Bob_N_VA

The hospital I work at has both a Nursing Informatics (NI) as well as an Ambulatory Informatics (AI) department. The primary difference is that NI is inpatient and AI deals with all our ambulatory sites which are many. I work in an IT position where the nursing background does help quite a bit but most of the folks here have varied clinical backgrounds or really none at all. What got me this job was the 20+ years of IT and being a current RN was more like icing on the cake. Having been here for about 3 months now, I can much better appreciate how much the NI folks have to know about the procedures, processes and personalities of this hospital. I sat next to one of their new NI hires during a two day class for new nurses on our EMR system and was very impressed with how much she knew about both the software and the procedures since she had previously been one of their clinical NICU leads. She had used it for several years and been involved in the initial rollout but her clinical background was key to her having the credibility to talk to other nurses, doctors and administrative types. Coming into this hospital without ever having used their software as a clinician or understanding how they do business would have been a big handicap for me had I been hired for the NI position. Interestingly enough, she had no degree in informatics or even a BSN. I'm still learning every day about the nuances of our complicated, evolved system. I handle about 70% of the calls I get without really any assistance now. It will probably be another 6 months before I am reasonably confident in what I am doing. If there is a lesson learned in all this, I guess it would be there is no substitute for experience, whether its as a nurse or previous years in IT.

Wossaaa (I'd use your first name, but I don't know it) How long have you been a nurse, and where else have you worked or is this you first job? I'm not sure I would have liked a SNF, even if I was working in management. I'm guessing you have LPN's and CNA's you supervise plus working to keep things smooth with the pts? 9 hours is about right for an 8 hour shift, you usually put in about a half hour past the shift finishing up the charting. I don't care for the 12 hour shifts either, they usually end up at about 13+ hours. Most new nurses move around a bit till they find a spot that suits them. Generally though you have to pay your dues and at least sit out a year in one place, usually its a med-surg unit. If you could share some more of your background, then we might be able to help more. Bob

If I were 10 or 15 years younger, about your age or a bit younger, I probably would already have gotten into a NP program or some other higher education program in Nursing. All through school people would tell me I could always combine the two, but I didn't pay it that much attention. That's not why I went back to school I would tell myself. But I also thought I would end up in the ED or some other highly acute care and after a stint in the cardiac unit, I knew I wasn't cut out for it. So I would say to you and anybody else, follow your heart, but don't ignore the signs if you're not happy where you are.

