So I am still fairly new to AN, so if I do something wrong please let me know what it is and how to fix it.
So I have been looking for a nursing position for approximately 10 months. In the past 10 months I have had some of the oddest interview and job shadow experiences. For example....about three weeks ago, I interviewed for a PACU position at a small ASC on a Wednesday. She invited me to job shadow for the next two days. The first day went really well. I felt very comfortable with the position and really thought the job would be a good fit for me. The next day, Friday, I show up to job shadow to discover that I am the only nurse on for that day. So I am the it girl for pre-op, OR, and the PACU. We only had two procedures with one surgeon, so not a bad day. We finished up around 3:00 pm and since I was asked to shadow until 7:00 pm, I asked the nurse manager how else I could help. I was asked to organize a storage closet. Odd I thought, but went along with it. Maybe she wants to see how I "think outside the box." In the storage closet, behind boxes of toilet paper and old charts, there were boxes and boxes of expired fentanyl, propofol, dilaudid, brevital....It was insane. So I finish up organizing the closet (it's a little after 7:00 by this time) and I tell the nurse manager I was finished. I bring up my "little discovery" and ask if she needs help disposing of the controlled substances (which would have taken hours if we had to dump them all down the drain.) She smiles, says that I did good work, and says she will call me to let me know if I have been selected for the position. Needless to say, despite a thank-you note and two follow-up e-mails and one follow-up phone call I have not heard back from this job.
So was I just completely used because she had no one else to work that day? Has anyone else had a weird interview or job shadow experience?
I would think that a shadowing experience that doesn't involve a nurse to shadow is a situation that no one should ever take part in. I would never have stayed in the facility under the circumstances you described nor would I ever work for them. Patient care as a non-eomployee is nothing but a liability. With 14 years of experience (and even with no experience other than nursing school clinicals), any person should recognize that this is not an okay situation.
I did bring up the issue of liability to the doc/owner. His answer was, "You have a nursing license don't you?" Yes. "Then why can't you provide nursing care?" I let the doctor and the nurse manager intimidate me. I believe my desperation for a nursing job clouded my judgement. This has definitely been a learning experience.
.... I can't imagine a hospital just allowing an interviewee nurse who showed up to shadow to work the floor 'cause they're short staffed. Not in 2015.
At what juncture in the hiring process were you in when all this happened? Were you paid? Did you fill out tax forms, provide proof of a TB test, proof of licensure, a drug test? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what happened, and you did all of this previous and were basically "in" already. Because, otherwise, I cannot imagine they would be so unbelievably stupid. Free labor? Liability? This is a legal mess.
@Brandon I don't think the op was shadowing in a hospital, I think they were in a private surgery clinic, as it would be easier for illegal behaviour to take place in a private clinic. Unless the clinic is reported and disciplinary action is taken the behaviour will likely continue.
Yes, I have been out of the "hospital setting" for over two years. Therefore, I have found it very difficult to get a position in a hospital despite six years in a NICU.
Due to present circumstances, I am looking for a day shift, weekday position. This generally limits me to an office nursing position. In the area I live, I have found most office job positions are listed on craigslist and/or indeed.com. This may/may not be the right place for me to look.
My operative experience was in the NICU. The operative procedures I assisted with were at the bedside. My duties during these procedures were mainly to obtain instruments needed and to recover my patient. The nurse manager was aware this was the totality of my PACU experience.
I did not "volunteer" to work. I walked into a situation I felt was an on-the-job interview and did my best to "impress" the person hiring. Retrospectively, I should have left. For some reason, I felt bad that they would have to cancel the two procedures. Plus, multiple other employees at the facility (ST, doctor/owner, and nurse manager) promised they wouldn't let me drown.
I was in the storage closet for close to four hours. I was in the process of organizing the meds from oldest to newest when I noticed they were expired.
I'm sitting here trying to figure out why I am justifying this to you.
Does it make you feel better about yourself that you have to tear down someone that needs to look on craigslist for a job? Would you rather I sit on my butt all day and collect welfare? If you don't like the thread, and don't have anything positive or constructive to say, move on!
Yes actually, I would rather you collect welfare than participate in nursing practice that is dangerous to patients. In the future, suggest you use the nursing code of ethics and nursing practice act, to guide your practice and make decisions that are in the best interest of patient's safety.
Yes actually, I would rather you collect welfare than participate in nursing practice that is dangerous to patients. In the future, suggest you use the nursing code of ethics and nursing practice act, to guide your practice and make decisions that are in the best interest of patient's safety.
Please indulge me with your intense wisdom...which nursing code of ethics and which part of the nurse practice act did i violate? What exact nursing practice did I perform to endanger the patient?
Personally, I think OP just had a good laugh at everyone's expense. I'm just kicking myself because I can't get back the time it took me to read the whole thread lol.
And with this last comment, I am done. To those who have posted constructive comments, I thank you. I have definitely learned a lot from this experience. I have learned to protect my license at all costs and to listen to my gut when something does not seem right. I have also learned that AN is an open public forum for anyone to use. I expected some measure of professionalism from fellow nurses. Instead, I learned that using anonymous user IDs brings out the worst in some people. Lesson learned.
I believe my desperation for a nursing job clouded my judgement.
I'll say.
OP, your story is weird. I understand how you might feel hurt by some of the comments you've received but I must admit that I'm having a hard time believing that this actually took place as you've described it. I find both how the clinic dealt with things very strange (but sadly perhaps not impossible), but I'm even more confounded by how you, a seasoned nurse, reacted to and handled it.
How could you feel comfortable assuming multiple nursing roles that you weren't trained for? Did you really trust that they "wouldn't let you sink"? Their behavior wasn't exactly confidence-inspiring. You show up to shadow and there's no nurse there... I assume you weren't employed at this point (no contract). Did you think that your malpractice insurance (I assume you have it) would cover you if something happened?
I don't understand how you'd let the doctor intimidate you. If you've been a nurse for over a decade, surely you know that it's not enough to simply have a nursing license? You need job-specific training too.
Who was recovering/being the PACU nurse for patient number one, when you were the scrub and circulator? nurse for patient number two? Was number one already discharged? Were the surguries performed under GA or not?
And what on earth were you doing in the storage closet for four whole hours? Why didn't you fetch the nurse manager the minute you laid eyes on vast quantities of narcotics? I would have been very uncomfortable in this situation and if the fact that they didn't have an employed OR or PACU nurse present when performing surgeries hadn't made me walk away, the discovery of very lax protocols on controlled substances would have.
I'm sorry if I come off as harsh, but I sincerely hope that you've learned to protect both yourself and your patients better after this experience.
I can understand needing/wanting a job badly, but this place simply isn't/shouldn't be an option. There are many obvious warning signs that this clinic is one that no nurse would wish to be associated with.
Between my job-hunting experiences and my niece who works as a waitress in New York, where job interviews often involve working 1 or 2 shifts for free, I believe it.
Between my job-hunting experiences and my niece who works as a waitress in New York, where job interviews often involve working 1 or 2 shifts for free, I believe it.
SookieBSN
20 Posts
I did bring up the issue of liability to the doc/owner. His answer was, "You have a nursing license don't you?" Yes. "Then why can't you provide nursing care?" I let the doctor and the nurse manager intimidate me. I believe my desperation for a nursing job clouded my judgement. This has definitely been a learning experience.