skyheaven477

Ok thank you. It is a very unfortunate situation. Never again will I work by myself in a unit because all the blame fall on that one nurse, fault or not.

I am in a very tough situation. I have been a nurse for 4 years and have been working at a specialty hospital in NYC. I am the only nurse in my unit, have no support from the managers and get blamed for the doctor's mistakes. I am constantly being scrutinized and made to feel incompetent by my nurse managers. They constantly call me into the office with one complain after the other, it is non stop and exhausting. They say that I am doing a great job but turn around and write me up. They gave me several final warnings for documentation due to doctors falling to document and missing dates in insurance forms. I have grieved every single discipline but the professional harrassment never stops, it just gets worse. The Union is now telling me to get a new job elsewhere before they fire me. I luckily have found another job. Now I don't know if I should quit without notice or give the 4 weeks notice like the Union/HR suggest. The Union also said that my employer can fire me or suspend me even after giving 4 weeks. I feel so lost and professionally violated. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Very Sad Nurse :-(

I currently work per diem/day shift with a full time schedule in an ambulatory unit. It is a small hospital and they aren't currently hiring full time. A few nurses may retire in the next year or so but no one knows. It is a straight forward job, not really bedside care but pre-operative assessments instead. As a per diem I get to float to a med-surg floor from time to time. It is a great job with minimal stress compared to my classmate's jobs but since I work per diem I do not have benefits. I really love my patients and co-workers. I look forward to going to work. I have been a nurse for about a year and a half, so I am fairly new to the profession. Just recently, I got interviewed at a major hospital here in NYC for a full time position, working nights 7pm-7am. It will be in a med-surg floor. The job has great benefits. I will be learning tons and tons. I am prepared for the challenge if I get hired, since I have never worked nights before and I know there will be some stress involved (more acute cases). I plan on keeping my per diem job too and working a few times a month to keep my status. I like the job that much. I am just trying to figure out how it would work out when I decide to start a family which may be in the next year or so. My co-workers at the per diem job tell me to hold off on going on any more job interviews for full time positions and make sure to keep working there so I could have a better chance of getting hired full time with them (since someone might be retiring next year). At the same time hospital jobs are hard to find these days and it would be great to have this med-surg full time experience. Any advice or suggestions are highly appreciated. Thank you.

The pay is about the same. The job requires loads of paperwork to be completed, it is in care management. I did not end up taking the job. I currently don't have any benefits because I work per diem with a full time schedule in an ambulatory pre-op unit, it is a great job. I am waiting on someone to retire on my unit with the hope of getting that job, so far no word on when this person is doing so.

I work in an ENT hospital as a per diem nurse. I work in ambulatory care and float to a med surg unit. So far so good. I have a full schedule with this job, although at times I get cancelled. I have been a nurse for a little bit over a year and have been in this position for one year, no benefits. The hospital is not hiring FT anytime soon. I recently got offered a FT position as care manager for a nursing home company. It is a desk job with full benefits. M-F. I am undecided and need to decide soon, any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

It's not in a hospital, it's working for a nursing home company as a care manager.

I decided to keep my per diem job. It is a risky move but by doing so I am adding time to seniority while I keep my clinical skills. I really love my per diem job, the differences I make in people's lives and my co workers. I get to float around different units too. There might be a few FT positions opening up in the future which I plan to pursue when they become available. I am going with my heart on this one, the health insurance part-I still need to figure out.

I heard that too. I wonder if it would open the possibility of finally getting my foot in a hospital.

