nursey2008

I don't necessarily agree with you guys. My first "hospital job" was through a nursing agency. I just couldnt find any work and so i applied with an agency... it wanted to give me a chance and it went great. I have now been doing it for nearly 6 months and I love it. Yes it is indeed very challenging. But the fact of being newly qualified benefitted me when working in different specialities as I still remembered things from my internships during my nursing training. Whether you are able to work as a newly qualified nurse as an agency nurse depends on many factors: how selfconfident are you in your personality and how well do you know what you learned in nursing college? How quick to learn are you? I just joined another bigger agency and my "old" agency gave me a real good reference. cant have been too bad then being a newly qualified?

teaming up against other nurses doesnt have to do anything with the language issue. I am now just briefly summarizing what I have witnessed very extremely in two wards and to a moderate extend in several other wards (so when I say "they" i dont speak about all filipina/o nurses in general but about filipina/o nurses i worked with personally who showed these patterns) Teaming up: They help each other out at work, are very kind with each other. When dealing with european nurses they went as far as putting traps to european staff and once a european nurse made an error due to this trap he/she was reported to the nurse manager by the same people setting a trap while they made mistakes themselves and helped each other to cover these. Like this they wanted to look better in front of the nurse manager (who in fact is aware of what is going on) I believe this can be called compensation of feelings of inferiority. And yes THIS BEHAVIOUR is soooo inferior!! Hasnt been THIS extreme everywhere but there have been similar patterns in quite a lot of the wards I worked. I am sure there are nurses from the filippines reading this who are appalled and feel bad for members of their own nationality acting like this. And nurses like you are welcome to work anywhere and will be appreciated by european/american/australian (or whatever..) hospitals. But to be frank, nurses (no matter where they r from) who go to other countries and act like this deserve to be fired from their job and be sent back to their country. I am a foreign nurse myself here in ireland being from germany.. so i am aware of some of the challenges, and it is great once you work with fellow nationals. A foreign country has been kind to us, offers us a job and a certain security and we have to show ourselves appreciative!! ...And we are still guests!

I don't even mind if they occasionally speak in their language, especially its on their break. But it makes you really awkward if you see them talking and looking at other people as if they are talking about them. I am currently having regular agency shifts on a ward working with a filipina nurse together and she is the best. We get along really well and is a great colleague. Hard working, helpful and friendly. So i didn't want to come across as racist by any means in my posting, in fact I am hoping to wake up some of the nurses who act in such a rude way as this is truly inferior behaviour and unprofessional. INstead of teaming up against others why can't we just all work together and benefit from each others international experience??

Hello, I've been working now for 10 months in Ireland both in a nursing home and later as agency nurse in hospitals. I must say I generally have been very sad about quite a few incidents with fellow nurses especially coming from the philippines. I gotta be fair. there have been some who have been really good colleagues but in quite a few wards I saw filipino staff teaming up against european nurses. They speak their own language with each other at work, treat fellow european nurses not very nicely, in at least 8 different wards i have witnesses filipino staff teaming up in order to make european staff look bad. Please my fellow filipina/o nurses I am not directing this against you personally, its rather something I experienced in so many of the wards where I work and was actually quite appalled and would like to raise some awareness. Through behaviour like this foreign nurses make their country look so bad and don't really earn respect. I know there are many of you out there from the philippines who are great nurses and kind people. I have some philippino friends myself but honestly I started to feel uncomfortable when I'm coming to a ward with mainly filipino staff. This is very sad and we should all work together in peace with equal respect.

