RN2783

Thank you both for giving me an idea of what the interviews were like for each of you. I had my initial interview with the CVICU Medical Director via Teams/online a few weeks ago. I was really nervous but the interview was more of her telling me what kind of patients I would expect to care for in the unit and what her expectations are. Now I've been asked to schedule a face to face interview with the other NPs and ICU Medical Director, and I was told this interview was going to be 4 hours. 4 hours! Now I'm not sure if I wanna put myself through that grueling interview... I'm also told that orientation is only 6 weeks (all hands-on, didactics are on your own). I just feel like the learning curve is going to be so steep for me. I have ICU experience but not really cardiac background. I'm so torn whether I should still go for this interview and possibly be humiliated, or let go of this position and end up wondering what it would have been like had I went for it. Thoughts?

Hello, has anyone interviewed for an ICU NP position? How was the interview process? Besides the standard "tell me about yourself" questions, were you asked clinical scenarios and treatment plan? How long was the interview? Were you interviewed in stages - phone interview first, then in-person? Thank you for any thoughts or advice.

@Sweetnurse63 Thank you. It's hard and I'm close to giving up but I'm hanging in there. From what I've heard, nurses in hospitals around here get paid way more than nursing home nurses.

Well, I work at a skilled nursing facility, not long term care, and I'm an RN but I have experience in wound care, PICC line dressings, IV insertions, among others. Also, I'm scheduled to take an ACLS course, hoping that will boost up my chances. I haven't tried agencies yet. Think I should?

I just need to vent, and maybe ask the wonderful nurses here at AN any ideas as to how I can obtain my goal, that is, to get into a hospital job. I have been working as a nursing home nurse for two years now and have been sending out resumes trying to get into a hospital job, but with no luck. At this point, I am very discouraged. I am tempted to move out of state already just so I could get into a hospital job somewhere else as I found that it is very hard to land on one here in the state of California, particulary in the bay area. My problem is that my husband's job is here and we cannot just up and leave. Also, I am pregnant and on the way to starting a family, which is why I am determined more than ever to get into a hospital job as the pay would be higher and we could use all the financial resources that we can find. But I get rejection letters everytime and it's eating at me already, pushing me down. Any ideas on how a nursing home nurse can get into a hospital job? Thanks.

I had my interview today too and I'm completely sure I flubbed it. The topics that I studied weren't asked and those that were asked, I have already forgotten. Ugh! I sounded like a complete idiot during the interview, it was so embarassing... I am really depressed right now, I feel like, how am I ever going to get a job if I can't even get pass an interview? Anyway, I have a question out there, can an RN work as an LVN eventhough you're not a licensed LVN? At this point in my life, I'm so desperate to land a job that I would be willing to work as an LVN or even a caregiver just so I can have a job... I'm not sure if I can get hired as an RN without any experience... any ideas out there?

Lucky you... wish I could have the same luck as you, but it's very hard to find a job here in the Silicon Valley area as you have read from the other responses in this post. But you're right, just have to keep being positive and putting my foot forward out there. BEst of luck to you as well.

Hi, thank you. Were you able to land a job at a hospital despite having had less than a year experience in PI?

Thank you Alexk49 for your suggestion. I already have my social security card so no problem there. I just hope that I can get a job...and soon.

"We foreign-trained new grads have 2 options: either settle for a LTC facility which would be much easier to get in to, but less pay and sub-par experience that some hospitals may not even recognize, not to mention an easier way to lose your precious RN license...or move down to SoCal, where pay is lower, but at least hospital jobs are more in reach. I might head down there myself if things don't get any better around here." I wish I could be more flexible about this like you, that is, be able to move to another area to find work. But as much as I want to, I can't... I have other things to consider besides myself. So I will just have to make do with Long Term care facilities. I have tried looking at some, but they also ask for at least 1 year experience and I only have about 6 months and it is in the Medical/Surgical area. I'm hoping they will still hire me and give me a chance though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. In these tough times, we can't afford to be pessimistic. We have to keep being positive.=)

Thank you all for the advices and suggestions! Will look into long term care facilities from now on.

I live in the Silicon Valley area... I have had 4 agents/recruiters tell me that it is hard for me to find a job here, but I can't move, this is where my husband and family are, I have to consider their jobs too. I can try working in maybe about/over 50 miles from where I live, but that's about it, but even searching in those places have not resulted to any luck with me getting hired, mainly because I do not have any US experience... I just don't know what to do... If I work in nursing homes, will that count as a US experience for me to pursue being a Medical/Surgical nurse in a hospital afterwards, in the future?

I'm thinking of doing some volunteer work at some of the hospitals here. Will that count as a US experience for a foreign grad like me?

Yes, I am here legally and have just gotten my green card, in fact. I have all the docs and papers to prove that I am legally allowed to work here in the US, but the thing that's holding me back is that I don't have any US experience. I'm confused how to attain this because no one would hire me, so how can I gain any experience if nobody would let me have one?

I need a serious advice too, I can't make a new post since I'm not a premium member so I thought I'd just insert it here. I'm a foreign grad but an RN in CA and I have been looking for a job all over the place now, even tried agencies but I always get turned down because I do not have any US experience. But how do I get experience when I can't land a job, when no one would give me a chance? Can anyone advice me on what to do? I'm thinking of volunteering in hospitals instead, but volunteers don't do nursing or any medical duties there. Will that count as experience to help me attain my goal of being able to work as a nurse in the US? Please help, I am really confused on what to do.