Liss RN

haha! thank you all so much!! It has been on my mind. I tried googling it but couldn't really come up with anything. Very much appreciate the responses.

Hi everyone, may be a stupid question, but, (there are no stupid questions....right?) I'm a new nurse in a ICU, and I overheard someone say the term "crumping" a few days ago. Can someone tell me what this means? Thank you very much!

Try Memorial Hermann- I know they will hire people with less than a year experience even if their requirements say more. Good luck!

I'm sure you will love it there, I've heard it's a great place to work. And you'll learn a ton in the CCU. I'm going to be working nights in the Neuro IMU. It is going to be challenging since I haven't worked nights before. I actually don't live downtown right now, I live in the westchase area near the Galleria, but I would like to move to the med center area once my lease is up. I drove an hour each way for my last job, and it wasn't too bad because of it only being 3 days a week with the 12 hr shifts. My boyfriend works in the Northwest area so we're trying to find an area where the commute is good for both of us. But we'd like to get an apartment in the downtown area since we're both young (23) and there's more stuff to do. You're from out of state right?? I'm from PA, moved here last June. When are you moving down here?

Hey MissPamela, I did! I started a Critical Care Internship at the beginning of January but I was laid off when the hospital I worked for did a massive layoff in March. I searched for a new job immediately and found that no one wanted to consider me with 2 months experience, and I was competing with all the new grads again for the internships. Someone finally gave me a chance though and I just accepted a position today at Memorial Hermann in the Med Center! So I am extremely excited. I was afraid I was going to be jobless like so many other new grads in houston.

Just curious if anyone else got an interview for west houston medical center?

No interviews for any GN programs. I had one interview for a cath lab position a few days ago, so I'm really hoping I get that position. The Houston Chronicle had a big nursing career fair last Wednesday which I went to- didn't have all that much luck there. Texas childrens hospital told me they had over 900 applicants for their GN program. The recruiters there just said they had a ton of apps to review and I'd get a call if they were interested (christus st catherine, cypress fairbanks, hca west houston, park plaza...). I went to school out of state in Pennsylvania, and I have been told by many hospitals that they are unlikely to hire me just because I didn't do clinicals or an externship in their hospital (even though I've done an externship in critical care as well). It is extremely discouraging and frustrating! I was one of the fortunate ones to get a critical care internship last time around, but it doesn't seem to be helping me out too much now. Anything looking promising for you?

Yeah I didn't really understand it. I have 2 months experience working in critical care as a RN, but I was laid off at the end of my critical care internship when a hospital I was working for down here did a huge layoff. I've been told by most hospitals I don't have enough experience for a "regular" RN position, so they wanted me to apply to the GN internships again, which I've applied to every single one, but I'm not having much luck with that! So with 2 months experience I don't really think they're going to consider me either for their staff RN positions they say require 2 years exp. I'm thinking maybe it was just a mass email?? Who knows. Let me know if she responds back!

I got the same job fair email today. Not exactly sure what it means. All the positions on the email require experience.

In the same position! Had an interview yesterday, and they said they would make a decision by next Tuesday. I'm not very patient. The suspense is killing me

I've applied to memorial hermann, md anderson, methodist, st. luke's, cypress fairbanks, park plaza and plaza specialty, houston northwest, tomball regional, texas children's, kindred, foundation surgical, ben taub, west houston medical center, kingwood, conroe regional, christus st. catherine, and the list goes on I'm sure I've missed a few lol. I applied to the versants and other internships at these hospitals as well as regular RN postings. I have gone to a few md offices and clinics that said they weren't hiring RN's (a lot are hiring MA's now). I've mailed my resumes/cover letters/letters of rec to several places. I haven't really called many place's HR's though, as I'm not really sure what to say? Maybe someone can give me advice on what to say/ask when I call.

So I graduated in May 2010 with my ADN, moved from PA to Houston in June, and was licensed in TX in Sept. I got a Critical Care Internship position which I began in January, but was laid off exactly 2 months after I started. Apparently the hospital wasn't doing well and had to lay off over 100 people, and of course all the interns were some of the first to go. During my time in the internship I completed a NIH Stroke course, an EKG course, and over 20 contact hour credits on caring for critical care patients during the didactic portion of the internship. I also have experience working as an Extern in critical care. I have good recommendation letters from my former supervisors and instructors. It seems my weak point may be that I don't have my BSN, but I only have 2 classes left to finish it!!!! Another problem is that since I'm from PA, I have NO connections here at all, and didn't do any of my clinicals at these hospitals. I've applied to all the internships in the Houston area including smaller community/suburban hospitals and those an hour away. In a month I've applied to well over 100 positions, and I am just getting really discouraged. I haven't gotten calls from anyone. There is so much competition, and I am starting to feel like a "old" new grad since I graduated almost a year ago. I have 2 months experience now, but I'm afraid that's not enough for anyone to consider me. Anyone have any tips for getting noticed? Any leads on places accepting RN's with little experience? Thanks!

Haven't heard anything. The status for the ED position says open for mine as well, with all the others closed.