I have worked for 5 months in a nursing home prior to starting agency nursing in hospital wards. it is possible for rather newly qualified nurses, it is up to your self esteem. HOwever though many newly qualified nurses don't have this self esteem yet and those ones shouldn't work as agency nurses yet. But then again we all had some very tough training that equipped us with loads of knowledge. When you're newly qualified you have a very high level of knowledge so this is then your advantage!

oh my lord, why are some making her even more nervous about agency nursing? I agree, try it out and if its not for you you don't have to continue it. With the time you will get used to being in new situations and you will become very quick to adapt, to learn and it'll be a great training for you in the future to rely on yourself. please see this thread, i also wrote a reply in it and my answer there can as well apply to your thread. https://allnurses.com/agency-nurses/help-me-get-368592.html here's what I wrote there and this is my answer for you as well :) Agency nursing CAN be scary but you will get used to it and being in new situations, new specialities and new wards will become a routine for you. I remember myself the evening my agency called me for the first time assigning me to a shift for the next day. I had never worked in a hospital before at that stage, was new to the country (only worked 5 months in a nursing home prior to this) I was over my nursing books for the half night crying being sure to stuff up the next day. At the same time my agency asked me to avoid mentioning that I had no hospital experience since my internships during the nursing training. And was there a reason to feel like that? For some reason things went good. I observed the staff what they did and started doing the same things. Most of the things i could relate from my internships, basic post op care, monitoring vital signs. When i wasnt sure i just bluntly asked. I ended up working for 4 weeks in that ward, so it cant have been too bad :) I have been a fulltime agency nurse since that time. nearly 6 months now :) Usually hospitals are aware of the fact that you're having your first day on the ward. If you have no clue what to do follow a basic nursing routine that somehow repeats itself everywhere. Do the obs, the meds, find out what procedures/investigations patients have, write them down. Inquire about the ward routine regarding preparations. Avoid answering the phone on ur first day and concentrate on the basic nursing. If you are working in a speciality you haven't worked in before do some reading the day before it, ask someone you know or even your agency about the routine in that speciality. Hey comeon you are a very experienced nurse, you will be soo fine if unexperienced chickens like me could do it!! Please let us know how things go!!

Hey there :) Agency nursing CAN be scary but you will get used to it and being in new situations, new specialities and new wards will become a routine for you. I remember myself the evening my agency called me for the first time assigning me to a shift for the next day. I had never worked in a hospital before at that stage, was new to the country (only worked 5 months in a nursing home prior to this) I was over my nursing books for the half night crying being sure to stuff up the next day. At the same time my agency asked me to avoid mentioning that I had no hospital experience since my internships during the nursing training. And was there a reason to feel like that? For some reason things went good. I observed the staff what they did and started doing the same things. Most of the things i could relate from my internships, basic post op care, monitoring vital signs. When i wasnt sure i just bluntly asked. I ended up working for 4 weeks in that ward, so it cant have been too bad :) I have been a fulltime agency nurse since that time. nearly 6 months now :) Usually hospitals are aware of the fact that you're having your first day on the ward. If you have no clue what to do follow a basic nursing routine that somehow repeats itself everywhere. Do the obs, the meds, find out what procedures/investigations patients have, write them down. Inquire about the ward routine regarding preparations. Avoid answering the phone on ur first day and concentrate on the basic nursing. If you are working in a speciality you haven't worked in before do some reading the day before it, ask someone you know or even your agency about the routine in that speciality. Hey comeon you are a very experienced nurse, you will be soo fine if unexperienced chickens like me could do it!! Please let us know how things go!!

Hello everybody, thanks so much for all your support. I wanted to let you know that things are ok now. My agency is giving me shifts again and the matter wasn't forwarded to the nursing board. HOwever I am no longer working in this particular hospital. I had to give my cat away, had to give up my appartment (Im now living in a small room in a shared house) and had a massive salary loss in december... but things go its normal way again. Thanks so much for all your support

thanks for all your replies. The "investigations" are still going on, i am still without income and i am not doing well. i started to have panic of the day when im supposed to return to work. I frequently wake up in the middle of the night, my heart is racing and am fearful, thinking of work and the possibility that i could do a mistake again if i get back to work. Over day i am anxious and depressed, i cry many times a day. Its eating my bones. MOre the fact of that im still without income, the fact that i fell from the upper floor (everything went soo great) into the muddy basement within a blink of an eye. I feel so ashamed also towards my colleagues. People will say that i might overreact.. but the past 11 days turned me into an emotional wreck with panic attacks and i feel treated as if i killed someone I REGRET THE DAY I PICKED NURSING

