maddox11

Thanks for the responses. The only reason I brought up that the patient was asking me about when I started..how long I have been working there..etc is because the other nurses told me if they know I'm new than they are really gonna try to pull all the stunts they can with me. I am new to the job but have worked in detox before. At my last job I was very pregnant and we basically stayed behind the nurses station constantly, which I think curbed any similar comments. I was also on the phone quite a bit so patient interaction was quite minimal. At this job there is a lot more interaction, which I do like. I am aware that these kinds of comments come up no matter what area you work in, but I do feel like it happens slightly more frequently in the mental health setting. To the first poster, thanks for the specific examples. I am definitely going to utilize those. I'm sure they will be effective in delivering the message :-)

I just got a job on a detox unit. I have been orienting on the unit this week. I did have a patient who was giving me inappropriate compliments. (Nothing crazy or horridly obscene....just enough to make me feel a bit uncomfortable.) i just wanted to know how you respond to such things. For example, this patient told me I was cute twice and was asking if I was new and when I started. What do you say to draw an adequate boundary without being mean? I want to be very blunt about it so it does not keep occurring. Thank you.

I just applied about 3 days ago for the 2014 Duke new grad program for the birthing center...ldr post partum position. The deadline was yesterday. Does anyone know how long it will take for them to process my application and let me know if I have an interview or not? I have checked the status like 20 times today! lol. so anxious to see if they would consider me for the position. Thanks

I recently applied for the new grad program at duke university hospital. It is for a position in the birthing center. Is anyone familiar with this process? What are they looking for in potential candidates? I am from RI and have an ADN. I graduated with highest honors. I am extremely interested in obstetrical nursing...that was my biggest reason for applying to this program. But I am so willing to relocate for a position in this specialty. Any advice or suggestions? Does anyone know how long it takes from the time you apply until you are contacted to interview??The suspense is killing me already.

@tokyorose I am in the same boat you were in..unfortunately. All my classmates are getting jobs and I don't even get called for an interview!!! So incredibly frustrating!! I also graduated at the top of my class, but I now realize that it means nothing.I just did the whole stalker style email to a nurse manager. Hopefully I will hear something. I have a ?..did you get any callbacks or offers from hospitals that did not have any active positions listed? There is a local hospital that I would do anything I can do to work at, but they have had no active job opportunities posted for almost a year. This is the hosp that I just did the stalker email to s nurse manager...I just don't know if its worth it to keep doing w other unit managers of the same hosp if they are not hiring. What do you think?

Thanks for replying. You have to sign a 2 year contract if you are offered the job...but otherwise, goof point. I was just trying to show how sincere my desire is to do this. I hate that I stumbled across this position right before the deadline. Wish I had more time to really think about the cl more. Hopefully they aren't just looking at this...but my actual app and resume as well.

I in no way put that I am a perfect person...didnt know what I wrote translated to that. I meant it is I am a great candidate for this position bc of xyz. And all the job posting said is "license to practice in "state" or one of the compact states. Since the actual application that I filled out did not even ask about license details, I figured I would add that.Thanks for the extreme criticism though ;-)

Thank you very much. Thats why it is so nice to have another set of eyes take a look. I reread it so many times I feel like I am going cross-eyed. I will definitely shorten it up.

Update..I actually just changed it all around so if you could critique this copy I would appreciate it! Hope its better and not worse than the original. To Whom It May Concern, Your advertisement on the xxxxxxx website for the New Graduate program in the xxxxx Birthing Center captured my attention and motivated me to learn more about this healthcare opportunity. The positive environment at xxxxxxxxx Hospital will provide me with a great opportunity to utilize and perfect my skills while contributing to the healthcare community, patients, and their families. I have a strong interest in Obstetrical nursing, and find that caring for women and newborns is the most rewarding area of nursing I have experienced. I know it is my passion and something I must pursue. I am so determined to pursue this specialty that I am willing to make the commitment and move over ten hours away from where I have resided my entire life. Aside from my unlimited perseverance, I am very passionate about nursing in general, and took my education very seriously as indicated by my academic achievements. Also, I currently hold a license to practice as a Registered Nurse in the state of Rhode Island, which is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact. All of these positive attributes make me the perfect candidate for this position. Thank you for giving my resume careful consideration. However, my application can only tell you a little about my enthusiasm. I look forward to speaking with you soon to discuss possible future employment. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. I can be reached anytime during the week to schedule an interview at xxx xxx xxxx. Sincerely, xxxxxxxxxxxx