Hey Marisa, I am no expert, I am a new grad RN. But, what I was taught is that only pitting edema is rated 1-4 based on depth of the indentation made in mm. So, +1 pitting would be 2mm indentation, +2 would be 4 mm indentation, +3 would be 6 mm indentation, and +4 would be 8 mm or more. As far as I know, non-pitting edema is not rated 1-4. Hope you find an answer to this from someone more experienced than I, otherwise, I would definitely discuss this further with your instructor! Best of luck to you.

diane227, sorry I'm just writing back now. Thank you for replying! I live on the west side of Houston. Right now I'm trying to get into a critical care or ED residency position. I just had an interview last week for a critical care residency, and I'm hoping to have another soon for an ED. I took your advice and went dressed extremely professional in a pant suit. Neither of these are in the TMC, but I'm hoping by doing one of these I'll get to do what I love and get some great experience for a few years. At this point I have applied to every hospital in the TMC..it seems like all of them want you to do an internship there. I'm completely on board with this, even if it's not in my area of choice, but they are very competitive and I haven't received any calls. I did apply to several RN 1 positions at Ben Taub and emailed a recruiter with my resume and cover letter. I would LOVE to work there, but still no calls. I also applied to some RN 1 positions at LBJ. As a student I did an externship in critical care, but it seems like no hospitals in the TMC want to talk to me because I have my ADN and not BSN. I am however pursuing my BSN and only have 3 courses left. I'll send you my resume and cover letter to take a look at. Thanks again for responding!

I would keep your resume to 1 page, but as said above, I would write a really great 1 page cover letter. It allows you to highlight your experiences and what makes you a good fit for that position and hospital. As said above, make sure you personalize your letter for the position and hospital you are applying to. I did an ADN program and was able to get an externship position. But, my getting the position was less based on my resume/GPA/experience. My resume was good, but I didn't have ANY prior work experience and my GPA wasn't so hot at the time. The only reason I got the position is because I was extremely persistent and I called HR/the recruiter every week after I applied to let them know I really wanted the job. That was a little over a year ago though, and these days GPA and volunteer work, etc are very important. Times are tough right now, and externships and new grad internships are competitive, so you have to follow up and make sure the facility knows you are ready and willing to work! Try to get one or two letters of recommendation from your clinical instructors to make your application stronger. Also, career services at my university reviewed everyone's resume in my class during the final year, so I would suggest trying that as well if that is an option. They can help to give you a professional opinion. Good luck to you!!

Hey corky1272RN, I applied to Conroe as well even though its fairly far away from where I live. It looks like the GN position is still open on their site so I doubt they will start interviewing for it until they take it off/it closes. Anyone heard from Cypress Fairbanks about interviewing yet?

I would stick with the hospital that hired you for their residency, at least for a little longer. I've heard it's in poor taste to just cut and run after all that training. I was told by a hospital that it costs somewhere around $60,000 to train a New RN in one of these residencies. It took a lot of time, money, and resources to train you, so I would stay. This is why many hospitals are now requiring 1-3 year commitments for new grads in these residencies- and if you don't fulfill your contract you actually have to pay back the hospital.

TexasNurseEducator, thanks so much for your suggestions. I'm definitely going to take your advice on doing the ACLS and PALS courses. I have my ADN so I'm currently working on finishing up my BSN, but I'm going to do my last 3 clinical classes online + clinical hours at a hospital down here because I just moved out of state. Finding a hospital to take me on for clinical is somewhat complicating me finishing my degree, hopefully I get it figured out soon. Do you have any examples/suggestions of good professional organizations to get involved with? Thanks

I called Cypress Fairbanks on Tuesday because i was getting inpatient and asked if they started interviewing yet, and all she said was they didn't start calling for the ED yet. She didn't say when they were going to though. So I'm guessing if they didn't start calling for the ED, they probably haven't started calling for the others either. I talked to them a week before the apps closed and they said they had around 75 applicants for the program. A nurse manager I talked to said they take 8 people total (I guess 2 for each specialty maybe?). I'm curious, out of say 75 people, how many people do you think they will actually interview?

Nope! This waiting game is driving me nuts! Haha.

I'm a May 2010 ADN grad as well! I didn't apply to Ben Taub's program because they said BSN's only too! I guess maybe I should just go ahead and apply anyway to Methodist's GN stuff? I did apply to some of the Staff Nurse I jobs at Ben Taub though. It says new grads with

Haha, watched pot syndrome, I definitely have that! Thanks for your encouragement Miss Kisha. I'm starting to get inpatient and discouraged after so many applications, I guess I need to relax! Also, thanks for the heads up on Methodist, I've already checked them out-unfortunately for me they only want BSN's. I have my ADN and I'm 3 courses away from my BSN, so they won't even consider me. Good luck to you!

Ahhh thanks for replying. Do you want to work in the NICU? I applied for the ED. When I talked to them 2 weeks ago they said they already had about 75 applicants. Scary! Good luck, I hope we get interviews!

Hi everyone Those that applied to the RN Residency Program at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital that begins in Feb, have you heard anything? I saw a few days ago that they stopped accepting applications. I spoke with the nurse recruiter there about 2 weeks ago and she said they would be beginning interviews around the first week of November. Has anyone gotten a call yet for an interview? I really want this job and I am just starting to panic because I haven't heard anything yet! Thanks