well i was warned to apply anywhere else because they said they will have to tell the next workplace that investigations are still going on in my case... Here in ireland nobody would accept anybody who has investigations going on so if they arent being closed today I am in big trouble financially. They said once the investigations are over things will be easier... but nobody knows how long this will take as the husband of the patient is very very angry. So now the situation is: Public hospitals dont recruit, private hospitals ask for at least 2 years acute hospital experience (i have 8 months exp, of which 5 months are nursing home which doesnt count for them as experience, and 3 months agency nursing experience) So the best thing to do is to join another agency but they will inquire with my current agency and will find out about the fact that investigations are ongoing on my name. They wont bother accepting my applications so i better wait another few days before i loose my chances with those agencies. I am now waiting for a call of the union regarding what to do.

Hello everybody, thanks so much for all your support. it really helped me to feel better at least regarding the error itself. The first days I beat myself up over it all the time and thought I wasn't even worthy of calling myself a nurse anymore. The country I want to go to is Australia. THe situation is not any better... I am not getting shifts by my agency and I feel like someone is holding me under water and not letting me to breath. THe consequences are horrendous. I contacted the nurses union and they said this incident is not a reason for my agency not to give me shifts in other hospitals. In this case I believe it's all about keeping reputation (of agency and hospital). Reputation of the hospital: The patient and her husband are both working for the healthservive executive and appear to be quite high ranked there. The husband keeps on inquiring what happened to "the nurse who gave the injection" and it seems that he wishes me to be struck off the register. The hospital though didn't report the incident to the nursing board as the outcome of my error wasn't severe in any way. So now when the husband asks, the hospital says that I'm suspended and he will be happy to hear that. NOw regarding my agency. They are a rather small agency who works only with 4 hospitals. ANd if the hospital where the error happened hears that I'm still working for them it will throw a bad light on them. The punishment is so much more severe than I ever believed it could be... And my livelihood is about to be destroyed. I contacted the nurses union over this and they will handle the matter. I hope the storm will be over fast, otherwise I'll be on the street without any income.

been through the same. Started off in a nursing home... only to be told that this doesnt count as experience.Then i picked up agency nursing. Have you tried to get into an agency and do temping?

today they told me that the husband is still very upset and that this would stretch out the investigations, the file cannot be closed if hes unhappy. I was told that because of this scenario i cannot get shifts with my agency anymore neither can they give me a good reference for as long as the investigation is going on therefore there r no chances for me working in any other agency or hospital at the moment. I am applying for work in nursing homes now hoping to find something very fast... I worked for 5 months in a nursing home and hated it so much... I will have to give up my beautiful appartment that I just freshly painted, just last week I got all my belongings from my home country sent over in 13 big boxes... I dont know what to do with all my stuff. Merry christmas another existence is destroyed. I am sick of nursing and wish i would have never picked it. I am so bitter. my family is here for a visit and their holiday is ruined. The punishment for my error is so severe

thanks a lot for ur kind words beautifulblair. a short update: my error wasnt sent to the nursingboard, but i cannot do shifts for this agency now = i am unemployed. First reaction: Panic, tears. I spoke with my agency on the phone and they said when the investigations are over i might be able to work for them again and they recommended me joining another agency, a bigger one who also works with public hospitals (=i prefer "normal" patients anyway). Until i am registered with them ill work for 1 or 2 weeks agency as care assistant and will continue my work as a nurse once im signed up with the agency. HOpefully things work out... after a big collapse today i decided not to give up. I learnt a great deal from my error... My agency said it would never have been such an issue anyway hadnt the patient and her husband been so aggressive im exhausted...

the manager of my agency is now with he nursing management of the hospital... he promised to call me once the meeting is over... im staring at the phone and it doesnt ring. this call will decide about many things. i havent eaten anyhing today and i have stomach cramps.