I am applying for a position for a new grad program to work in post partum/LDR. Can anyone please just review it and give me any suggestions? I kind of had to throw it together quickly. I just came across the opportunity online and the deadline to apply is 1/13....2 days away. Thanks in advance!!! To Whom It May Concern, Your advertisement on the xxxxxxxx website for the New Graduate program captured my attention and motivated me to learn more about this healthcare opportunity. I have a strong interest in Obstetrical nursing, and find that caring for women and newborns is the most rewarding area of nursing I have experienced. The environment at xxxxxxx Hospital will provide me with a great opportunity to utilize and perfect my skills while contributing to the healthcare community, patients, and their families. Working as a nurse in an obstetrical setting requires an accepting nature of cultural diversity. It also requires the ability to provide competent and sensitive nursing care to individuals from a vast array of situations and backgrounds. Although I do not have experience working with this population outside of my educational clinical rotations, I knew it was my passion and something I must pursue. I am determined to pursue this specialty area of nursing so much so that I am willing to make the commitment and move over 10 hours away from where I have resided my entire life. I find that there is nothing more rewarding than taking part in and witnessing the very moment that a mother meets her child, or helping a new mother learn how to breastfeed. Thank you for giving my resume careful consideration. However, my application can only tell you a little about my enthusiasm. I look forward to meeting with you soon to discuss possible future employment. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. I can be reached anytime during the week to schedule an interview at xxx xxx xxxx.

I have actually been looking into some of the things that you have advised. I am looking into attending a LLL meeting. I am currently breastfeeding and could use the help anyways, since my little guy has milk protein allergies and suspected other allergies. I don't want to jump the gun and sign up to be a leader as I do not know what that entails and would like to learn about it more before considering. As far as OB offices, they all want you to have prior experience. I keep checking all the advertisements online though for such positions. There are no freestanding birthing centers in RI. They are all within hospitals.. And all the hospitals in RI seem to be in such a fud right now. One is not hiring any nurses right now, and the other is only hiring level II nurses which I would not be considered as I only have detox experience. All of the other hospitals, as I think I stated in the original post have not contacted me for an interview at all. On Monday morning I am actually planning on putting on my interview clothes and marching down to the HR office of one of the hospitals in my area that I have put an unimaginable number of applications in within the last year and asking for an interview. Last night I sent an email to HR at a CT hospital that is an hour away. Waiting to here back from them. I also just signed up for linkedin and making a profile on there. Nothing can hurt at this point..right? I don't even care if it is not OB. I just want a position somewhere, in a hospital setting. I am yearning to get my feet wet and make the most out of my education. Its funny how the times change. So much changes. When I was in school so many of the older nurses would tell me how they felt bad for all the new grads that are unable to get jobs right now. They said how when they graduated they were literally begged by employers and even offered sign on bonuses. My mom always reminds me that it is just a revolving trend and eventually the circle will come around again and things will change. I just can't help but get a little dismayed after a while.

Thanks for your response. I just had a baby myself, so as soon as I can get some time I plan on volunteering at my local hospital. The reason I didn't do it before is because you have to make a 4 month commitment, and when I was working per diem I found it impossible to make a commitment like that or else I would never be able to pick up any shifts. But I really thank you for your input. You are right; anything that is worth it does not come easy.

Thanks for the reply. I just decided to write a thank you note to both the HR generalist and the nurse manager who interviewed me. I figure at this point in couldn't hurt. I also sent them both an email just thanking them for the opportunity.

