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I too would like to know what is going on with this. I currently work in KY on my WI license.

I have applied to positions in Pediatrics, PICU, NICU, SCN, Nursery, and OB/LDRP. I haven't had any luck with any of them.

I know this thread is basically for New Grads in search of information about NICU, but I want to know if there are any hospitals out there that hire inexperienced nurses into NICU? I graduated in 2007 with my BSN. I went to school to become a nurse to work in NICU. This is my dream job and my passion. However, my first job as a new grad in a Level III NICU was a terrible experience. I did not get the support that I needed during orientation and the orientation "program" was not at all what it should be. When I brought up my concerns to the manager at that time, they basically stopped orienting me and then fired me on the last day of the 90 day orientation (that's right, only 90 days orientation to a level III NICU!). I have applied to every NICU/SCN position in multiple hospitals in IL, WI, and TX (and a few in OH and CO). I have not had any luck. This manager at my first NICU job has had be blackballed from getting any jobs at the 3 hospitals in my area, and so I have been stuck doing Post NICU/PICU Pediatric Home Health for the last 3 years. I miss being in the hospital and feel like I have lost so many skills because it has been so long since I have been in a clinical/hospital setting. Out of the hundreds-thousands of jobs I have applied to over the last 4 years, I have only had a handful of interviews. Most of them have said that they are looking for nurses that have 3-5 years NICU experience. How am I to get this experience if no one will give me the chance. I've worked in Med/Surg/Tele for a short time, but was extremely unhappy in this position and was bullied by other nurses to the point where it was too stressful and I dreaded going to work everyday. So, I went to Peds Home Health. I'd really appreciate any help or information. TIA

I graduated from nursing school in 2007 (BSN). I have applied to every hospital in the Chicago area, including the suburbs, and still have not received an offer from any of them. I've had interviews with RUSH, Northwestern, Mt Sinai, Advocate Lutheran, Advocate Good Shepherd, Advocate Condell, Alexian Bros, etc. with no luck. I have put in hundreds of applications per month in IL and WI. I have emailed my information to recruiters and managers. I have tried contacting HR. I have gone to many nursing job fairs. I have revamped my resume too many times to count. I follow up the interviews I have had with thank you letters and phone calls or emails. But yet, after all I have done, I still do not have a hospital job. I have some experience in Med/Surg/Tele, but am not interested in a career in this area. I have little NICU experience, which I want as a lifelong career, but it's not enough experience to get hired. I have been doing Pediatric Home Health for the last 2.5 years (no benefits, no guaranteed hours). I drive/commute 1-2hours to cases in the suburbs and don't get any reimbursement for any expenses. I am on linked-in and Monster jobs. Most of these places that I apply to, I received an email within 24 hours stating that I am not being considered for the jobs that I applied to. I am pretty sure that my application/resume does not get looked at by an actual person most of the time, especially when I receive these emails. I am sorry I can not offer any advice, I am dealing with these same issues and I have been a nurse for 4 years. When I ask managers what I could have done differently in the interview, I am told that they just went with someone that had more area specific experience than what I have.

So, talked to my recruiter today. Most of those that were/are alternates are being called to see if they are still interested and if they would accept certain COT dates. Recruiters were also sent a list of specific "non-select" names that the recruiters are calling to see if they are still interested in the particular positions they applied for and their packets are being resubmitted. I was a "non-select" whose name was on the list for resubmission. Sooooo, my packet was resubmitted a few weeks ago and my recruiter is waiting to hear if they will accept me. He said that all of this is going through his boss and passed down to him. If not accepted/selected again this time around, I can re-apply/submit for the July boards, but would have to apply/submit to a different job/area. Crossing my fingers for selection and August COT!!!! :)

"I was led to believe by my recruiter that only RN experience and hospital experience counts. I will check again." Hospital experience counts if you are trying to apply to a specific specialty area, but all of your combined experience as a nurse counts. Not being rude but as an FYI, you can't always believe word for word everything your recruiter tells you. If you were to ask a handful of recruiters, you would get a different answer from every one of them. This is coming from someone with prior military service. If the recruiter is never available, try to speak with someone else within that office. If they can't help, find another recruiter. If this is something that you really want to do, you can't sit back and wait for it to happen or wait for them to contact you. There are timelines of when and how things need to be done. You are responsible for staying on top of it and getting the things that need to be done, done. Keep on them. If they aren't there to help you do this, you may have to find someone else. The recruiting office that I am working with now is awesome. They all work together to get things done and I have stayed on top of them through the whole process, and this office is a few states away from my home state. My home state recruiter was not helping mr get anywhere.

