Hi all, I need some advice. I will start my second semester of a bsn nursing program in january. Today I signed off on my official offer letter of employment for a nurse tech position. My last day of orientation is on the first day of my health and assessment class. The class is only on mondays from 10am-12pm. My labs do not start until the week of jan.25th. I wanted to know:
1. Should I see if the hospital could arrange for me to do the orientation on a different day the same week? It's from 8am-430pm. It's still hospital orientation, not for my unit.
2. Contact my instructor for next semester to see if it would be okay to miss the day, but to get notes from a classmate?
3. Contact the nursing department to see the policy on attendance?
The hospital is 10 mins from my home, pays over 3 dollars and some cents more an hour than the hospital I currently work for (without shift deferential), and 12 hr shifts!
Has anyone been in this situation before? What did you do? What was the outcome? Any regrets?
I speak from experience. I missed a clinical for med surg I last year because I got hired on the floor that I had those clinicals for. There was an orientation day that only was held once a month at my hospital. I alerted my instructor and she told me that landing this job was more important than the one clinical day I would miss.
I am graduating today, and I know that I have a job waiting for me when I want it. Do it. As long as it doesn't get you kicked out.
Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.
I wouldn't go to the nursing office. I would communicate with the teacher directly. Tell him or her the situation and see what they advise. It's right to think of your future job opportunities. JMO.
You will only look in the eyes of the hospital that you have class and you are dedicated....that guaruntees them a good worker with additional experience of nursing school. I would talk to the hospital first about finding alternative training for that day.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I really would hate to miss class. Especially the first day. I'm so worried about failing. I barely made it through this semester. I don't want to lose this job opportunity. However, nursing school is my priority. I just hope the hospital can move it to a different day.
If you are struggling, then there should be no question which of the two is your priority.
Yes, I did struggle. I had to work 5 8hr shifts for a total of 40 hrs every two weeks. In addition, I had just got the registry position at the hospital 2 weeks before school started. I had to complete 16 orientation shifts before the end of October. Soooooo factor all of this in, with 4 nursing classes, I was a mess. It was HORRIBLE. Now, I have a new position working 2 12hr shifts per wk. I'm so happy, but I still need to make a decision on the registry position.
Some schools that I have attended in the past have had a 1st day attendance policy where the course instructor could drop anyone from the roster that didn't show up that first day. Most of them waited until the end of the 1st week to make those changes to the roster. However, nursing schools that I'm familiar with have a pretty low number of days that you can miss before you incur a penalty. The program I'm in has an 8 hour classroom and/or 20 hours clinical before they get to the point where you could be dismissed.
If I were contemplating missing a day, it wouldn't be the first day or any day in the first week. If I have to miss a day, I'm going to choose that missed day very, very carefully.
My advice is simply to fix it from the employer end.
I tried today to contact the department that handles the nursing orientation. I called every hour. No answer. I figured maybe the person I spoke with was out the office since today is a Friday. Monday morning I'm going to call every hour like I'm trying to win free tickets from a radio station, lol. I'll give an update hopefully Monday morning.
Update: Sooooooo yesterday I was able to speak with the coordinator for the hospital orientation. She was not as "professional", in her delivery of my issue. However, she did offer an alternative date, that would not work. Anyway, I emailed my instructor, and she said that it was okay. I was so HAPPY last night. I was scared that I would not be able to work this new job. I'm looking forward to taking her class. She seems like a nice & understanding professor.
Thank you all for the great advice, tips & sharing your stories.
Update: Sooooooo yesterday I was able to speak with the coordinator for the hospital orientation. She was not as "professional" in her delivery of my issue. However, she did offer an alternative date, that would not work. Anyway, I emailed my instructor, and she said that it was okay. I was so HAPPY last night. I was scared that I would not be able to work this new job. I'm looking forward to taking her class. She seems like a nice & understanding professor. Thank you all for the great advice, tips & sharing your stories.[/quote']
THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN
1,381 Posts
I speak from experience. I missed a clinical for med surg I last year because I got hired on the floor that I had those clinicals for. There was an orientation day that only was held once a month at my hospital. I alerted my instructor and she told me that landing this job was more important than the one clinical day I would miss.
I am graduating today, and I know that I have a job waiting for me when I want it. Do it. As long as it doesn't get you kicked out.