It's been a while since I posted last. I had been working in many different areas of computers and IT since I got out of the Navy back a few years. Mostly I worked as a government contractor though I also worked in private industry for about 4 years which was my favorite job. About 5 years ago, I got fed up with the contracting world and decided to go back to school to do something different. So I decided to become a nurse. I finished up with school and got my RN the beginning of 2013. Besides volunteering at a free clinic, I worked on a Cardiac unit (not my cup of tea, way to stressful for this old dog) and in Rehab with ortho and spinal injury patients for most of that two years. While I liked aspects of working on a nursing floor, there were parts that were tough. Working every other weekend, holidays and rotating shifts got old fairly fast. I was also facing the dilemma of not having a BSN since I was a diploma nurse from a hospital program and most of the employers here were requiring a BSN within 5 years of hiring on. I have a BA degree, but that didn't count with any of them. I didn't relish the thought of going back to get another degree, which would probably not gotten me much if any more pay over what they pay RN's here. And since I'm no spring chicken, I would probably have been over 60 by the time I finished it up. For the last year then, I tried in vein to find a position that would lose the nights and weekends without much luck. Two months ago I happened on an ad with the local childrens hospital for a Nursing Informatics job. Reading the job description, there was nothing they wanted that I didn't have. A recruiter called me within a day or two and talked my ear off about the position and said she would pass it on to the hiring manager. I was stoked. After a week or so not hearing anything and finally talking with the recruiter I was told that the manager had my resume and would call me. Don't call us, we'll call you. Oh well, not every line you cast will get you a fish, let alone a nibble. At that point I also noticed that the same hospital was advertising for clinical applications specialists with some sort of clinical experience. I was good on the IT experience and figured being an RN covered the clinical side. So I applied. The next day I got a call from the hiring manager who told me I would be a great fit for the job. So we set up an interview for that next week. In the meantime I also heard from the NI manager and we set up an interview for the next day. Now I was stoked. The interview for the App specialist went well. The hiring manager was also an RN and we had similar work experiences as well as similar age. I interviewed with potential peers first and then with management. Overall I was there for about 2.5 hours. The second interview for NI took all of a half hour. I met with the hiring manager who took me into her managers office and we spoke for a bit. Neither one asked too many questions and when I asked what their timeline was for a decision, I was told that they also had an internal candidate to talk to. So much for that job. After about a month I finally got a second interview. I had almost given up hope but emailed the hiring manager asking for a straight answer and he told me they were still interested and to hang tight. The second interview went well and I got an offer a week later that I was very pleased with. No weekends, holidays, nights and oncall once every 3-4 months. I started about a month ago and while I do miss some parts of working with patients, I'm learning so much working on this new system. So what can I pass on to folks that take the time to read all this. First, be persistent. Very rarely do you find your dream job the first time out. As one older nurse at my doctors office told me, you need to find your niche, the place or occupation where you can be happy and productive, or at the very least, not stressed out all the time. You may have to move away from working with patients, but that experience is still very valuable. Never squander an opportunity to interview, even if you think you don't have a shot. It's all valuable experience whether you land the job or not. Follow up every interview with a thankyou note or email. Get business cards or at least contact information. Show up to the interviews with extra copies of your resume too. Stay positive So now that I'm working in this new environment, here is what I have been able to glean about what my position as a clinical software support vs. nursing informatics vs. clinicians and everybody on the other end of the phone. We respond to requests for help with the software that run the gamut of why is my system frozen, why am I missing things that I saved, why can't I print or can you unlock my pt's record. We also remotely configure printers, cycle servers, verify user roles and troubleshoot problems to determine whether they are hardware, network or stem from other systems we don't directly support. We do get quite a few calls from folks on the floor that don't understand how the software supports their workflow and are looking for us to tell them how to do their job. This is where nursing or ambulatory informatics should come in, though many times they don't. But this is where having a nursing background helps, in that it gives me an understanding of what they are facing. I never worked as a nurse in this hospital, so some of their procedures are different from the other two places I worked. As it is, I am actually the 4th RN in my group of about 20 folks, two who are managers. I'm sure as I get more experience here I'll get a better feel for how I can utilize both sides of my background. I'm just starting to be able to field calls and work with all the online tools to do this job, it's pretty overwhelming at times. We have a "call book" that must have over 500 documents in it and isnt all that logically organized. Like being a good nurse, this job takes time and experience. I could write more, but it's getting late. Thanks for reading, and if anybody has a question about what life in the clinical support trenches is like, just ask.

Sure it is. Nobody would admit to it officially, but they want men in the profession. As long as you are competitive with the other candidates, you'll get in.

Get thee to amazon.com and search on "mens white nursing shoes" and you will have lots to choose from, more than I had when I ordered them almost 3 years ago. I ordered the Pro-Step Men's Anderson Slip-On Shoes which were 60 something at the time but are up a few bucks now and not carried directly by amazon (so no free shipping with prime). Finding anything locally is tough for male nursing clothing, you can find real good deals on amazon for things like scrub tops and scrub bottoms with zippers (a requirement).

It's an 18 month program at nights and on weekends. You start with a bridge course and then roll in to the last two semesters of the RN program. Now that the last E/W class is finishing up in December, I'm not sure what they will be doing next year. I would contact the school directly for that answer.

