catsmeow1972 BSN

Agreed. Very so often I think the same, but I don’t know what else to do that would not involve having to clean this mess up anyway. Depression got me here. None of its has exactly been what I’d call helpful. best I can do is a group hug to bird and OP. It will be over eventually for all of us and we will get there. Just gotta keep telling ourselves that. But yeah, it’s hard, no doubt about that.

I don’t have experience in school nursing. So there is that. But they knew that when they chose to interview me. And as far as the recovery thing, that’s been my whole thing...I got stuck in this tar pit over a mental health issue. That’s something you maintain, not recover from. Having “recovery” in the traditional definition shoved at me for the last 5+ years has been part of what is difficult for me to define in an interview without vomiting personal info. I am not an addict/alcoholic and when people see contract, that tends to be the immediate go to. So I come off as very uncomfortable and insecure. One of the people interviewing me was very familiar with IPN, so I got the “thanks for your honesty” bit. I bring it up in the interview because, it’s gonna come out anyway so I may as well...usually at the end after I sold myself on my skills and abilities. Problem with this is, I don’t think I really have the skills. Like I said, It’s okay if it’s a no go. I’m good with that. I’d honestly prefer the OR.

Sadly, that is the case now with so much of these now. I feel the same way. There is a slice of people that benefit from these programs and find them to be life/career saving. I think that was the original point. Now, for so many more that are sucked in for all the wrong reasons, like Oogie, we are computer generated numbers in a file folder, like a core measures checklist. Check all the boxes. Oogie, all your boxes have been checked and you’ve been signed off...out into the real world you go.....congrats, once again....

I do understand about the lab list not being up to date. I got dinged the day after Thankgiving. I was on the other side of the state with family for the holiday. I wasn’t leaving the state, so I didn’t do any monitoring interruption BS. After this long, I’ve concluded that unless it’s something of the magnitude of what you were doing, they can KMA on knowing every detail of my personal life. I’m not on parole nor do I wear an ankle bracelet. Anyway, naturally...guess what....so I have to tip toe downstairs and wake up my dad and get a ride to LabCorp. Check Affinity list for nearest one. Get there and nope, they’ve moved . Fortunately it was just across the street, but still. For what we pay these clowns, you think they could at least keep thier lists up to date. Even the tech at LabCorp was surprised that I got picked that day.

I guess it went well. I think I answered all the questions right. I was a group thing with the director of school health and a couple of the nurses. Honestly, if they pick someone else, I won’t be hurt. I really don’t feel like I’m the best person for the job. It just makes me so angry that I feel as though I am reduced to applying for jobs that I don’t feel I’m qualified for and am not sure I want. The director said she’ll call me next week when she makes a decision wether it’s positive or negative. I’m not holding my breath and y’know, that’s okay.

Not worried about the pay cut. The idea is supplemented by the M-F and 10 month schedule. I can find something to do with the rest of the time. Once the contract trash is gone, I can certainly PRN somewhere. interview is tomorrow. Trying not to be negative but I hope it’s not another waste of a morning.

I would wait until you have your license in hand. If said license states clear and active (IE..this agreement does not reflect on your license then you stand a better chance of landing an interview (as in making it through the HR gauntlet.) It’s utterly ridiculous but it seems that a department can want you so bad they can taste it, contract and all, but can get overruled by paper pushers in HR. I’m not in TX, but it sounds like it’s a case of this is confidential UNLESS you fail to complete the order. I should think that the agreement would not kick in until you get employment, then you must work the 64 hours/month. i agree with babychickens. Concentrate on passing your NCLEX. Table the job hunt for the moment. Once you have that shiny new license and see if anything even shows on it publicly (I would wager that it does not) start looking. At that point you can explain better what accommodation you will need. As a you are new grad nurse, I bet it will not be much on the employer’s part. You will be in orientation for a solid couple months and you won’t be doing any charge sort of thing. I doubt you have med pass restrictions, etc. last of all...BREATHE!!!! You got through nursing school, right? You can do this. You will pass your boards and you will get a job! Regardless of board order nonsense. Got it? Good.

Ditto. They have us by the cojones in regards to this. I have developed the habit of doing that delightful check in at precisely 4am every. ******. Morning (Monday to Friday, anyway). If I gotta go, I will hold it till 7am and be at LabCorp when they unlock the door. Then I can be on my merry way without worrying about a dilute or what have you. Uncomfortable as heck but no way will I let them gig me this close to the end. It’s been a long horrible 5+ year sentence for sins I never committed and I will NOT do this a second longer than I must. Here, I have heard of 3rd party labs that are open later but there is a surcharge on top of what Affinity hits us for ( which I already think is obscene) and there’s another set of hands on the specimen on its way to LabCorp...which increases the likelihood of a screw up....which of course will be our fault. As Perse says, we are required ‘ask/tell Mom and Dad’ if we are traveling out of the area. I don’t know that they’ve ever denied anyone’s plans but I think just the specter of control that they “could” is bad enough. We are also required to provide a “recovery plan” though there’s been minimal to no guidance on exactly what that is especially for those of us who have nothing to recover from. Either way, the complete lack of support and guidance is par for the course. You’ve signed the contract. It’s unfair and not right, but they do have you over a barrel. They don’t believe a word we say and it behooves you to protect yourself and not trust them any further than you can kick them. They can point to the contract and say ‘them’s the rules, we just enforce them.” Drastic to make you start over, yes. Even here, there’s latitude for a single dilute towards the end (so they say, see above about trusting) but for missing, I don’t know. I am sorry, it does bite. I hope you get some resolution that does not involve more time in this hades.

