When is the right time to job hunt?

[gnurse2089]

Hi all, so I currently work as an admissions nurse at a SNF in California. I've been with the facility at four years, was originally hired as a new grad on the floor and worked my way up over time to my current position. Originally, I had planned to work here a year, then get into one of the local hospitals, but of course, life intervened and four months after hire I got a DUI and now, four years later, I'm still here and the BON finally placed my license on probation.

I love my job. I have great coworkers, a very supportive boss, the pay isn't too shabby ($34 an hour) and I've learned a ton in my time here. SNFs get a bad rap but I believe a sub acute floor is a great way for a new grad to hone their clinical skills. Having said that, my ultimate dream is to do ER/Trauma nursing and I'm wondering when the right time is to move on.

I started my probation agreement in May, the only restrictions on my work are that I must have an RN in the building supervising me half my shift and I can't work overtime. Currently, my boss is having to fill out monthly reports on my work performance for the board, but after 6 months those go down to quarterly.

I'm not so worried about landing interviews, the medical community in this area is pretty small so we share many doctors with the hospital, and I've got a great rapport with them. My work performance has always been excellent so I've got plenty of references. My major worry though is that a nurse manager is going to view a quarterly report as a pain and won't give me the time of day.

There's a few things I want to do before I start job hunting. My DUI is eligible for expungement and I want to do that before I undergo any background checks, and I want to wait til after the 6 month period is over as "quarterly report" sounds better to me than "monthly report" to a new manager. What do you guys think?

My biggest fear is getting stuck at my job at 26. Most of the nurses at work don't know I'm on probation and at least once a shift I'm asked why I'm not working at a hospital as they're used to seeing RN's come in, get some experience and move to bigger and better things. I'm ready to move on, I'm just scared this mark is gonna be held against me forever.

[SororAKS, ADN, RN]

I would get the DUI conviction expunged first off. Secondly, I might give the current position a second look. It is far better to have a job where supervisors are supportive, coworkers are great, pay and benefits are good while on Probation; than to not have that. Many people here have secured new jobs while being on Probation, but its a different story than a new grad job hunt with no discipline on one's license. Some employers will not even consider someone that has discipline or is on Probation, others will but it is a tossup.

That said, it doesn't mean you can't try now. Nor does it mean you can't ever try for ER in the future. It just means that sometimes it is better to finish what you start, in this case Probation, to improve your chances of landing a coveted job later. I think it will look better to a prospective employer for one, and if you have a supportive employment situation at the present, be grateful for that stability and continuity.

You are not "stuck". Use this time to build a solid record and demonstrate that you have learned from your mistakes. Time will fly by quickly. After that, the sky is the limit.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure what resources you have, but you may need to do some research to see what hospitals/health systems hire probationary nurses first. I think your other ideas are pretty solid. Unfortunately, great references and good rapport with physicians means very little if HR has a blanket policy of not hiring nurses who are on probation.

[jdub6]

One other thought, because you mentioned the medical community there is "small". You may want to talk to others in your program (at nurses meetings or wherever or even ask your case manager) and find out which hospitals are recovery friendly as someone else mentioned. Not only to help find a job now but also because there are managers out there who believe recovering nurses have no business as nurses.

If you are in a program that is confidential (aka once you finish you don't have to disclose you ever did it) and your DUI is likely to be expunged you may not want to apply to every hospital in the area now. Remember most employers keep applicant records for years and if it is really a small community managers tend to be around for a long time. If you interview with too many who have strong prejudices against addicts now they may well hold it against you even after you are done with your requirements. Not saying all or even most are like this but they are out there. Network within the recovery community first.

EDIT TO ADD: remember at the age of 26 you have a long career ahead of you. Unfortunately many of us had to "settle"while working through monitoring and from what you said your current job has a lot of good things about it- more than i had during my monitoring! If hospital nursing doesn't work out now you have plenty of time when you are further along in the program or finished. Also, consider where you are in your recovery- changing specialties is exciting but stressful and there is no shame in taking it slow to make sure you are in a good place to handle the stress. It's really not your coworkers business so just tell them something vague "just have too much going on right now to make a big change" or something and leave it at that.