Hey everyone. Just or a little background, I graduated in May 2013 and got a job at a small detox facility, per diem. It's really a crazy place to work so I have been searching for another job. I have applied for positions in LTC, maternity, medsurg, psych, detox, ortho, onc, anything and everything. So to make a long story short, I finally got called for an interview on a detox unit in a general hospital. I researched the facility and I wrote down a bunch of possible interview questions and I thought out answers and just reviewed them before the interview. I am a very honest person and cannot make up a load of crap...so the answers I had composed to the most common interview questions were genuine and well thought out. So fast forward to the interview..I get there and first I am interviewing with someone from HR. She was extremely nice and asked me the basics...what I saw myself doing in 10 years...tell me about {the job I have now}, etc. I felt that it went exceptionally well. She then said I would be going downstairs to interview with the nurse manager of the unit. I really didn't get too worked up at that point. So she walked me downstairs, introduced me to the nurse manager, and I feel like for some reason I dropped the ball from there. The first few questions were fine. She wanted to know what meds we use for detox at my current job, and what the clients do there on a daily basis, etc. I answered those questions fine. Then something happened during my interview and I feel this may have threw me off. There was a knock at her office door and it was a Dr. from the unit. She got up and was talking with him at the door, but she said it was too loud and for him to step in. He stepped in and closed the door and they were discussing this big incident that apparently happened there. I am not sure what it was exactly about. But he was just saying, "this can never happen again! For that patient it was like the nightmare on elm street!" And she told him to go away because she was interviewing a nurse (me) for 3rd shift position and that he was going to scare me away. While that really didn't scare me away, it just broke my train of thought. I was kind of wondering what they were talking about, and also, I was SO THIRSTY!! My mouth was extremely dry and I just felt distracted. I was staring at the mints on her table. I so wanted one because my mouth was so dry but I didn't dare. lol. The Dr. went on about his business and she sat back down and picked up my resume and was carefully looking at it. Under my job duties I had written that I was responsible for ensuring the safety of the clients and medically monitoring their detox... she read that statement and asked me what it meant. I completely stuttered and she was just staring at me. But then I got out that we have to monitor them to make sure they are not in danger of seizures or anything related to withdrawal and I gave an example about checking Blood alcohol levels and making sure they are not increasing. And she said yea and what else are you going to monitor? And after a few seconds I said vital signs...blood pressure, and pulse specifically. It was apparent that I got nervous. Then she asked me why she should hire me. I had this all written down and went over it before the interview, but what I said had nothing to do with what I wrote and I have no idea why I decided to say the lousy answer I said. I just said she could count on me and I have experience working with this population...basically I did the same thing with the next question...she asked me what about my personality and I just feel like I could have given a much better answer and I just screwed up. She closed the interview by saying they still had 2 more people to interview and she would let me know. She gave me her card and told me to call with any questions. But then she said something kind of strange that I cannot figure out if it is a good or a bad thing...as she was walking me out to the lobby she shook my hand and said something like we will let you know, don't worry. Does don't worry mean that I have the job or does it indicate something else? Should I call her or the HR lady who first interviewed me and ask if they have made a decision or should I just wait? The interview was Tuesday night and it is Thursday. I want this job so bad and I want to appear very interested, but not like a haunt. And can someone explain to me why my brain strayed off the path and I did not go with what I had originally wanted to say? I feel like if I said what I had planned I would have been hired on the spot =[ I know I kind of rushed to answer the questions which was dumb. I should have thought about what I was going to say before I said it. I think that was mistake #1. Sorry its such a long post, I just feel kind of down and I need some advice/support. THANKS

Hey everyone, I am new to this site and have some questions. I graduated in may of 2013 and got my RN license shortly after. I have a passion for obstetrical nursing and my goal is to work on a post partum/mother-baby unit. (but realistically I would take any position in the obstetrical setting, or even NICU.There is a very well known hospital in my area that is dedicated to caring for women and newborns. However, they have not posted positions for RNs in almost a year. Its very discouraging. Especially since they are new grad and ASN friendly. Its just the current times I guess. I actually had a baby and was a patient at this hospital a few months back. The nurses there told me how they are so understaffed, and the hospital has been utilizing traveling nurses due to the fact that they don't have to give them any type of benefits. There was literally 1 position that was posted a few months back. I composed a very nice cover letter and resume and applied, but didn't hear anything. So my question is this; what can I do to enhance my application since I do not have any experience in this specialty? I wondered if it would be a good idea to get NRP &/or EFM certification? Or I was wondering if it would be at all helpful to me to become a member of the AWHONN?I'm thinking the AWHONN membership would be more valuable... I know that the hospitals typically have you do the other certs within a certain time after you are hired. I've just been kind of down in the dumps lately because since graduating I could only find a job in a small detox facility and all I do is pass out po meds and do admissions. I feel like I am definitely not getting the most out of my edu. Please do not think that I feel like I should be entitled and just enter into my desired specialty upon getting my license... I have applied for positions in every area possible...psych, med surg, Ortho, ltc, etc. I have not gotten any calls. And also, the other hospitals in my area would not even consider a new grad for LDR...i even contacted one HR person and they said they are just in no position to train a new grad. :-(How can I get any type of experience if no one will give me a chance?!?!?