Has anyone been able to get into a school nursing job with a contract? I ask because I filled out an app for the job (in my state, school nurses are state department of health employees) and they actually called me for an interview. I’m so very very close to the end of this nightmare, have no stips that would interfere with the job (or heck any job for that matter). I don’t know if they’ve looked at the license (there’s the public discipline on there). The app did not ask anything about prior license suspensions etc. I’m just quite tired of interviewing, getting my hopes up and then, screechh...nope...no job for you. I dunno. I have my BSN. The job description looks to be a supervisory sort of thing. I guess I qualify. I wonder if they’ve just looked at “oh an application, yayyy, let’s interview her!!” I can’t help but worry if it’ll be another kick to the curb because of the dumb contract. I may get in there and decide it’s something I totally do not want to do also. So there’s that....

this^^^ Having been chained to this hell for a snip over 5 years now and soon to be done, thank the deity of your choosing, I can tell you that it is difficult find an NP program for this very reason. I tried a few and was steered toward the informatics road because clinical hours are minimal. The thing is I don’t/didn’t want to do informatics. Where programs say they want an ‘unencumbered’ license, I think it is because they consider you a liability by representing thier program while under contract (even though you are finding your own clinical site.) which I guess kinda makes sense, I suppose. What you might try is waiting until you only have a year of this albatross left. If you can present to a program with more time behind you than in front of you, it looks better. i don’t know what state you are in but here in Florida, University of Central Florida is known to work with us. Their NP program is online too, with a couple of different tracks.

From my experience, IPN does not put much stock in statements that are not from thier stable of evaluators. Please correct me if I am wrong but you made a bad judgement call, got UA’d at work and fell into the clutches of IPN. Drinking prior to the evaluation, in my opinion was probably not the best move, but I am not judging you. Wether or not you feel you have an issue with alcohol is for you to decide and act accordingly. With all of this, getting out with a 2 year contract, you were extremely fortunate. Most people seem to get 5 for breathing funny. I don’t know about the NC program but a good start would be to contact them and ask. You’ve got nothing to lose. If you want to transfer your license to there, you would have to enroll anyway. Asking for a new evaluation might be a crapshoot. You risk winding up with more time in hades. It sounds stupid, but then a lot of this is stupid. If NC isn’t run as shady as Florida is, you could be okay. whatever may be, don’t give up. This does not last forever. I know people in NP school that are inmates of these programs and still make it through. Deep breath. Call the NC program and get some information. It will be okay. You enjoyed nursing. You will enjoy it again....

Congrats! Another one realeased from this hell.

I find the last 5+ years to have been a giant exercise in irony. Here’s my course on stress management— lesson 1: don’t get bamboozled into the organized crime-like rackets that are the current variations of these programs in the first place.

I really wanted to label this “The sneaky underhandedness of Affinity.” Am I the only one that thinks it’s sleazy that when you hand over the pound of flesh to Affinty, you have to scroll down and manually opt out of them retaining your credit card information? I don’t trust these people (or frankly anything related to this ****) any further than I can kick them. I sure as heck don’t want my financial info, or rather what’s left of it in thier hands. I’ve lost my wallet and such before. I’m kinda prickly about where my credit card numbers are and such. The one time I neglected to tick that little box, I called them and was told “IT would have to take care it.” It took 2 days.

I’m beginning to wonder. I have applied to every ******* hospital within a reasonable (and a few unreasonable) driving distance for an OR job since that’s the only the thing I know how to do. Every single one has said thanks but no thanks. The one that is known to be IPN friendly, I shot myself in the foot by not wanting them to contact a couple of former employers (had my reasons.) Apparently raised red flags to them. In hindsight, it wouldn’t have mattered as they wouldn’t have said anything anyway. Nobody does anymore with risk of libel and all. At least they had the courtesy to call me and let me know that. My one attempt on the floor told me I’m not a floor nurse. I dunno, maybe it was that floor. Maybe I should try again... All I know is that I need a job. I’m going stir crazy. I have 199 more days of this prison sentence but nobody seems to care that there’s no employer related stipulations. If I ever get back to the level of comfort and confidence I once had, it will be nothing short of a miracle.