Firefighter26

From what I understand, Atlantic Health has frozen all new hiring for the time being. Maybe you can contact them for per diem work.

I applied for the HIRE learning program a couple of years ago specifically requesting a neuro job only to be interviewed for a respiratory floor. Atlantic is a Magnet program and excellent at what they do but I was somewhat disappointed at the hiring process.

In my facility Med Rec is held up somewhere between the 10 Commandments and the Declaration of Independence....and for the life of all of us we can't figure out why it needs to be charted in it's entirety 3 (three!) times. And if the floor doesn't get all three copies in all 3 different formats you can bet they're going to raise hell about it. Go figure. It's time taken away from pt care.

First of all congrats and best of luck. I started as a new nurse in the ER exactly 11 months ago today. It's a Wild Ride and some nights (or mornings) you'll go home wishing you never left your old job and other times you'll go home feeling that the next nursing textbook should have your picture on the front cover. All I can offer is the following advice: Keep your eyes open, stay on target, accept that this profession is about progress rather than perfection. Take the good with the bad and understand that you're never as bad as your worst shift and you're never as good as your best shift. Most important...NEVER NEVER EVER EVER BE RELUCTANT TO ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU'RE IN A JAM. It's not a sign of weakness and if you have a good team around you they'll be happy to be able to teach you a trick or two.

Caller: How can I tell if my son has been smoking Pot? Me: Look for missing cookies.

When I was in school people would ask, "Oh, you're studying to become a male nurse?" Depending on who was doing the asking, the answer would sometimes be, "No I'm studying to become a nurse. I got the male part down already - just ask your girlfriend".

I bought into the hype and believed that recruiters would be camped out in my front lawn throwing bags of cash at me. I even made extra room in my driveway so there wouldn't be too much congestion with all the driving in and out. Reality was somewhat of a shock but I understand. With all the new grads coming out of the schools in June/July there were only so many spots open. First offers went to those who externed. Then offers went to family and/or friends of management. Then came those who started applying after their first year of school. Then there were the slackers like me who stated looking for work when they actually passed their finals. I was a good student. Nice GPA, active in student affairs, excellent letters of reference from the faculty. Retired career firefighter with a proven track-record of being able to assess and perform under harsh conditions. I even had a letters of reference from the fire commissioner and the mayor (!). I retired at the rank of Captain with several commendations. The stark reality was that in the Northern NJ area there were a heck of a lot of graduates flooding the marketplace over the period of several weeks. Facilities need to pay double salary for the first 8, 10, 12 weeks of orientation (depending on the hospital's program)...one salary for the new grad and one for the preceptor(s). Plus the time/expense of further classroom training, ACLS, PALS, basic dysrhythmia course, etc., etc. Not that there weren't a few offers; but there were just a few. Some places never returned my calls. Other places interviewed me but I could tell from the start it wouldn't work out. Once nurse manager was showing me around the floor and stopped to berate a few of the nurses right in front of me. It wasn't a floor I was particularly interested in anyway so I excused myself and left before the interview was over. Appropriately enough I took the fire exit out. I first went to the hospitals in the city where I had worked for over 25 years. I know a lot of the nurses personally but when I went to HR the reaction was pretty much the same..."Congratulations! Let me know how it works out for you." I'm now in my third month in a busy ER. Is it my dream job in my dream facility? Maybe not. Is it a foot in the door? Absolutely. And after a year (and we all know how fast a year goes by) I won't be a new grad. I'll be an RN with a year's experience and doors will begin to open. Or maybe I'll be perfectly happy where I am and decide to stay on. The people I work with are great and management is supportive. When my boss walks through the department and sees me ready to pull my head off my neck she gives me a smile and says "Give it some time. You'll be fine". What more could a new employee ask for? The point is, year one is where we grind it out. Year one is where we pay our dues. It's all well and good to be choosy but being too choosy will land you sitting at home after 6 months wonder where all the jobs are.

Dickies scrubs seem to be working for me. The pants with the cargo pockets are pretty good.

My class brainiac had the computer shut off at 75 and he said he was 100% certain he failed (he passed). Another classmate ran the gamut (250+ questions) and passed. My test lasted 106 questions and I passed. Oh but those 2 days of waiting!

I graduated from Mountainside this past June. I had been out of school for quite a number of years but it didn't seem to make that much of a difference to them. I did my pre-reqs at Sussex Community and although accepted, I declined the Sussex program in favor of Mountainside due to its reputation. It's a tough program and the instructors are always on your back. Clinicals can last from 4pm - midnight at times but you'll get first rate hands-on experience.