Any experience as a nurse counts. It does not have to be all hospital experience or all experience as an RN. LPN experience counts. It's just that the military does not accept LPNs, so they must get their RN in order to apply. I am considered a fully qualified nurse. I have been a nurse for 4 years and have spent a majority of it in Post NICU Pediatric Home Health. I originally wanted to apply for OB NTP and was told that I could not apply to NTP because it is only for those that have just graduated nursing school or had graduated within the last 6 months before applying. Even though I have absolutely no OB experience, I can not apply to NTP because I have been a nurse for more than 6 months. However, I also can not apply to OB because I do not have 6 months OB experience. So, if you don't have 6 months or more experience in a specific specialty, they would submit your application for Clinical Nursing. This just means that you are not specialized and can basically be placed into any nursing position. I have been trying to get into the Air Force since 2008/2009 and have had to jump through a lot of hoops and went through quite a few recruiters. My application was submitted last September and like many others, I did not get accepted due to lack of open positions.

Wow, it has been a really long time since I have written anything here. I have been passed around to different recruiters since this all started. The one that took me to my interview was moved to a different recruiting position. The one I have now was training for this position last year, so I have only spoken to him a handful of times. He called me last week asking if I was still interested in re-submitting my info and if I was still interested in AF. Of course, yes I am still interested. I started this process in 2009!!! Then he asked if anything had changed since last time and proceeded to tell me that there are positions opening up (not sure on specifics) and that if a position I am qualified for is open he can re-submit my information and that COT would be within the next few months. He was going to make some calls to find out what was open and specifically ask about certain specialty areas. I applied/submitted my packet for NICU last September. There were a total of 8 NICU applicants and they only had 1 position open. So, 7 of us did not get accepted. I really hope that they decided to open up some more NICU positions!!! I have been applying to hospital jobs for what seems like forever and still have not gotten a hospital job. Last time I worked in hospital was Spring 2009!! So, I really hope this happens this time. We too have a house to sell, but it is far from being in selling condition and we don't have the money to do what needs to be done right now. With cost of living being so high and gas prices out of control, it's hard to make ends meet, let alone try to do anything extra outside of paying bills and trying to buy groceries. Lets all hope for good news!!!

I was told by IL MEPS that the physical is only good for 1 year. I don't see why/how it would/could be good for 2 years. As for the letters of recommendation, I have done these twice already: Oct/Nov 2009 and then again May/June 2010. So, I will have to get new letters for re-submission. Then, I was also told that you can only re-submit every 6 months (this coming from the MI Healthcare Recruiter's office, I do not trust Chicago IL office).

I haven't given up and will not give up, but my nursing journey thus far has been ridiculous! I went to nursing school specifically for neonatal intensive care and have worked in every area of nursing and know that NICU is where I belong. When I worked in the NICU, I loved going to work, I enjoyed my job and am very passionate about it. I just happened to work in the wrong NICU with the wrong management, in the wrong hospital, in the wrong city. I was hosed by that place and have been unable to gain employment in another NICU in this part of the state and I didn't do anything wrong to deserve being treated the way I have been treated. After this horrible experience, I decided that I was going to go back into the military (preferably Air Force) and serve as a nurse for our soldiers babies. And yet, after 2 years, I am still waiting for acceptance and still can't get a job as a NICU nurse in either the civilian side or Air Force side. I've been ready to start my career since before I became a nurse, but feel I am losing all of my hope. I will keep trying of course, and I am still hoping that something good will happen for my family and I soon. I am sick of waiting and being turned down. thanks for the encouragement, I need a miracle!