Calling all nurses, I have been a nurse for 1.5 years. My first job as a nurse was working full time as a field nurse for six months because the company that I was working for went out of business. Shortly after I got hired at a small hospital working in ambulatory care. I still have the job but it's per diem. The hospital is not currently hiring full time. Some weeks are really good and I work everyday and other weeks are dreadful. It is currently my only job and I have been working there for 9 months, I work all shifts. I have been applying to full time positions In hospital jobs but no one seems to want to hire me because I don't have too much RN experience. Just recently a friend who works in care management spoke to her boss about me and they are offering me a full time position with great benefits but it's not in a hospital. I am afraid I would lose my clinical skills. Also, my husband (currently unemployed and on disability) and I are thinking of starting a family next year. I am not that young, late thirties.There is so much to consider. What to do? Any advice would be highly appreciated. Nervous Nelly Nurse

I have been a nurse for almost two years and I am still struggling to get a FT job which is my goal. I did homecare for a little bit until the company went out of business. I currently work on a prn basis in an inpatient med-surg floor but often get cancelled. I have applied to so many FT positions without any luck. Just recently I got offered to interview with Interfaith Medical Center. Although I am originally from NYC I am not very familiar with this area. I hear they are having financial difficulties and might or might not close or even possibly merge with another hospital. My main concern is safety, I hear Bed-Stuyvesant is a dangerous area. Any information will be appreciated as I will not want to miss an opportunity. Sad Nurse

Thank you for your response, we are both per diem nurses though.

I have been working for six months as a per diem nurse. I was told that this particular floor was my priority and I should consider that before floating to other floors. I had no problem with that until the NM went back on her word and simply told me that a floating nurse hired on another floor was priority instead. I had a minor disagreement with the NM about this and now she is not calling me to work in my main floor (floor that I was originally hired). The thing is that I am very available and I hardly ever say no when called in for a shift, I am reliable and work well with my peers. I pay union dues every paycheck and I am being told by FT nurses that I have no right to speak up because they will not call me to work and that I have no power or say in the situation. Then why am I paying union dues?? I have NYSNA and I seem unable to get a straight answer from them. Please help.

I was there too, some of the neighborhoods were not the safest and the company refused to provide a security escort, I worked past my work hours and always had paperwork that I had to finish at home. On my last day I had no choice but to sleep at the office since I needed to complete every single document before I walked out. Also, the nurse to patient ratio was unreasonable but all in all the patient's stole my heart. I still think of them.

Thank you, I ended taking the job offer and it taught me a lot about nursing in a home care setting. Unfortunately, the company went out of business in the six months that I was there. I now work in a hospital in a medical surgical floor and ambulatory care.

I graduated from a 4 year college, BSN and this is my second Bachelor's.

Hello Nurses, I work per diem in a hospital, no benefits of course. I enjoy my job very much and I am waiting for a full time position to open up in my unit. Who knows when that will be, but I am optimistic. In the meantime, I truly need health insurance but I can't afford the high premiums. I recently graduated from nursing school and I am paying a few loans, credit cards, etc. I am a single female living in NYC. I shopped around for private insurance and it is too expensive. Cobra is twice as much as a private insurance. I called my union and they don't offer health insurance for per diem nurses. I don't qualify for the obamacare enrollment because my income surpasses what they require. My hospital will charge me as much as the private insurances if I decide to buy from them. Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. Baby Nurse

Thank you, yes that would be my next step at this stage of the game.

Thank you so much for your feedback! :-) Food for thought.

Hi all, I have been working per diem for almost six months now and I truly enjoy my position. The full time positions were not available at the time of hire and I accepted the per diem position at the time. I work as much as a full time nurse but no benefits. I don't work on holidays or weekends. I am waiting on a specific full time position to open up in my unit. I enjoy working with my peers and love my unit. I work with pediatric ambulatory patients. As per diem I also get to work in other floors or units. I am currently also working per diem in an adult medsurg floor. This are some of the advantages about being a per diem nurse and as a new nurse I am also gaining tremendous experience. My only dilemma is not having health insurance (and benefits too). Recently an evening position opened up in the medsurg floor where I work per diem. It is an evening position from 400pm-12am, working holidays and two weekends out of the month. It is up for grabs and I have been encouraged to apply but I will lose my per diem status and the possibility of working in my pediatric ambulatory unit in the future. I was told by my manager (pediatric-ambulatory unit) that if I accept the evening position in the medsurg floor then I will not be guaranteed a full time position if one does open up in the pediatric ambulatory unit. I feel very confused and a bit stressed out because I truly enjoy working with the children in an ambulatory setting but the medsurg position is full time and comes with benefits. I truly need the health insurance. Any suggestions or guidance are truly appreciated. Thank you so much for all of your help and God Bless. Baby Nurse

