RNmomFirst

I graduated in September 2011 while I was pregnant with my 2nd child. I took time off until after I delivered in February of last year. I know this isn't quite as long as you, however I landed a job and was hired in April. My advice is to find out who the nursing recruiter is and keep bugging them. If they know you are persistent and grow tired of hearing from you, they'll give you a chance. I know a couple of my fellow classmates had to do this but both got hired at another hospital. Good Luck!!

Thanks for all of your input! I appreciate everyone taking the time to post. A bit more of my background: After getting off orientation, I worked maybe 3 weeks when I messed up my back and had to have surgery. I was then off for 2 months. I came back for a few more weeks when census dropped at our hospital and I was off for over a month by being put on call. The low census is what prompted this change to Resource Pool. They said it would be an opportunity for more hours. The problem is this: we signed on to work on our respective floors as casual employees,..we knew that by being casual, we would be the first to be put on call, and therefore lose hours. My husband makes descent money and I really don't need to work for the monetary benefit...I just love people and want to make a difference in their lives. The stress of going to work everyday not knowing where I am going to be, never having my "same group of patients" back the next day, learning where everything is on the different units, different doctors, different skill sets, different co-workers.... I am a creature of habit and don't take change very well I suppose. I feel like this job should come with a prescription for Xanax! lol. And even though I don't NEED the money, I think it is only right that they pay float nurses a little more on the hour since there is really no consistency and they can "use" us how they see fit. Especially since they are not paying us any extra for not receiving actual benefits. Am I wrong to be aggravated?

Yes, we get pulled sometimes to other units as well. However, this new "Resource Pool" is supposed to cut down on getting pulled to another floor. The resource nurses will be pulled first. I didn't sign on to be a float pool nurse though....and if I have no choice, shouldn't float pool at least get a pay increase? How much more do float pool nurses make at your hospital than regular floor nurses?

Hello everyone! I am a new nurse that got hired on at a local hospital as a floor nurse on a medical unit in April. I look a "casual" position but work part-time hours. As a casual employee, I can pick my schedule but receive no benefits. This was ideal because I had just had my second child in February and my husband makes his own schedule as well. Although I receive no benefits, I get no pay increase. :(Here is my dilemma: About a month ago, all the casual RN's were called into a meeting with the D.O.N. long with some of the Nursing Supervisors and some HR staff. This meeting was to inform us that we would now be in a "Resource Pool". They would divide us into Clusters and Levels. Clusters, being a Med-Surg cluster including Oncology, Medical and Surgical. A critical care cluster, including ED, ICU and IMU. And the last cluster being all of OB, Peds and women's services. Levels would be how competent we are on each floor/unit. They denied it being a so-called Float pool and instead are calling it a resource pool so that they can get away with not paying any extra! Has anyone else heard of such a thing? We have another meeting this Wednesday and I would live to hear from some of you on this subject before then. D.O.N claims that research shows that many hospitals are doing this with their casual employees to maximize their resources. I would love to gather my own research on this matter to present to her. No one is happy about this and several have quit already. Being a new nurse, I am very nervous about not knowing where I will be until I go to work that morning.