To answer your question, the first recruiter I talked to in March 2008 went back to her old job in March 2009. So I had to deal with a new recruiter that was taking her place. He was more interested in getting his new nurses and new grads taken care of then he was in getting my packet and everything that goes with it, completed. He kept telling me that we had time and that we/he would have everything done, completed, and submitted to the Oct board 2009. Needless to say, I was left out to dry and he passed on/transferred my packet to a different recruiter in a different state and failed to mention this to me until I kept hounding him about getting everything done!! Then there were supposed to be things in my packet that weren't there and were lost when transferred to the other recruiter. These were things that I had to pay for (such as transcripts) and order. I believe that he knew that it wasn't going to get done and in order to get out of doing my packet and dealing with me, he just pushed me onto someone else. Then, this new recruiter was awesome. But, it was already too late to submit my packet to the Oct 09 board. He was going to submit my packet to the Jan 10 board, but they had filled all of their NICU slots with the Oct selects. So, I had to wait for the Oct/Nov 10 board to submit. Then, I had to have my recommendation letters re-done because they are only good for 6 months. Being prior service, they were having a hard time getting some of that paperwork for the Army. When I called the recruiter in May of this year, he said that he was no longer the healthcare recruiter and that I had to call the main office and talk to the new one. This one was band spanking new to recruiting!!! So, for the past 6 months, almost everyone in that office has been working on my stuff to get it completed and submitted. And for what; I didn't get selected. So, I am extremely frustrated that with all that I have gone through since 2008, I am still sitting here! Not all recruiters are good recruiters, not all of them tell the truth, and not all recruiters like their job!! A majority of the time, they are placed in recruiting on a temporary basis. So, if you are not hearing from your recruiter, keep hounding them until you find out whats going on or what you need to know. If they still can't be reached, get in touch with their boss. Them not returning your call or emails or what have you, does not always mean that they are super busy!

I would have rather heard that I was an alternate vs being told that I was on the non-select list. At least as an alternate, you don't have to re-submit your packet to the board again. As a non-select, I will have to go back to MEPS and do another physical because they are only good for a year, I will have to get new recommendation letters because those are only good for 6 months, I will have to re-sign and date all of the paperwork in my packet before re-submitting to another board, and I may have to do the Chief Nurse Interview again. Basically, being a non-select means that we have to go through the whole process all over again, which really stinks since I have been waiting to get selected for what seems like forever! I started this whole process in March 2009!!! Be glad that you are an alternate.

No tips to give at this point. The issues that everyone has been facing in the civilian world has finally caught up with the military and they just don't have the positions right now. They selected a ton of nurses last fiscal year and now don't have positions available. I believe the application process is the same for everyone. You complete the application packet, chief nurse interview, and then your completed packet in submitted to the review/selection board. I would double check with your recruiter on the so called deadline. As far as what I have been told, there will not be a board in January and may or may not be a board in March. At this point, no one really knows. When they do their selections in Oct/Nov, they are doing their selections for the whole fiscal year. In past, they had many board reviews/selections throughout the year mainly because they didn't usually have many applicants during the Oct/Nov board. However, because our economy really stinks right now and everyone is having a hard time getting a job in the civilian area, many have turned to military nursing over the last year or so. So, the military has been getting an over abundance of applicants and being able to fill all of their open positions. I have been trying to get back in to military over the last 2 years (have had some not so great recruiters). My packet was finally submitted this fiscal year and I was not selected! So, here I sit having to wait again to re-submit.

You can't send a PM until you have more than 15 posts.

Not at all. And I am sorry if I came off the wrong way. I am just so frustrated with everything . Throughout my whole life I have had nothing but bad luck with everything. When I decided to go to school to become a Nurse instead of an Engineer, my intentions were always to become a NICU nurse. This is the only area I have ever wanted a career in and the reason why I became a nurse in the first place. I graduated at the beginning of this economy's collapse and never thought that it would hit nursing as hard as it has. We were always told in school that there is this huge nursing shortage and that we would never have any problems getting and being employed, no matter what area we wanted to specialize in. I have found this to be untrue from the beginning. I didn't even have a job offer by the time I graduated and I had started applying to jobs the summer before I graduated. So, being that I was the non-traditional student with a family to support, I took what I could get. Then, I was offered my "dream job" in the northern part of this horrible state and packed up and moved my family there. However, this specific facility was not where I belonged. I have had so much bad luck since becoming a nurse I often wonder why I did it in the first place. Thing is, I love:heartbeat being a nurse:nurse: and am very passionate about Neonatal Care. I have tried every other area of nursing and know that this is the area for me and where I belong. Now days, you can't accept a job to get your foot in the door expecting that you will eventually be able to transfer to where you want because it doesn't work that way (at least here it doesn't). I have tried that. Everyone tells me to not be picky about positions, but how can I or any other nurse not be. Most of us know what we want to do, where we belong, and where we are happy. I hope that all of this changes soon. I have been a nurse for over 3 years and this economy hasn't changed for the better as of yet. Also, just so everyone here knows, prior service must not count for anything in this selection.