance. It did help make a difference for me, though. I googled and YouTubed, which had a lot of helpful insights. I believe there are recommendations for resume templates for people who want to transition to different roles. Sorry if my response isn't helpful or anything you didn't already know ?

Hi All, I'm currently trying to find a nursing job but so far not having any luck. I have over 11 years of ER/Recovery experience, but took over a year off (decided to move to a different state to reduce my overall stress and take what was supposed to be a shorter break), before had to move AGAIN to another state to help my elderly mom. The initial move/break was around April 2021, with my last "real" experience was a travel assignment that ended in March of 2021. When I moved to this new state roughly 7 months ago where my mom is, I finally was hired at a facility on a unit within my specialty after a great interview. I was exciting to finally be in scrubs again and have a steady income. I was slightly nervous about learning a different charting system and assumed that would be my biggest obstacle. It was a traumatizing, terrible experience and I can now say I've experienced lateral violence/bullying in healthcare. The unit manager who interviewed/hired me, went in to work my second week on the floor, and told her role was eliminated and she was let go that day after 20 something years (and yes, I know there are two sides to every story). I was initially paired with a nurse to help orient me to the unit, but I felt she did not care about whether or not I was successful, talked down to me in front of patients, co-workers and often ignored me or any questions I asked. This nurse even tried to make me feel dumb for being left handed, walking around to every other co-worker on the unit that day asking if they were left handed so she could make some joke she wanted to make about left handed people. I left work every shift feeling dejected, dumb and wondering if it was me. I finally went to one of the two clinical coordinators and expressed that I wanted to succeed but didn't feel I was, hoping to be paired with someone else who might be a little more attentive and less condescending (though I didn't say those words nor did I want to say anything bad about anyone). My confidence and moral began to get worse along with the gossip about me on the unit. I was getting nit picked at and told things (that I already knew) before I even had a chance to do them. I was made to feel dumbed down and like I didn't know how to take care of a patient. I was told a couple of weeks before my new hire probationary period was up by the unit director who had never seen me work or had met me before that, that I would be "let go". I wasn't given the opportunity to respond to the things that she had heard I had done or never did. She said the word "resign" during this meeting and I decided it was better to resign than to be fired. So I submitted my resignation to HR and requested an exit interview via email. The next day, I got a call from one of the clinical coordinators on the unit (NOT HR), that I had an appointment with HR the following day. The HR person had NO CLUE why I submitted my resignation and that's when I knew for a fact I had just been bullied out of a job. I have worked at different hospitals in different units, went to NYC during the pandemic and worked in the ED to help....and I have NEVER experienced that kind of negative culture in nursing before. So here I am, unsure of whether or not it would be beneficial or harmful to list 2.5 months of employment at a facility that I have no references from and essentially, would have been fired if I had not resigned. And if so, would it be better to just list it on my resume or briefly mention it in a cover letter? OR don't list it on my resume at all and have an almost two year gap of unemployment, when job listings have a requirement of one year, RECENT experience?? I already knew taking too long of a time period off from working would make it more difficult to find a job, but WOW what is happening with the culture of nursing in some of these facilities?? I know there's a lot of toxic places and people in healthcare out there, but after experiencing it for myself, it's something I'm still trying to process. Unsure how to proceed from here for finding a nursing job ?. Any advice or insight is much appreciated. Thanks

I recently got resigned/got "let go" before my new hire probationary period was up. I basically got bullied to quit. I was made to feel incompetent, there was an obvious "click" in the unit, I was talked about behind my back and in my opinion, never given a chance. It had been over a year since I'd worked as a nurse at the bedside, but I know how to take care of patients. I've heard of lateral violence in healthcare, but never in my life have I experienced it for myself and I've worked in a few different hospitals/units. It's demoralizing, has negatively impacted me in many ways and I'm currently jobless while trying to aimlessly find my confidence that got trampled on the floor. The culture of nursing at some of these facilities out there can be extremely damaging to caregivers, which is sad because ultimately it's the patient's who get the crappiest end of the stick as a result. I'm sorry you're having to work with people who should treat you (and patients) like they would like to be treated. It makes me scared for the future of healthcare.