Take it one day at a time, one test at a time, one clinical at a time. Sure you have to look down the road and prepare, but it can become very overwhelming at times, hence the one day at a time advice. Keep up with the reading and coursework, don't let yourself fall behind. Be prepared for each class and show up for each class. I'm always amazed that the folks that have the toughest times are also the ones who tend to miss class, go figure. Nursing is a helping and caring profession. Start with your fellow students. If somebody needs help, then give them a hand. Don't hoard information. Be kind to everybody, try not to alienate anybody. You never know how things will play out. Be careful as the minority, the ladies will and do talk, so only give them good things to say about you. Enjoy it all along the way. It's one job where you really can make a difference in folks lives, one at a time. Take the time to talk and listen to your patients. Don't be afraid to show you care, to go an extra mile. Do the best you can with each assignment and each patient. Good luck. Bob

If they haven't changed what they ask (I'm going into the last term starting in June) then its pretty basic stuff, why do you want to be a nurse, maybe a question or two about your background or schooling. Nothing to get worked up over. They should tell you when the final decisions will be made. Probably within a couple of weeks after you interview, but just ask then at the interview or if you are really concerned, give em a call. Its a good school with a well regarded program. Good Luck.

Lots of the posts here are from folks looking for help with their resume or cover letters or both. I've been around the block in other industries and have had success over the years (over 20) with my ever-evolving resume so it seemed a good idea to put some of those thoughts into one spot rather than trying to answer all the posts asking for help or to review what they have written so far. Resumes should be short, sweet and to the point. Over two pages or so chock full of text and they probably won't get read. You can save text by typing BSN instead of Baccalaureate ... You can save text by typing in 2 or 3 instead of two or three. You get the drift. You will have about 30 seconds of read time to make the first cut, so the first page has to nail it. Who you are and why they should hire you has to be the first thing on the sheet. Call it an objective or marketing or branding statement, but a short paragraph that states why you should be hired has to be at the top. Here is one gleaned off the web: Objective or Profile: Dedicated registered nurse (RN) with specialty experience in psychiatric/mental health nursing. Developed strong psychiatric-evaluation and treatment-planning skills through recent internship at Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Knowledge of psychotropic medication administration, management and training. Reliable, ethical healthcare provider with ability to stay calm and intervene during crises, to facilitate groups and educational seminars, and to collaborate on multidisciplinary teams. Proven ability to build positive relationships with patients, family members, physicians and other medical professionals. After this comes the experience section. Should be reverse chronological order so go from your current job back at least 10 years if you can or to when you entered the job market. If you are young and have mostly student experience, then focus on skills that you may have learned by extracurricular or volunteer activities. I wouldn't put all the clinical rotations in there since if you have a nursing degree or diploma, its assumed you have had that experience. I would also highlight all the skills in your previous jobs such as people or customer service skills, problem solving, teaching, computer etc that have a tie in to nursing. Military backgrounds should have an abundance of leadership skills, don't sell that one short either. List each job as the name of the hospital or organization, years there 2010 - Present as an example. Next list your job title and if it isn't apparent, a quick one sentence blurb of what you did there. You can add one or two bullets in a format that details a problem, what you did about it and the result. We're all employed, we all provide and assist, but that is not a good use of the limited text you have available. It may take a bit of thought but you can come up with ways that you helped to improve the work even if they are small or were only limited to what you did there. And for sure while you are being creative, don't make stuff up. Finally, you can put your education, computer skills, certifications/licenses and professional associations at the bottom. List your contact info at the top. Centered in the middle are your name and address. Put one or two phone numbers on the left, and your email on the right. If you have a linked in profile URL that can go on as well. And as for email addresses, make sure you have one that is professional as well such as [email protected] or [email protected]. With all the free email accounts available, there is no excuse for using one that does not convey a professional image such as [email protected] or [email protected]. You get the idea. And now would be a good time to clean up your facebook or myspace profiles as well. If you even think there is info about you that is questionable, then it probably should get deleted. If it's on the web, its fair game. My only social media account is linkedin, and that is all professional. Finally, look around the web for examples. I searched on nursing sample resume on Google and then clicked on images and got tons of examples. You may not be able to cut and paste, but you can read them and get an idea of what resumes are looking like these days. Resume templates are available for word that can be downloaded as well, they can help with the formatting. And by all means, go over your finished product with a fine tooth comb for grammatical errors or typos and make sure the format is absolutely consistent. Farm it out to your family and friends for proof reading as well, since new eyes will generally pick up things where yours won't. Good luck and take your time with the resume, it is you main ticket to work. Don't be afraid to make changes as you go and ask for feedback from whoever will take the time to read it. Bob

