thrumylense

You most certainly can do it online except for the section where you need to demonstrate the skills.

I happily welcome any good/realistic ideas. Thanks all for your input. )

Mount Vernon would be a good 2 hour drive for me in Bellevue. I would do it as a last resort, though if they are willing to pay me a good salary+ benefits.

I live in Bellevue which is east of Seattle about 10-15 minutes. I would love to be able to commute to work each day versus getting a place to rent away from my home (I am married).

I am very aware of that. Just stating my situation here. I have done hospital related work many years (35) and never thought nursing as a profession would be like this. There was a day that it was common for hospitals to offer bonus incentives to hire on! I was in that situation in 2002. The entire northwest is the single worse large region now for hiring. If anyone wanted to know if they should go into nursing now.......well, I would be honest and tell them to wait and watch the trends in the future. It is no longer the secure profession it was for most of it's history.

Here is my issue. I have 23 years of very strong and diversified ICU/CCU/Intermediate Care experience. I left the field for 6 years. I came back and finished a RN refresher course at the end of June. I did exceptionally well in the course. My preceptor told me following my clinical section that I was very much ready to go back to nursing and into ICU. He stated you are ready! It made me realize that I had really not forgotten anything. My wife and I live in Washington state. There is a very large number of nurses job hunting and few jobs. It is a hospital employer's market for sure. The hiring atmosphere is cold and indifferent for the most part. No one wants to hire here unless you have current experience. There are nurse residency programs here but very far and few have openings. I even saw a job posting for ICU that said you had to have at least a year of ICU experience for the residency! Crazy. With my experience I know I am v=better qualified than a large number of nurses working in ICU's here.I have considered traveling but you have to have at least 6 months current clinical experience before travel agencies will talk to you. .....I am stuck!!!!

Here is my issue. I have 23 years of very strong and diversified ICU/CCU/Intermediate Care experience. I left the field for 6 years. I came back and finished a RN refresher course at the end of June. I did exceptionally well in the course. My preceptor told me following my clinical section that I was very much ready to go back to nursing and into ICU. He stated you are ready! It made me realize that I had really not forgotten anything. My wife and I live in Washington state. There is a very large number of nurses job hunting and few jobs. It is a hospital employer's market for sure. The hiring atmosphere is cold and indifferent for the most part. No one wants to hire here unless you have current experience. There are nurse residency programs here but very far and few have openings. I even saw a job posting for ICU that said you had to have at least a year of ICU experience for the residency! Crazy. With my experience I know I am v=better qualified than a large number of nurses working in ICU's here.I have considered traveling but you have to have at least 6 months current clinical experience before travel agencies will talk to you. .....I am stuck!!!!

Here is my issue. I have 23 years of very strong and diversified ICU/CCU/Intermediate Care experience. I left the field for 6 years. I came back and finished a RN refresher course at the end of June. I did exceptionally well in the course. My preceptor told me following my clinical section that I was very much ready to go back to nursing and into ICU. He stated you are ready! It made me realize that I had really not forgotten anything. My wife and I live in Washington state. There is a very large number of nurses job hunting and few jobs. It is a hospital employer's market for sure. The hiring atmosphere is cold and indifferent for the most part. No one wants to hire here unless you have current experience. There are nurse residency programs here but very far and few have openings. I even saw a job posting for ICU that said you had to have at least a year of ICU experience for the residency! Crazy. With my experience I know I am v=better qualified than a large number of nurses working in ICU's here.I have considered traveling but you have to have at least 6 months current clinical experience before travel agencies will talk to you. .....I am stuck!!!!