I just wanted to leave my personal update on my debacle since I know people rarely leave their "end result". After I moved from my home state that I had been living in for over 30 years to a different state to "decrease my stress", I had just been reported to the BON with a state I had just accepted a travel assignment to and had never worked in. It was well over 8 months or more before my attorney came to an agreement with the BON I was reported to, for a non-disciplinary agreement. I have to check in daily and provide UDS' on any given day, paid for by me out of pocket and needed to notify any other state I held active license(s) in of this. Needless to say, it was hard to find places that I could provide UDS' on any given day living in the rural area of the state I had just moved to and living in for close to a year. So, 6 months ago I moved AGAIN to the state I got reported to since I have a family member here. It had been well over a year since I had worked as a nurse and after finally finding a job here (and the interview went well and I was fully transparent about my situation), I was offered a position back in my specialty and FINALLY able to be a nurse again. What I didn't foresee was something I had heard about but never experienced: lateral violence in healthcare. Basically I got bullied, made to feel incompetent, never really given a chance (in my opinion) and the facilities culture of this is something that I'm still trying to process. My first week on the floor the unit manager who had hired me and worked there for over 20 years, went in to work one day and told her position was eliminated with no notice (which says a lot about to me about how this hospital treated it's employees). So before my new hire probationary period was over, I was told it wasn't going to work out and my option was to quit, or resign. So I resigned. There's soooo many more examples I could give as to what was done, said and how I was treated, but that in itself is a whole different traumatic, demoralizing experience. Am now jobless again, checking in every day and in desperate need of an income. With all that said, all the stress, money, worrying and dealing with everything since the day I got the call from the MRO before I was to start my travel assignment (and all the rest of the life drama I had to deal with)....wasn't something I could avoid. What I could have avoided was not forgetting I worked my butt off to become a nurse, held to a higher standard with my license with the dept of health and could have not made a dumb mistake to put myself in this position that led me here. Currently just trying to stay positive and work on being mindful of being mindful (which is actually not an easy thing to do LOL). So for anyone else who isn't perfect, has made mistakes like I have, is sacrificing and/or suffering because of it...everything will work out the way it's supposed to. This was a really hard, mentally/emotionally taxing and expensive reminder to myself (still ongoing), that I can only roll with the outcomes.

Hi All, So I failed a pre-employment drug screen last April in 2021. My plan was to move out of my home (compact state), do a travel assignment in NV and then go to NE where I'd already bought a fixer upper in a small town. My agency reported me and told me to self report to the BON (positive for THC and a different benzo that wasn't prescribed to me), but they wouldn't tell me which Board to self-report to. Needless to say, my contract in NV was cancelled and I didn't know which board to report to. I assumed I'd be reported to my home state, but it turned out I got reported to the NV board. I hold a lot of shame and regret for my stupid actions, and it's been nothing but stress, a lot of change and money. Before I learned I was reported to NV, I was about to hit the road to head to NE, where I had planned on settling down, establishing roots and decrease my stress level. I consulted with several nurse attorney's for my home state until I found out I should have been consulting with attorney's in NV. After 9 months of torture, shame and not knowing how badly I ruined my career, my attorney called and told me NV Board agreed to 2 year monitoring program with Affinity. But now I established residency in NE and have yet to apply for my NE license because after speaking with a nurse attorney for NE, I was told NE considers an alternative to discipline program, still discipline and they would more than likely give me a probationary license (which kind of defeats the whole ATD program with NV---it wouldn't be public. Does anyone know if this is the case, that NE will give me a public, probationary license because I'm newly enrolled with NV's monitoring program??? I'm allowed to reside in NE and complete my 2 year program via Affinity, but I moved to a very rural area where testing sites are not close at all. Apparently if I don't respond with the details of being under investigation to the NE board, they will shred my application and refund me. But I just moved here and contemplating on whether or not I should MOVE AGAIN to Nevada to complete the 2 year program to avoid a public probationary license. Just unsure what to do next and wondering if it's worth staying in NE only to be issued a probationary license (which might even restrict my ability to practice in ER/PACU if NE Board puts my license on probation?) Moving again for two years to complete the program is added stress, but also don't want to be placed on probation in one state when I've been through the ringer already with Nevada, a state I've never lived or practiced in. My pre-employment positive drug screen was in between contracts, I've never been under any influence while on the job and never would intentionally put a patient at risk. The shame and guilt of it all has been so stressful, I haven't worked as a nurse while all this has been going on and I need to start working as a nurse again ASAP. Unsure of what to do and if NE putting me on probation, is truly the case. Any information or suggestions is greatly appreciated in advance!

