Trueblood83

Hi all, So I took a job about a year and a half ago at a pain management center that did not do medication management. Its main goal was to manage pain through procedures. Medications were sometimes ordered for nerve pain such as Gabapentin or Lyrica. I was hired for a part time position and told that it would be around 20 hrs, sometime a little less and sometimes a little more. It would usually be 2 1/2 to 3 days a week. It would never be 5 days a week. I was told that I would be cross trained in both the procedure and clinic area with the intention that I would work in both areas. I was hired at the same time as another nurse. She was hired with the same purpose. I started training first in the clinic and she started in the procedure area. I trained about 20 days and then we switched areas. The procedure area was working 3 to 4 days a week at this time with the clinic area being less hours/days. I was then told because the other nurse didn't want to work more hours (3-4 days/wk) because she had kids in childcare that I was going to be working all procedure days from then on and that I would not be working in the clinic. This was not what I had been told when I was hired, but I was fine with it and agreed. This has been over a year ago and I have been working only procedures. I have not been back to the clinic at all to work. I have been working anywhere from 3 to 5 days a week. The majority of the time it is 4 days a week. We have had a lot of changes happen lately. This month alone our full time doctor left, and two more new full time doctors took his place. We also have two part time doctors. They have started doing medication management. Together they are only scheduling half the amount of procedures and seeing in the clinic half of that of our previous full time doctor did. Our manager just left, and we have a part time interim manager that was pulled from another area. The clinical coordinator is pretty much acting like our manager. He was "second in command" whenever our previous manager was not at work. He is full time. he does the sedation in the procedure area and on the days we don't have procedures he works in the clinic. he Does not like working in the clinic. Anyway, I was told that I am going to have to start working in the clinic because the other part time nurse that I was hired with is working more hours than she wants to and she doesn't want to be full time. I told clinical coordinator that I also do not want to be working full time. I also do not want to be moved from my area. However, it turns out this week one of the full time medical assistants/procedure tech and also the full time authorization nurse is also quitting. I have no desire to work in a clinic that is doing medication management. This week alone two of the nurses were yelled at by patients because they weren't being prescribed enough medication. I really don't want to deal with that. I also don't remember how to do most of the clinic stuff because I saw most of this stuff maybe once and some of it not at all. Plus the new doctors have been doing very different things. Sorry for such a long story!! But I was just curious if other people have been in a similar situation (maybe not in a pain management area but similar in that their position is changed) and how you handled it?

I would take this job and run with it! lol I would absolutely love to work in the aesthetics field. I have worked acute care and community health. You could always take this job and if you wanted to you could continue looking for a position in acute care, home health, community health (whatever you are interested in) that you could do once a week or even once a month (PRN). This would help with your assessment and clinical skills if you thought that you might want to try to go into a different setting later.

My personal experience is this....My husband and I had a long distance relationship during college. He lived in Mississippi and I lived in Arkansas. After college he was going to move where I lived. I already had a job lined up in the ICU. He decided to stay on at his school for another 1 1/2 years to get his Master's degree though, and I ended up moving there. Like Linda0 said above, "I lost all my contacts and had to grab the first job". This was sort of my situation. I took a job in PCU with the promise that I could move to ICU later. Well, I had to move after my husband finished up school. So next place I did the same thing again. Took first job offer in Telemetry unit that promised I could move to PCU once it opened, and then on to ICU. WELL, we moved again. lol I was already burned out on the floor by this time so I went in to school nursing next. We moved this last year Again, but this is our last move. I STILL have not found a job this time, but I am being more picky this time. I am not willing to work nights again. Anyway, my point to all of this is that right now if you have a job that you like I would stick with it until you find something in new location. I feel like I had a great opportunity all ready for me right out of school that I would have really liked, and I have not been in a postition that I've really liked since. Like an above poster said, start calling HR, offices, ect now so you can see what's out there. You could even let HR/Manager know that you are willing to do a phone interview first, and if that went well drive/fly to them for a follow up interview. My sister landed a job out of state by doing this. I know this is tough though! Good luck to you!!