My guess would be they want to see one of your performance reviews from your current job. I've never had a prospective employer ask for something like that, but I've never worked for a state prison system either. You could just send them the license info and application and ask what they want for the report. The thing with reviews is that they generally don't say all that much that is useful unless they are bad and then they have lots of detail. Otherwise they are so generic and overrated since even average performers never get negative reviews. And you can always cherry pick the one you send, so I see even less relavancy there. You may shoot yourself in the foot by not including it or you may not. Probably depends on how many other folks want to work in the prison system. Good luck with it, cant say it would be my first choice.

Your resume should read like a sales brochure for you. You are selling yourself to a future employer. Start out with a summary or branding statement. 3-4 lines that describes what kind of nurse you are. Include with that Hard skills and Soft skills. Follow it up by a professional experience section for all the time where you were employed or in the military. Anything in those jobs that supports you qualifications as a nurse should have a bullet, hopefully in a challenge-action-result format rather than "responsible for", assisted with, etc. At the end should be education and professional development. These are things that further support you case that you are the best candidate for the job. And I would probably not get into all the different clinical rotations you did, thats all part of the nursing degree and the hiring managers know that. Extra skills like speaking a second language are pretty big, and they allude to your cultural sensitivity. And don't sell short your extra years of work experience. You've shown yourself to be a responsible employee by having a job for years at a time, kids just out of school cant make that claim. Even if you don't list your age on your resume, (and I wouldn't list mine), it still comes out in the time references you make in terms of dates of graduation, etc. If I list my previous bachelors degree as 1980, ya think they don't have a reasonable idea how old I am? ;-) Keep it short, on point and remember that it may only get 30 seconds review if it is lumped in with a whole bunch of others on somebody's desk. You can help yourself if you can make some personal contacts (networking) or doing volunteer work in a free clinic or hospital if you have time. Once you get your first break and land a nursing job, the next will be much easier. You just have to land the first one. Good luck.

Good advice so far. One of the things you want to add to your resume would be an objective or "branding statement" at the top that essentially sells you to the new employer. It has to summarize you as a nurse in 2 or 3 sentences. You can follow it with 2-3 bulletized Hard skills such as proficiency on a certain piece of equipment or system and soft skills as working with seniors or kids, time management, etc. The rest of the resume can be chronological or functional or a hybrid. Should be 2 pages or less and not chock full (think white space). Cut out all the clinical rotations stuff, that is school, not work. List only work or volunteer gigs that have support your nursing skills as mentioned above. Under each job, the bullets or entries should take the format of challenge -action-result. If you have worked a job for 4 years and showed up for work every day on time while going to school, sell that, many of your contemporaries have only had summer jobs or gone to college. You worked with customers, solved problems and solutions, stuff nurses do every day and you demonstrated responsibility. Good luck.

I'm in the process of moving from one career field to another and as part of the transition I got professional assistance from a company called "Right Management" for updating my resume and job search skills to current day standards. The fact that you are currently working as a nurse puts you miles ahead. Focus on that experience as your main selling point. Everything else in your background, cherry pick the things that support you as a nurse: people skills, stress management, time management, computer skills, you get the drift. One of the things that this company points out is that your resume should have an objective or "branding statement" at the top that essentially sells you to the new employer. It has to summarize you as a nurse in 2 or 3 sentences. You can follow it with 2-3 bulletized Hard skills such as proficiency on a certain piece of equipment or system and soft skills as working with seniors or kids, time management, etc. The rest of the resume can be chronological or functional or a hybrid. Should be 2 pages or less and not chock full (think white space). Bullets or entries under each job should take the format of challenge -action-result. Spell check the crap out of it and have several friends also read it and critique it. Good luck.

Way too long. You don't need to spell out Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing twice, just use BSN and do it once, they will remember. Use the cover letter to tie the job requirements to specifics in your background that match. Make the letter a max two paragraphs long and probably a 30 second read. You main goal is to get them to open up your resume and that had better be a fairly quick read too. Good Luck