MK86

I made the exact same move a year ago (maybe not the best time with covid LOL). 10 years of NICU and I needed a break. I'm in a smaller private school (450 kids ages 3-14) so don't have any medically fragile kids (trachs, g-tubes, etc). Most of my day is giving meds, cleaning up scrapes and organizing medical files. Have a few diabetics, asthmatics and food allergies but it's nice to take care of essentially healthy kids for a change. At least once a week I have a kid come down with something that isn't medical but they don't know where else to send them (ex. slime in hair LOL) There are definitely some things I'm still getting adjusted to a year later, being the only medical person is probably the biggest (and having pts that talk and weigh more than 10lbs ? ). No one to bounce ideas off and honestly half the people forget you're a person until there is an emergency. You definitely have to be OK with spending time by yourself. You're not a teacher but you're not admin either it's kind of a weird role when you're the only nurse in the school tbh. I found this forum very helpful in so many ways. Also did get an emergency first aid book as a refresher for myself which has been useful. Parents can be a lot at times but that's no different from NICU. I found myself excited to come back this school year so I know I made the right choice for now at least. I kept PRN hrs in the NICU and I appreciate and enjoy my occasional shifts there way more now than I did when I left full time. I'm sure I'll most likely go back to the NICU either full or part time at some point but I like my life/work balance right now. That's the beauty of nursing though - so many options.

Congrats! 11 more for me! Haha I have started doing the same with the increase in "my teacher told me to get an ice pack" kids, or the "I bumped my knee at recess (2 hrs ago)" kids as the weather has gotten nicer and end of school-itis has kicked in hard for the kids and teachers.

I'm hoping I'll be able to do that this year. I started two days before school started this year and it was crazy.

Thank you for sharing your experiences (glad it's not just me) and suggestions. This board has been very helpful this year and appreciate that it is a safe space to vent to people who understand. I had one teacher do this when they never even sent the kid down to me. Didn't bring them down until after she had called mom and just plopped him on my bench saying I called his mom he has a stomach ache and she's coming to pick him up....umm OK ?

Just a vent - I can not explain enough how much I hate when certain teachers send the same kids down multiple times a day for a stomach ache. Unless you're throwing up, have a fever or are clearly in a lot of pain, you're fine to be in class. I don't have any magic powers to cure a stomachache. I feel like these same few teachers don't agree with my assessment. I told tell you how to do your job, please don't tell me how to do mine. This is my first year as a school nurse and next year I'm setting major ground rules at the beginning of the year. Thank you for letting me rant.

40 school days left today for us. Been in person all year, except for two weeks following Christmas to allow for quarantine. First year as a school nurse so felt a bit like jumping right into the deep end of the pool but I've almost made it.

A children's bookstore owner, a la The Shop Around the Corner in "You've Got Mail" :)

You may have found an answer already but in case not http://www.idfpr.com/Renewals/apply/Rn.asp toward the bottom of the page is a Registered Professional Nurse by Endorsement packet that lists everything you need. I have experience with the busy signal annoyance. When I was trying to get my license verification from Illinois sent to Maine, I also kept getting a busy signal. Just keep calling. It is Illinois, so I figure that either most of the people working in the office are illiterate or drunk. When I did finally get through, a machine put me on hold and I listened to the Taxi theme song for 45 minutes. Good luck to you!

The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation handles license verification. http://www.idfpr.com/Forms/Req_cert.pdf The Oregon license endorsement application should include a form to send to Springfield. Send a request, with a check of course , the the address in the link and they will send on your verification to the Oregon BON. It is an extremely slow process in my experience (I have done this twice) and it took 2 months to complete the process the first time and still waiting a month and a half later this time. Trying to call the Illinois Department of Regulation to inquire about the status of the verification is super aggravating as well because as with the BON, there is always a busy signal and when you do finally get through you are on hold for over an hour listening to the Taxi theme song. Also I am quite sure one of the people I talked to was either drunk or I had just woken her up as I had to repeat what I was looking for multiple times and she sounded off. Also IL licenses all expire in May of even years regardless of when you got it. CEUs are NOT required with the first renewal.

Very true. I graduated last year and we were told to stay away from dorsogluteal injections and to give ventrogluteal injections instead. Dorsogluteal injections were discussed in lab and in passing so we would know the site and method if asked or if mentioned by another nurse but we never practiced them in lab or administered them in the hospitals. We only practiced and gave ventrogluteal IM injections.

I know how you feel the same thing happened to me. Even though I knew, going in, it would be a long shot I still held out hope. Have a good cry it did me good:hug: Also, I responded to the rejection email thanking them again for the opportunity to interview and reiterated how interested I was in working for that hospital and how their mission is one that I strongly believe in. I also said something like "in the future if there is a position that would more closely fit my skills please keep me in mind" Now I am still looking for a full time job so I don't know if that email helped at all but I felt it couldn't hurt if the hospital has another position open up. Take some classes (ACLS, PALS, EKG etc) and don't be afraid to apply to the hospital again. The classes/additional certifications may show the hospital how dedicated you are to a career in nursing and continuing your education and they may call you for an interview instead of just saying "we interviewed this candidate before and her resume looks the same" and putting you in the rejection pile. Again I am a recent grad still looking for a full time hospital job but these are some tips and hints I received from other nurses and instructors. Best of luck and hang in there!

