WANTING A JOB IN ED

[Rachelks]

I am currently applying for a job in Ed that I really would love to do. The only thing I think that might be a draw back to them wanting to hire me is I have been doing home health the last year and the previous 3 years prior to that I worked on a med surg floor. I worry that since I have been doing HH it won't look as good on my resume because of how different the types of nursing are. Does anyone have any tips that might help me better my chances at getting this ED position?

[BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

My co workers and I just spent 3 weeks sorting through 57 applications and interviewing 42 people for 7 positions in our ED. It was a much more difficult task than I had anticipated when it started. We could eliminate about 1/2 the applicants rather quickly in a first interview. We eliminated those who received poor or even mediocre references. (Still not sure I understand how someone turns in a poor reference,..I knew who to ask for a good reference!)

We also eliminated those who choose ED as a 2nd or third choice in the interview process,....this was a question asked by HR, the applicant was asked to choose which departments they would like to interview with,..the ranked them 1, 2, 3 etc.

We also eliminated those who were overly quiet, shy, easily flustered in the interview,..just not usually a good fit for ED. (NOTE we have some excellent "quiet/shy types" in the ED,...but we had to start somewhere)

We were looking for people who were passionate about working in the ED. People who could think fast on their feet, were excited about learning and were flexible with scheduling as our orientation is a 20wk process that includes class room time as well as shifts with the preceptor.

One thing you might checkout. We offer/encourage the applicant an opportunity to shadow a preceptor. This gives the applicant a chance to see what really goes on in our department as well as allowing staff to learn more about your personality and how you work with the organized chaos. Maybe you could schedule a shift to shadow?

Best of luck to you. Keep trying. I am sad to say that we weren't able to hire every great person that we felt would be an asset to our department. We just didn't have enough open spots. We did encourage these folks to seek employment elsewhere in the hospital and check back in a year.

BTW Home health experience doesn't exclude you from our ED at least. Working in the home requires excellent assessment skills and an ability to understand when to seek out help. It also requires you to be a bit "creative" in your care planning and to think outside the box. All excellent qualities for any nurse as far as I'm concerned. Best of luck to you!

[80sNurse]

...I would also highlight your IV/blood draw skills - home care nurses do many, not all settings provide this much opportunity w/little backup

...I also agree w/part about assessment skills

... highlight your abilities to operate in a fast pace

re: references - mine were never checked! they cared that I had names & titles provided, but I never give phone number out until after an interview (why subject your kind references to all these calls?) and it ended up they never bothered checking, go figure

good luck!