Thank you dnt8178 for the response and words of encouragement! Good luck with your program! Are you doing your program on campus or online?

Hi all! After graduating from college back in 2006 with my BSN, I have moved 4 times due to my husband's work. The last move was in 2012. Well, I am still unemployed! I am having a hard time finding work in the area we moved to. This last move is supposed to be our last. So I had been putting off applying to an NP program until we settled somewhere permanently. After this last move I decided I would start appying to an NP program after gaining employment. Well, seeing as that hasn't happened.....I feel like I am just wasting time. What do you think my chances are at being accepted into a NP Program if I am currently unemployed? I just feel that it probably will not look good compared to other applicants, and combining that with having went through 3 other jobs. Anyway, I just wanted to get some opinions on it, and curious if anyone else has ever applied while unemployed? Thanks!

So to update on this, it turns out that the position is for a PACU nurse that can do all phases of the recovery. PALS and ACLS are required. I interviewed with the manager, but she told me that she doesn't want anyone without experience for the PRN position. Not sure how I got an interview, because I don't have any experience in PACU! She said that she might have a full time position open up in April that she would consider hiring someone without PACU experience for. Apparently, the person that was recently hired into the position didn't have any prior experience, and they may not "work out". This is the 3rd job this month that I have interviewed for that was a bust. The first two jobs I applied for day positions, but when I went to the interview the managers told me that they are only hiring for nights. Oh well, the job search continues!

@Pedimommy When I go into an interview I always wear a suit, but what would you suggest as appropriate attire for dropping off resumes?

Thanks for the response and advice! I was thinking along the same lines of what you wrote here "My gut tells me they want someone who can be ready to work independently sooner rather than later, i.e., with a PRN position they may not want to or plan for a long orientation for you". If it is a Phase II recovery, then I don't think I would mind a shorter orientation. If it is Phase I, I would be more hesitant about that. I have had ACLS in the past, but I just haven't needed to recertify for school nursing. So I don't mind getting recertified at all. Even if it isn't required, if the hospital will pay for it I would want to get it anyway.

Hi all, I have an interview this week for a PRN Recovery position in the PACU at an acute care hospital. I have experience in Progressive Care, Tele, and School Nursing. With school nursing being my last position I did not have to keep my ACLS certification. So I only am CPR certified. Well, I saw this Recovery position open up and I applied for it because it only listed CPR and RN license as the requirement. Usually I see PALS and ACLS requirements, and/or ICU experience. Anyway, to get to my question, what type of position in the PACU do you think this will be? Maybe a phase II recovery? If so, could someone tell me a little bit about what Phase II recovery is like? Will recovery nurses often float to Pre-op? For anyone that works PRN in PACU/Recovery what type of schedule do you have? I really want a full-time or part-time position but this is what is available. I am curious if anyone who has worked the floor and also has worked in Recovery which position they perceive as more stressful. Progressive Care and Telemetry really stressed me out. Not because of the acuity of patients, but usually because of patient load...constantly being pulled in different directions. I think I would like to focus more on a smaller group of patients even if their acuity is higher. In school I always thought I would work in ICU. I know what stresses some people out doesn't always stress another person out. It is very personal, but if anyone has an opinion on it I'd love to hear it. I don't want anyone to think that I feel that Recovery will be an easy position, because I know it is not. I have not been in the hospital since 2009. So I am really nervous about going back. I really want to make sure that I have a good orientation. I plan on asking about this in the interview, but I am not sure what a good vs bad orientation to the unit would be. So what do you think is a good length of orientation and what should be included in it? For the interview, is there any clinical topics that I should brush up on that I might be asked about? Sorry for the long post!! Thanks in advance for any advice!! :)

Thank you arkool2004 and metricalpound for the advice! What is a typical nurse to patient ratio on a psych unit? The one person I have talked to that works on a psych unit said their unit's ratio is 1 to 8. This hospital only has two shifts 7a-7p and 7p-7a. I am interviewing for the day shift. So I guess part of the shift would fall into the evenings. I will be sure to ask them about how the shifts differ though. Thanks!

