Really Neeeed Help`and Info!!!!please Post!!!

jean333 · Nov 21, 2007

Hi,

I feel for you really. I have been job hunting in NY for a little while and everyone wants 1 yr experience. Well hello how are we suppose to get it ? I don't want to work with an agency going from job to job. I send out my resume to all of them even if they want experience, you have nothing to lose. I don't know much about agency's??? I have 3 interviews in the next week. One in a family practice, One for a cardio office and the other with a hospital. I got the 3 calls within a 24 hour span. Another thing I have done is just go hit every place that hire LPN'S and drop off a resume. Its important to have a good resume. Good Luck.

Jean

sleepyndopey · Nov 21, 2007

Ok, I worked in a hospital for about a year 1/2 before I went to an agency and guess what? It was awful. I was NOT prepared for LTC. It is a totally different world and you NEED experience (time management, etc) to get through the day.

Agency nurses are usually given the worst assignment, you need to be prepared for that. Now, of course you need to make money. Try an agency that will agree to send you to strictly private duty cases(they usually give a shift of orientation). In the meantime, you need to find a job where you will get a proper orientation.

Now, I know that is easier said than done. Here's what you do. Get a ton of resumes together. Consult your phone book and make a list of all nursing home/rehabs within an acceptable driving distance from your home. Call each facility and make a list of each facilities director of nursing. Go, IN PERSON, to each facility. Dress like you are going for an interview and sell yourself to the DON. Do the same for the area hospitals. Find the recruiter and make yourself known. Make sure you bring all your info with you, licence, SScard, etc. Be prepared to fill out applications. Have all your info on index cards so you don't have to fumble through the application.

You cannot just fill out applications and sit back and wait, you MUST be proactive.

If you meet with the DON, send a thank you card-THAT DAY. They will remember you. Wouldn't you hire someone who acted like they really wanted the job?

As far as the CEUs go, I know you have to do certain ones(my sister is an LPN in Tampa). I think the BON gives you that info. Call them and find out. But seriously, you can put that on the back burner for awhile. Concentrate on getting a job first.

Now, go do what I said. You should have a job within 2 weeks.

Good luck.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 21, 2007

Agency is not a good place for a new grad to start.

When an agency sends you to a facility, the people at the facility will expect you to jump right in there and function maximally without any orientation or questions. After all, the facility is paying the agency a huge amount of money for you to be there, and you'll be paid more per hour than the regular staff nurses. Don't expect to be able to ask the staff nurses questions about how to do a procedure or complete paperwork, because they typically won't help you, since many are resentful that you're being paid more than them. Agency nurses tend to get slammed with the hardest, most complicated assignments, because the facility is paying the big bucks for you to be there, so they might as well work you to the bone.

A good agency nurse needs to be experienced, skilled, adaptable, and able to jump into any healthcare situation while functioning maximally. In other words, agency nurses need to be at the top of their game. Unfortunately, new grads are typically not at the top of their game, and lack the experience required to function fully in any situation.

A recent poster, who is a newer grad with only 3 months of experience, picked up an agency job as her very first position out of nursing school. The agency sent her to a school to work alongside a school nurse. The new grad was lacking in some skills (of course), and asked the school nurse how to give a breathing treatment. The school nurse responded, "I'm not going to tell you, because that's something you should already know."

The school nurse reported this agency nurse to the state BON for not giving the breathing treatment.

I'd recommend 1 year of either acute care or long term care before doing any agency work.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 21, 2007

A recent poster, who is a newer grad with only 3 months of experience, picked up an agency job as her very first position out of nursing school. The agency sent her to a school to work alongside a school nurse. The new grad was lacking in some skills (of course), and asked the school nurse how to give a breathing treatment. The school nurse responded, "I'm not going to tell you, because that's something you should already know."
The school nurse reported this agency nurse to the state BON for not giving the breathing treatment.
I'd recommend 1 year of either acute care or long term care before doing any agency work.

Wait a minute....Commuter....NO WAY...the school nurse reported this poor woman to the BON??????? What was the end result??? I am firing mad. Sometimes, people really have to do what they have to do in order to eat, and to deny someone something as simple as a breathing treatment is horribe!! Where is this thread at?? I HAVE to see the outcome and pray for a positive outcome for this unfortunate person...

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 21, 2007

It is hard for me to say what to do...I worked for an agency as a vaccination nurse, then a home care nurse, but I already had a job. These things were supplements. What I did do was to get all of the information I can gather from the agency regarding my home care case and visited myself in order to see if I was able to handle the circumstances. I worked my home case once a week for close to a year.

Actually, now, I work for three agencies, but one is once in a blue moon where I give vaccinations to soliders in the US Army before deportation, the second was the home care/flu vaccination one and my job has an agency who utilizes us (they will not pay us overtime to work in other departments besides our own), so, slowly, but surely, I will be working med-surg at my hospital per diem. The only reason why I am doing this is to gain more experience working at the bedside (my primary job is working in a clinic) for more home care assignments. Also, I plan to squeeze to the ER, again, so that I can have a better idea of what to do in emergencies.

I can see the dilemma about working agencies. I have only been a nurse for a year, but, I am very much aware of how nurses can be caught in serious jams. At this moment, I am gaining my experience at my job, so that when the time comes, I can spread my wings with more confidence. I will still only work places where I feel (somewhat) safe.