Thanks for the response! I'm glad to hear things worked out for you the way they did. I can only hope I'll be so lucky, but I have a feeling the situation I put myself in won't as forgiving. I've only consulted with one attorney (licensed in my state), but haven't received a notice yet and don't know how it will work with the other states I have licenses in. Im not even sure how to assess which attorney would be better than another ?. My state (for license discipline) has only so many options for lawyers. I'm not at home so don't know if my notice will arrive via snail mail or not, but the waiting and the not knowing is a form of punishment in itself ?. Anyhow, thanks for the responses and support! It's nice to know there's other nurses out there who've made mistakes (regardless of the mistake) that I can talk to about my own as well. Thank you ❤️

Thank you! If you don't mind me asking, how long from the time your agency told you that you were being reported, until the time you were notified that you were under investigation? And how did they notify you (mail, phone, email)? Did you not work for the month this was going on or did you just go to another agency? It'll be legal in my state very soon, but obviously that won't help me in my situation and my state BON seems to be pretty strict in general. I had given an initial UDS for my upcoming assignment, then called by someone at the MRO office a few days later who asked if I took any prescription meds. I told her the two meds that I take, and she said the benzo that I take/prescribed "didn't show up", I said OK then gave her the info that she needed to verify my prescription med that did show up positive. That night I got an email from the agency saying my UDS came back as "diluted" and told I needed to submit a 2nd UDS, which I did the following day. Assuming I was good to go, the following week I hit the road for the long drive to my next assignment when I got a call back from the MRO office saying they found valium and THC in my 2nd UDS (which I obviously didn't have prescriptions for). I didn't know either that they could tell the difference between the different benzo's, which leads me to believe they didn't bother with doing a urine dip but instead sent my 2nd specimen to be further analyzed. I'm concerned the combo of the two meds I don't have prescriptions for combined with the two meds I do have prescriptions for, will create cause for concern for substance abuse/misuse by the BON. I'm about to move to a different state and am unsure if I should bother to apply for my licensure in that state because of those boxes I have to check "yes or no" about having any disciplinary/pending disciplinary action on my license. I don't know if submitting my app for licensure in the state I'm moving to will cause more harm than good. I'm low on funds, and this waiting game to hear from the investigator has not only put a serious hold on my life and career, but the not knowing what will happen, when it'll happen or if I'll lose my livelihood is the worst feeling. Initially I thought that because I wasn't technically working at the time, I wasn't providing patient care or had yet to start my new assignment, that would help. But now I don't know if I should just sit and wait to hear from the investigator or not. It would really suck to go through the process of trying obtain licensure in my new state or go through all the onboarding processes with another agency, just to have all of that put on hold, be compromised and potentially get denied licensure in the state I'm moving to ?