Sorry for the late reply shellyheil1. I don't know if you are still interested in know about how to get into school nursing, but I thought I would go ahead and reply to you just in case. I honestly just applied to a position and was hired. However, I worked in a Very large school district where school nurse positions open often. In a smaller area where there aren't as many positions opening, my best advice would be to contact the nurse manager for the district to see if you could be a sub. I know that sometimes smaller districts will hire from their substitute pool.

Thank you both for the advice!

Hi all, I have an interview on Tuesday for a position in a Behavioral Health Unit at an acute care hospital. My background is in Progressive Care, Telemetry, and School Nursing. I have been out of the hospital setting for the last 4 years. I would like to know from Psych nurses what questions should I be sure to ask in the interview? Are there any questions that you wish you would have asked when you interviewed for your position? I do not have any experience with a behavioral health unit, and it has been awhile since I have been in a hospital setting. Is there any reading material or topics that you feel would be a good idea to read up on before starting a psych nursing job? Can anyone give me an example of what a typical shift is like? Thank you in advance!

Hello all, Since I graduated nursing school in 2006, I have had three jobs. Due to my husband's career we have had to move a few times. We are finally in the area that, hopefully, we will stay. My last job was as a school nurse. The area that I am in now has not had any openings for a school nurse. I was hoping that I could still find a nontraditional nursing position (such as with an insurance company or research), health department, clinic, school system, or something in a behavioral psych unit. I really do not want to go back to bedside nursing. As it happens, my job search has lengthened to 9 months. I am attempting to rework my resume and coverletter today. I got to thinking also today that if I do get an interview somewhere I will undoubtedly be asked about this gap in my work history. Has anyone had long gaps in your work history that wasn't due to staying home to take care of children? If so did you get asked about it in your interview? This last 9 month gap has me so worried that I am never going to get an interview, and even if I do get an interview I won't have a good answer as to why I have such a long span since my last job. Do you think that a nurse manager or human resources will toss my resume aside because of gaps in work history? If I get an interview, do you think there is a way to explain my gap without the nurse manager thinking that I should have just taken a job in Med/Surg to be working? I will appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Hi all, I have been seriously considering applying for an online NP program. However, I am torn between applying for an FNP or PMHNP program. I would love to hear advice/opinions. In school I double majored in Nursing and Psychology. So Psychology has always been an interest for me. I have not worked as a Psychiatric nurse though. I have worked PCU, Med/Surg/Tele, and as a School Nurse. I just moved to Northwest Arkansas and I haven't seen any positions open for a PMHNP. I am concerned that if I go this route that I will have trouble finding a job. I also do not know anyone who has went to school for this. I would love to hear from current psych np's or students in a program how they feel the job outlook is for this position. How you feel that your program prepared you for practice (I realize that all programs are different). Has anyone done an online pmhnp program? If so, I would love to hear how clinicals were for you. Did you have trouble finding preceptors? What is a typical work day like for you? I have seen a lot of positions for FNP's around here so that makes me think that it would be the safer way to go. If I could pick my dream job, I would be an FNP that works for a Dermatologist. I have had a lot of skin issues over the years (i.e. acne, rosacea, dyplastic nevi, high risk for skin cancer) which has resulted in having frequent visits to the Dermatologist and lots of research on my own. I also worked as a School Nurse, and I saw a lot of skin issues with students (i.e. scabies, chickenpox, mulluscum contagiusum, eczema, etc) so I was always constantly reading up on skin disorders. However, I am worried that going through the FNP program in hopes that I could land a job with a Dermatologist might just be a pipe dream. Anyone have a job working with a Dermatologist? If so, was it hard to find a position? What is a typical work day like for you? Thanks!