luey87

To update. During the meeting with the union, the manager agreed to the proposition union suggested which included having me transferred to a different KP hospital. Unfortunately, per the union, HR did not agree to this and planned to terminate my employment after the week ends. I have turned in my resignation, per unions advice, to prevent from being ineligible for rehire in KP. I guess the silver lining is, despite what I went through in the past 3-4 weeks and now left without a job. The manager ensured I'm eligible for rehire in KP.

Thank you so much for the response and advice! Yes, you are correct. There is very little support from fellow nurses to a newcomer, especially when those nurses have worked in that unit for many years. I don't know why that is the case but I have learned that an environment like this usually has high turn over rates. I hope things get better for you. And thank you again!

I apologize for the very lengthy post. But if you have the patience to read and offer some advice, it would be very much appreciated. I am feeling great deal of distress. I received a job offer to work part time 0.8 in a Kaiser CV-ICU. Job posting requirements stated "One year recent experience in a Cardiovascular ICU or in a Critical Care Unit caring for post-operative cardiovascular surgery patients." It has always been my dream to work in a dedicated Cardiovascular ICU. Just some background information regarding my experience: 4 years mixed ICU (patient demographic includes treatment and caring for patient's with Sepsis, ARDS, Cardiac and Neuro patients). My experience in the cardiac aspect included taking care of patients CABG POD #1 (1 year), CABG POD 0 (3 with preceptor, 2 on my own with backup for resource) ECMO, IABP, management of PA catheters and hemodynamic monitor via Vigilance II monitor. I was completely transparent with the manager. As I got into the unit and the orientation, my manager gave me some advice to inform the preceptors that I have no prior experience in taking care of Open Heart patients. I did as I was told. My first week of orientation consisted of shadowing my am shift preceptor as my HealthConnect (Epic), GRASP and Glucose ID was not ready. I admit I could not independently take a two patient assignment at this time and was slow at task. My evaluation for the week was done by the manager and ANM (Assistant Nurse Manager) and they expressed concerns that my performance did not match my experience. "We expected you to take care of two patient's and it seems you are not able to do that." In addition, the manager accused me of not taking her seriously, I assured her that I did take everything she said very seriously. I explained my inability to have any access with Epic/GRASP/Glucose made it challenging to take care of two patient's independently, in addition to not being familiar with the hospitals policy/procedures. They agreed and expected better performance in the weeks to come. My second week, I worked my scheduled evening shift with two different preceptors. Everything seemed to be going better. Gained access to Epic and GRASP (still not Glucometer access). Independently took care of two patient's with the occasional question regarding their protocols. I asked for daily feedback regarding my performance from the preceptors and got them in writing. My preceptor #1 only concerns were how slow I am with charting and preceptor #2 is how quickly I finished charting and how she wanted me to do a more thorough assessment (assess extremity strength despite seeing them ambulate). I took all their criticism into consideration and adjusted accordingly. However, my second week evaluation with the Manager and ANM was worse than the first. They said "You are fabricating your assessment, slow to chart and you turned off patient alarms." I denied the fabrication of my assessments. I told them I may have failed to check the alarm setting but my preceptor educated me to check it regularly as some of their staff are notorious for turning off alarms. They said these comments are concerning as they feel I am unsafe and these are serious red flags. And I still have not met their expectations to taking care of patient's because my preceptors have expressed that they feel they still have to hold my hand. None of this was reported to me. I felt I was able to take care of two patients, titrated drips accordingly and finished tasks in a timely manner. They say that may be true but they don't feel I would know what critical values and conditions to report to the MD if faced with a situation. I requested for complete transparency from my preceptors and the ANM said "in a perfect world that would happen". All comments regarding my performance, the ANM said the preceptors would like to remain anonymous. They are giving me another week to deliberate but per my preceptor despite his opinion regarding my performance at bedside the manager seems to have made up her mind. Per the preceptor, the manager states "They don't want you to be the weak link in this unit." Despite the promised 5 week orientation the ANM compared what should be my training with that of travel RN hired in their facility, which is 1 day orientation in CVICU and 1 day in ICU. I have until next week for my evaluation. And will request union representation during the deliberation. I have started seeking new employment. But this whole ordeal is so dishearting. Begging for advice: 1) During the meeting, should I quit/ wait to be let go/ request an extension/ asked to be transferred? 2) Will this orientation hinder/affect any future applications in all Kaiser facility? 3) Should I include this orientation period in my resume?

Hi TurtleLittle. Hoping you get this message with a reply in time before my interview. I know this was posted on January 2015 but I was hoping you could give me some insight as to how the interview process with El Camino Hospital was for you. How was the panel interview process? What questions to expect? What patient demographic does their ICU mainly handle? Your feedback would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

I can't PM you I haven't made 15 post yet. Would it be okay if you PM me your email so that I may email you? Thanks! And sorry for the trouble.

Hi, congratulations! I was just wondering how long did you wait after your interview until they called and told you to have the calculation test? And how long after did you have an interview with the nursing manager? Thanks!

I was just wondering, how long after you had your interview did you receive a call/reply from them that you will be having an interview with the unit manager and having the calculation test? And were you called by your recruiter personally? Thanks!

Are they at least going to call to tell you you weren't chosen in the program?