I'm in a similar boat! Failed drug test for travel assignment right before my start date. Positive for thc and a benzo. I also take prescriptions meds I've been on for years that I knew would pop positive, one being a different benzo I had taken that I do not have a prescription for. I'm ashamed and beyond upset with myself for putting myself in this position. I don't know what happens from here and I'm unsure of what to do, what to expect and how I'll manage to not have an income for an unknown amount of time. The agency told me to self-report to the BON and per the recruiter, "after you get the clear, you can come back and work". However I know the consequences are far more than just getting "cleared" from the BON. I consulted with an attorney who told me I'd be notified I'm under investigation via email or certified mail. This was about two weeks ago that the agency told me this. I know every state BON is different, but can anyone shed some light/share on how long it took for them to be notified they were under investigation? The attorney said after I receive notice, it can be anywhere from 3-6 months before the BON makes a decision. She said its possible (but she doesn't foresee that based on what I told her) the BON might want to put me in an HPMP for substance abuse/misuse. I haven't heard great things about this program other than it's a years long and is extremely expensive. To further complicate things, I bought a house/fixer-upper in a different state than my home state. I'm about to move to that state, which is also a compact. I want to keep travel nursing, but now I don't know what to do. Feeling ashamed, regretful and not knowing what/when to expect notice or what I can do from here, is causing me great anxiety ? Any responses are greatly appreciated!! Thanks

Hi erica1223, I was not in the " Star RN" program. I was initially using the education reimbursement for the first year of school. I was "entitled" to $5,250 annually (an amount they used to give to full time employees) to help further my education. I would have to submit my request for reimbursement before class started, and when it ended I had to submit my grades and show my tuition costs before they would reimburse me. However, during my one year hiatus from school, they changed that policy to "yeah we'll give you money for school but if you leave within two years, you owe us back the money we gave you that used to be a perk/incentive". It made no sense to me how they could just give you something that seemed to be a perk, then change it so they could benefit from it monetarily. It seems this hospital corporation only cares about dollars/numbers and less about their employees. So I did not request for the education "reimbursement" since now it has been removed from something that used to be a benefit/perk for working for this corporation. It seems they take more from healthcare providers, increase their expectations of us and continue to take away any and all incentives. I do know someone who moved to another unit and went through a (one positive thing: thorough) orientation, but under the Star RN program. So even though he doesn't quite love it, he has to stay there for two years otherwise he owes them money. Gotta love (more like hate, imo) corporations where only the CEO's/administration reaps the benefit and gives themselves bonuses. But hey, it's only at the cost of their employees satisfaction and their lives...........

Thanks, NedRN! I appreciate the response. I know how ridiculously expensive COBRA is, so probably not going to go that route. Temporary, emergency coverage is basically what I need but getting bombarded by calls from private insurance agents all day just makes me not want to pick up the phone. ?

Hi All, I recently took a COVID travel assignment in NYC that was cancelled early. I was working as a staff nurse at a facility prior to taking the contract. I'm now back at my old job, thankfully able to get my hours working PRN shifts, however by taking the short travel assignment, I lost my health insurance coverage with my facility and because I'm not currently on assignment with the agency, I no longer am able to receive health insurance coverage through them. I'm only looking to find short term health insurance coverage only for a few months until I start looking for another travel assignment in a few months (as I will be taking a cross country motorcycle trip for a few weeks after my scheduled PRN shifts...checking off one of my bucket list boxes and yes, I know motorcycles are dangerous but to each is own). I looked online for health insurance coverage and now my phone rings multiple times a day with random numbers. Some of these numbers are people stating they're "licensed health insurance advisors". I was wondering if anyone has any advice, or if one of these insurance advisors can help, or recommendations on what would be my best option at this point until I'm able to find the next travel assignment and get insurance coverage via the agency? Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!

Hello, I know HCA recently changed their reimbursement policy for continuing education this past year. I was going for my RN to BSN online, and had to take a year off. When I started school again, I read their changed reimbursement policy which was stating that I had to commit to two years of work. If I left before those years, I owed the amount of money that was reimbursed, back to HCA. However, before this, I had already worked for HCA for 8 years and I don't recall their previous reimbursement policy requiring nurses to work for them afterward. I was hoping there was some sort of "grandfathered" policy for people like me, but apparently there isn't. So when I did return to school, I decided not to apply for their "reimbursement". If I happen to leave HCA in the next year or so, I wonder if they will say I owe them back as well. I know this doesn't help answer your question, but I do feel like HCA does not look out for their employees or staff, so I'm not surprised they're trying to go after you for this. Hope you find someone who can help you get out of this...