In answer to the person that asked about what probation entails........in Washington, it means that I have to work in a facility where there is someone over me as a supervisor, etc. like everyone else has in a hospital type setting. In other words, where I have to answer to someone above me that sees/knows my daily performance such as a unit director, charge nurse, etc. This is not unusual for all staff nursing positions. I cannot be a charge nurse ( I will NOT miss that anyway as most people wouldn't). I cannot supervise over others (not a big deal). These are the only restrictions. These are NOT big deals at all. Whomever I am hired by has to fill out a short 2 page "check the answers" type of evaluation of my performance which would be very quick and easy then fax it to the state nursing commission. This needs to be done q 3 months. My probation is for 3 years. You know, being on probation here does not hurt me at all because I am confident in who I am as a professional nurse. The issue is how it looks in a setting where the standard is to apply online and most of the time have to say "yes or no" to a question that asks if you have ever had any action(s) against your license in the past. If I could make my first contact with hospitals via a manager, etc. in an interview then give my total presentation, I feel I would have a much better chance of being hired. As it is, since I have never practiced in Washington, what hospitals see is my resume/application online with the additional "issue in the past" attached. No one here knows me from Adam! All I need is that first unit manager to look at me and say....."yes, I will take a chance on you because you seem to be a very nice guy with great experience!" When this happens and I am finally given the chance to prove myself, I will NEVER have to worry about this issue again!....For now, I feel I have a giant wall between me and the working nursing community here in the Seattle region. I need to find a way to break down that wall.

First of all, I apologize if this message ends up being long but I have to give you all my background. Please bare with me as this is the most important thing in my life currently. Your feedback on my issue is critical and I value it very much...... I am a nurse returning to his career after a 6+ year gap. My license in Arizona was revoked in 2003 due to a non-criminal/non-drug related issue. I was allowed to reapply after 5 years and decided to do so. I was granted my request by the graces of the Arizona State Board of Nursing in June of 2009. I am now a resident of Washington state and just completed a RN refresher course in which I did exceptionally well. Those who worked with me during my course now say that I am very much ready to return and am even ready to jump back into ICU where I have 23 years of quality experience. Through this process back to my career, Arizona gave me a license to practice in their state with NO restrictions. Whereas, the state of Washington where my home is now made the decision after an 8 month wait, to give me a license with a 3 year probation tagged to it!!.... I have asked why they did this for an infraction that is nearly 9 years old considering that Arizona has truly forgiven me and granted me a license there even though I do not live there! When I questioned their rationale, my "agent" from the nursing commission told me she did not know why. To this day, she has NEVER inquired for me! It was recommended by a long time nurse manager here that i "demand" a reason for their action. I am doing this in a very gentle and tactful way. So, I have a label now and since there is not a shortage in our state for nurses, hospitals have a large pool to chose from. Application to local hospitals is done online at their website. My fear is that when they see I have had an "issue" in the past on my application, they will merely pass me up since they have so many applicants. I know that there is probably no one out there applying that has a better background/resume' than I do but I feel I am at a great disadvantage. I know that one hospital just recently called me and after 10 minutes of what was supposed to be a one hour introductory interview by a nurse recruiter, suddenly ended the interview when she realized I had a "issue" in the past. I was emailed a week later and told that after "thoughtful consideration" they (she) had decided to move on to other candidates. I was more than qualified for this position! After a 10 minute conversation over the phone she was able to "thoughtfully consider" me as a poor candidate????.....Impossible. She did not know me and did not want to. I will be contacted by a person who is "high up" in the Washington State Nurses Union to help me. This offer came through a friend whose spouse is an ICU nurse and has connections with the union here. This may be very valuable to me. PLEASE give me your feelings and suggestions....I need help! Rick

The only RN refresher course in the state of Washington is through Washington State University. It is a great program I finished it last June.

I am about to complete a RN refresher course through Washington State University. I am having a difficult time finding a hospital where I can do my clinical in the Seattle region so I can complete the course. I have a very indepth background in ICU for 23 years! When I entered this course just over a year ago, i was told by the director of the refresher course that i would be able to pick and chose the hospital i would want to work at once i was finished.....HARDLY!! Any good feedback??

When I read your comment, it was at the top of my page...I did not see who/what preceded it...my mistake. :0)

Sorry, I read it for face value....."Not true - many many hospitals hire new grad nurses"......versus many many hospitals hire new grads. straight into ICU..... In response to this, there maybe hospitals that do this but they are not the norm nation wide.

Good for you! If this hospital cares about you and your performance in ICU in this way, I assure you the preceptorship will be done very well or it better. Now is when you really start learning! There is an old saying that when you start a job out of school, you find out how little you know. This is especially true in critical care. Please don't misunderstand me. I am not trying to scare you. I really hope you love it. :0) It is awesome work!