I definitely understand what you are going through. I graduated last May and just now got my first, though be it temporary, nursing job at a summer camp. If you can and it is something that sounds interesting, I would look into camp nursing. A position as a camp nurse had never occured to me but someone suggested it. Try nurses.campstaff.com I put up a profile there and sent my profile out to a few camps. I heard back from 2 camps with in a day of posting. I was offered two positions and am still receiving emails from camps who are interested. Good luck to you

hi alisabeth I am a new graduate nurse who is hoping to also work at camp fernwood this summer during the second session. I had a first informal interview over the phone and am now in the process of getting references and answering a few more questions they had. anyway I just wanted to say hi in case we end up working together this summer

thanks max. I had an email back from them this morning and was told I will have to get a Maine license but once I am approved I would be allowed to work in Maine w/o a physical license for 90 days so that answered my question about whether or not I would recieve a license in time for the position

I am a licensed RN in Illinois and recently applied to a summer camp nursing position in Maine starting mid june. I received an email from the camp asking for a resume and a list of good times for them to call. My question is does anyone know if for a short term position (approximately 4 weeks) such as this a license is required or is there such thing as a temporary license in Maine. I looked at the Maine RN licensure page and guessed that the process would probably take at least a month. I contacted the board of nursing but if it is anything like Illinois I thought I would probably get an answer here quicker. I know I may receive a call from the camp before I get an answer here but I thought I would try multiple avenues in case I need to get the ball rolling on this. thanks all :)

I agree with everything you guys have said. Honestly, I know I don't look that stellar or stand out on paper. I didn't work as a CNA/PCT/nursing assistant (not that I didn't apply to a dozen hospitals), the only jobs I have had are as receptionists in offices (no medical offices), and my nursing grades were great but my overall GPA is just average as I switched from bio to nursing. I did volunteer and the one interview I did get told me that is why they called me even though they weren't planning on giving the job to a new grad so I am hoping other places feel the same way. If anyone, even a receptionist in HR, would accept applications/resumes in person and get a hint of our personalities I feel a lot more people who may not look so great on paper but are awesome new nurses who are willing to learn and work hard would get hired. I myself haven't tried also bringing hard copies to HR but I know people who have and the hospitals would not even accept the hard copies and dismissed them telling them the only way to apply was online and that they do not accept paper resumes.

Graduated May 2010 licensed in June 2010 and living in Chicago. I am still looking for that first nursing job. I have filled out countless applications and have been on two interviews. One went to someone with more experience and the second was for new grad program that had, according to the person who interviewed me, 300 applicants. They interviewed 40 and hired 12. Getting picked for an interview boosted my confidence a little b/c at least that means my resume/cover letter is not too bad. I am considering getting an indiana or wisconsin license as well but after doing some research prospects don't look much better there so I am not sure if it is worth the money. It is hard but I try to keep positive

:ancong!: though i have to admit i am green with envy as peds/picu is my dream job as well

I did have one interview that went well but the position ultimately went to someone with more experience.

:hug: I know exactly how you feel and am in the same situation. Graduated in May and passed the boards at the end of June and I am working as a secretary. I don't have any words of advice but want you to know you know that you are not alone. Keep looking/applying and calling that's what I am doing and about all you can do.

I am in the same situation and have applied to the hospitals you have. My experience has been similar to yours. I know Loyola is not hiring new grads not even their own, and from what I have heard the Resurrection Health care system is not in the best way financially and Rush is only hiring their own grads. I actually do know a few people who got jobs at NMH but they did their final synthesis there. I know advocate Illinois Masonic has a new graduate program. I believe one just started but I do know they have one in the summer as well. http://www.advocatehealth.com/body_jobs.cfm?id=1947 . Also as a heads up I heard that Swedish Covenant is supposed to be hiring soon. I haven't seen anything yet but am checking about every other day. I just keep applying and calling it's about all I can do. I also started looking farther out into the suburbs but haven't had much luck there either. Good luck to you.

Congratulations! :clpty: I always thought being a school nurse would be fun.

I am a new grad still searching for a job so I don't know how much help I will be. All I can tell you is follow your gut and listen to your heart. I was in a similar situation and decided against the job knowing that I would end up hating it and would maybe even be deterred from the nursing field but I am lucky and have the support of my family who are letting me live with them while I currently work part time as a receptionist and continue searching and sending applications for nursing positions that are better fits for me but I know everyone doesn't have that luxury. Quite honestly it doesn't sound like the best place to work but that doesn't mean it isn't a place that will allow you to get some experience and move on. In the end though it is your decision. Best of luck!

Thanks for your advice! I did send a quick email and hopefully they will keep me in mind. Thanks again

I am a new grad and after applying to countless positions finally had an interview about a month ago. I thought it went well, I sent my thank-yous to everyone I interviewed with and was really hoping it would work it. I knew it was a bit of a long shot as it was not specifically a new grad position and there were they told me about 10 people they were interviewing for one position but it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, this morning I received this email from HR: Hi "MK86", Thank you for your interest and taking to time to speak with us in regards to our Staff Nurse position. We enjoyed speaking to you and appreciate your patience throughout our search process. We have made the difficult decision and have finally selected another candidate who we believe more closely matches what we are looking for in the position. We appreciate you interest in "St. Elsewhere Hospital" and wish you success in your search for future employment. Best Regards, "Tom the HR Manager" My question is should I follow up on this email thanking them in return? I am just thinking in the future if I apply there again because it is a hospital I would love to work in even if it is not possible right now.