walleRN

Can someone please show me where jobs are? I am an RN with 2-3yrs med-surg step-down experience, and I can't find anything. I have looked in ME, CT, MA, PA, OR, CA.. I want a good job, not the job that "no one else wants." My story is I worked in an awesome hospital for 2 years, then I made a foolish move out of state, thinking i had a good chance of getting a decent job since i already have good experience. But it took me over a month to get my next job, which turned out to be a horrible unit with tremendous staff turnover. I accepted the job b/c HR told me I could easily transfer to better areas within the system, once i got my foot in the door. But that didn't end up happening, b/c my boss did not like to give approval for staff to transfer to other units in the system. So, I ended up quitting that job after 7 mos and looking for jobs out of the system, at other hospitals. Now, i am still unemployed, and it is going on 2 months. I have applied to multiple hospitals in multiple states, and only got one response & interview. I am anxiously waiting their response, b/c the job is back at my first hospital, and it would be so great to be back. But it's almost been a week, and i am starting to get worried. I don't know what i am going to do if i don't get the job bc i have not gotten any response from any other hospital anywhere else. I just want a good job. It doesn't really matter to me where my next job is, I wish it could be back home, but I am open to relocating and seeing new places. I just want it to be a good place that is not going to burn me out. I don't want it to be "the job that no one else wanted" again. I have always wanted to do critical care (I know everybody else does too), and my dream job would be the NICU. Right now, I am looking at telemetry and high acuity med-surg/step-down. I have also applied to critical care & starter-level NICU positions because i'm not giving up on that yet. Can someone please let me know where GOOD jobs are, if they exist? I hope I get a job soon; this is the most difficult job search I've ever had... Does anyone work at a great hospital with a lot of positions available for outsiders?

You can go here: http://www.aclsonline.us/ and pay $275 to complete the course and written exam online. However, there is a skills checklist that will still need to be completed in the hospital or under supervision by a nurse educator or someone already certified in ACLS. That said, it might be easier to just take a course in-hospital & get everything done at one time. I found the manual and precourse assessments to be very helpful in ACLS certification. Here also are some useful sites to prepare for ACLS: http://acls-algorithms.com/acls-practice-tests/acls-test-questions http://www.skillstat.com/learn.htm

I endorsed my license to PA this year. Sent the paperwork in end of April and received my practice permit first week of June. Still waiting on my permanent license. I previously had my license endorsed in other states, and it took about the same time frame (about a month). It was weird because I got my permanent licenses before the temporary permits (or in the same week), but not in the case of my PA license. Wonder what's up with that? I hope I get my permanent license soon!

I recently applied for a starter-level NICU RN position at a hospital 2hrs away from my current location. A few days later I got a rejection letter, saying they decided to interview people with better qualifications. Needless to say I was upset. I can deal with them deciding to hire someone else in the end, but I think I at least deserved an interview. Although I have no "RN" NICU experience that counts, I did have two out-of-state internships as a nursing student in one of the largest NICUs in this country (I think- it was a 67-bed level III NICU, we even had babies on ECMO). Bigger and better than the hospital I was applying to. And I have almost 2years of RN experience on a med-surg unit with high acuity patients (pts on vents, chest tubes, and everything else med-surg). SO...I just don't understand how someone else would be more qualified? If this is a starter level position. I have been searching NICU job listings for over a year, and I never see starter-level positions available, since this recession began. The only positions that are available usually require 1-3years of prior NICU experience; I have applied for some of those anyway and didn't get anything. I was soooooo excited when I saw this new listing for a starter-level position. :) How is someone ever going to get into the NICU if the only positions offered require experience? It doesn't make sense. What more do I have to do to be accepted for a starter-level position? I'm so frustrated... I feel like it is never going to happen. I wonder if 50 people applied or something? Maybe they hired a recent grad who did their partnership directly in that NICU...? At any rate, I think I still deserved an interview. Some specs on the job listing: NICU Internship 6-month long internship, asking for a 2-year committment upon completion Requirements: Graduation from accreditted nursing school (got it) BSN degree (got it) Current state licensure and passing of NCLEX (got it) Analyitical ability, interpersonal and communication skills, nursing knowledge (got those, as they could see on my resume or would have seen in person if they had given me an interview) *"As this is an entry-level position, experience as an RN is not required"* (it was not required, but I had that experience and thought it would be a bonus...guess not) What am I missing?