Hello All, I am fairly a new nurse and started working six months ago at a home care company. This is my first job as a nurse. I earn a great salary, work full time with benefits but I have been a bit discouraged with the company lately. They recently have been laying off people due to budget cuts within the company and many of them great nurses. This has caused my case load to increase and I have been working late every night and weekends because I am trying to catch up on paperwork. I hardly see my family anymore plus I feel this company is now unpredictable. Therefore, I started applying to other jobs and just recently got offered a per diem job at a hospital working with ambulatory patients. They are willing to train me one on one because they really need someone to fill this position. If I decide to take the job then I will be working a full time schedule but without the benefits. I will be paying union dues. They explained that they offer their full time positions to staff already working there and if I was interested in full time then they would consider me as soon as a position would become available. I am feeling a bit confused and would appreciate any help or feedback on this subject. Home care job vs Hospital?? I am looking for stability and to grow in one place rather than jumping from job to job. New Nurse

Hi FLNurseGuy, I am sorry about your situation. I can totally relate to the desperation and frustration of trying to apply to jobs hoping to get a call for at least an interview. I am in New York City and being such a large city makes it more competitive to find the right job among the hundreds of new graduates (me included). I have also applied to so many positions that I have lost count, it has been probably 300 or more. I did managed to get a handful of interviews with a few hospitals or by just walking to their HR and dropping my resume but they all used the same line " we are looking for an RN with experience ". I started to feel even more discouraged to learn that at least 70% of my graduating class already found jobs in hospitals and full time. It is not that I am not happy for them, it is just that I started to feel that maybe something was wrong with me or something. Because after all, didn't we graduate from the same school? I found out that about half of those employed at hospitals were referred by a very close relative or friend or used to work there during nursing school. Just to give you an update since I wrote this post, I have been looking for work actively for three months since I got my NCLEX results and finally landed a job in homecare. It is not my dream job but I am going to try it out and see how it all unfolds. My advice to you is to continue to persevere and stay positive. And to believe that you will find your first nursing job pretty soon because you will, you just might need to try different approaches and become a little creative with your job search. The volunteering option is a good way to get your work ethics noticed. Perhaps you could also try stopping by different clinics or hospitals in your area, call them directly, spread the word to your family and friends. I hope you all the best with your job search and yes you can do it!

I understand your point. However, I am in a predicament here where I depend on no one but myself, bills are pilling up and loans are starting to kick in and I have been actively looking for several months for a hospital job without any success. I have to take this job because I have to start somewhere and need to start working as soon as possible. It is not my dream job but I feel I have no choice.

I agree with you a tons. They actually are providing me with an orientation (not sure how long yet) and I will be working with a nurse or two for a while until I feel comfortable on my own. Also, there is always an RN on call at the office should I need help or have any questions.

I would assess the patient's environment for safety concerns, educate the patient, nurse aids, immunizations, dressings, trachs, vitals, etc... The patients are mostly geriatrics and disabled.

I have been looking for work for almost 7 months since graduation, never worked as an rn before and have applied everywhere. I have also been to several interviews and I have been looking actively for that "hospital" job without success. I speak a few languages and have some healthcare experience but not in nursing. I live in new york city. Finally a company is contemplating hiring me full-time to work as a community health nurse in home care. I will be oriented and shadowing an experienced nurse until I feel comfortable on my own. The cases would range from sub-acute to acute. This is so unplanned because I have been trying to get into a hospital and never even considered this non hospital possibility until now. My question is, is it becoming more common for new graduates to do community nursing/home care? Also, would hospitals consider my experience in the event I decide to pursue a career in a hospital setting later on? Frantic baby nurse aka skyheaven477