Ok, so, I've been hired at the San Mateo County General Hospital ICU.
The pay is pretty good, the benefits are outstanding, the hours will suck (nights) but I will be one-on-one with a preceptor teaching me in the ICU rather than go thru a residency program and then have to get selected for, or work my way up to an ICU.
I'm pretty shocked it was my first interview, even. I've not gotten this far with the application process; most places seem to just want to get your resume and contact info for the next time there will be a shortage. They tell you they don't currently have any positions, and they don't hire new grads for the ICU. But they might have a residency training program starting in October, if they choose to do it, but they only hire for the ICU from within as those spots are first offered up to internal applicants...but not to lie and say you want something other than what you really want, just to get in the door, because they'll be able to tell if you're lying...
Whatever.
So now I have to pass the NCLEX, go get fingerprinted, blood titres, have a physical, immunizations, etc.
I will be oriented and trained during the day shift, but the only position available is nights. The nice thing is that the average tenure for the nurses here is very long (6, 10 and 15 years) and it's a brand new addition to the hospital so it's completely state of the art.
It's not a CCU but I think the mixture of patients will be good, and I think also being a bit smaller will work out to my advantage as there will be more time to ask questions, and do things myself, rather than have so many people around to just do them and tell me they'll show me or explain later.
I'm pretty happy. And relieved. This was getting crazy stressful and the job market was proving to be a huge disappointment. I'm glad it's over (barring any unforseen "something" happening, you never know)
I finally have a job. I haven't been gainfully employed (besides tutoring) since 2002! I've got more than a few bills to pay down now :P
I went down to the Santa Clara Kaiser info session. It wasn't posted on the Kaiser website, but on Aftercollege.com. I didn't get any new info, other than they don't take new grads into the ICU (nevermind that their website is openly advertising for such, and the paper they just handed you says NEW GRAD TRAINING and one of the departments listed is the ICU.
While I was still there, before the info session started, I placed a call to Steve, the recruiter for San Mateo County. Their website says they have ICU nurse positions and that they do train new grads (I've heard this before, and it's a lie)
So, he called me back, and I was quick to lock down a meeting with him as soon as possible. He was openly recruiting and selling me saying that once I saw the hospital and met the nurse manager/educator, I'd be hooked.
So, I went down there and met him, he toured the entire hospital and I have to say, it's nicer than CPMC. I had no ida a county hospital could be so nice.
They've got by far the best pay and benefits I've seen, and although it's a small ICU and I'd be on nights, I'm confident they would be willing to teach me everything. They even want the ICU nurses to get certified in Chemo, and Peds and all sorts of things, so...hey, if you're willing to train me, that's just more stuff for my resume, go right ahead!
They scheduled me for an appointment Thursday to come back down and meet with my preceptor/Nurse manager and according to the recruiter, if she likes me enough, she'll tell him to pull off the ad and they'll wait for me to pass my NCLEX.
I've got high hopes for this one.
Also, I got a call back from the CVICU director at SF Kaiser, who was one of the people I gave my resume to...she sounded impressed with my resume and said twice in one phone message that she is eager to talk to me about a position.
So, things are looking slightly up. I don't want to get my hopes up, because as has happened in the recent past, things don't always pan out with these folks.
I have applied to around a hundred jobs since May. If you count back to March, when I was applying from my 8x10 foot room at the Columbia dorms, maybe 150.
I still have nothing.
I'm exhausted. Today I went to Kaiser SF to sit through their info session and listen to why I want to work there, along with every other newbie nurse, some of whom have their RN already, some of whom are already nurses, some of whom decided to show up in jeans.
I then went to UCSF to try to get into the OCTOBER new nurse training residency, and then went to SF General, where I walked about 15 blocks trying to find the damn building after the jerk inside kept sending me to 25th street to HR after I told him I was looking for 1001 Potrero street.
Tomorrow, I drive down to Santa Clara for their info session, where I get to listen to the same stuff, watch the same slide show, collect the same packets, etc.
I'm so tired, I could cry. I'm getting ready to just give the fuck up. I guess there's a glut of nursing students that have just graduated, no jobs, and no one, but absolutely NO ONE wants to train a new grad for the ICU.
Thanks Columbia university ETP program...I'm so happy I went all the way to New York to attend. Jobs in ICUs are infact a breeze to get, just like you said.
I've been told there's one residency, at night, in the South SF Kaiser, and then I have an interview at the Mills-Peninsula ICU next Friday.
Check this out: Mills-Peninsula expects you to drive to Fairfield a couple times per week ("oh, you can carpool") to take their didactic classes, and then they expect you to PAY FOR YOUR TRAINING with the promise of reimbursing you upon hire.
Hahahah, I don't think so.
Afterall, I already have a spot in the ICU residency at Kaiser SSF, it's also nights but it's 5 minutes from my house, I don't have to pay for my training, and I don't have to drive to Fairfield, and oh yeah...it's KAISER! One of the strongest and biggest hospital organizations around. Plus, the wise one told me that if I go off to anesthesia school and come back to Kaiser, I won't lose my seniority, but pick up where I left off.
Nice!
Oh, and did I mention that Kaiser has one of the three schools in California that offers anesthesia MSN?
I'm not sure I'll be able to not laugh at the people during my interview at Mills...seriously, what do they think they're doing? How do they expect to get good nurses, let alone keep them?
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well with this Kaiser residency. I'm going to have to keep my fingers crossed that I pass the NCLEX and the training goes well, and they like me enouogh to offer me a position...and that I can handle working nights :(
Ahhh, the struggle. Would I have started all of this had I known? I don't know...probably, but who knows?
I'm done with the Kaplan review, and I think my scores went up slightly, but I'm still only marginally passing according to them.
I've scheduled to take the test, which is funny.
When you sign up, there's a calander and I was stupidly thinking..oh, I'll take it next week, toward the end of the week. HAH. Every test day is taken and full!
I was hoping to take it friday or saturday (the 27th, or 28th) so I was looking into what those days mean, in numerology (getting stupid and supersticious for a moment)
According to one source, 9 stands for Completion which I thought "hell ya, complete this and get on with my life, already!" but 10 means Rebirth. I was thinking Rebirth is probably more apropos: like a phoenix arising thru the ashes of a destroyed architecture career, rebirth might work out well.
But, sadly, the San Fran testing site seems to be booked out until September some time (crap!) so I had to change to the Oakland site.
I was lucky enough to snag a day of personal significance, August 8th.
8 has always been my lucky number, or rather my favorite number. I always wanted to make a soap-box racer with my brother and we had decided on 88 as our number because if it flipped over, it's still 88
Silly? :)
Ok, how's this: I had my first date with my hubby on August 8th, 1988.
We consider that a more important anniversary than our actual wedding. We love that this accentally happened on this day...neither of us knew until the following day.
So, For now, I'm scheduled on Augst 8th, and this works for my supersticious side because the number 8 (八 in Chinese) stands for sudden fortune, prosperity. Which would certainly be true, if I pass.
So, on the 8th, wish me some luck, send me your smarty pants vibes, and in general, keep your fingers crossed for me
I thought I had two residencies lined up, but so far, one of them has turned sort of flakey, and the other seemed to let me slip thru the cracks (maybe they're not interested?)
I just finished the Kaplan review and though my scores were better on the exit exam than the diagnostic exam I took on entry...I'm still only "marginally" passing (not a nice, safe, slam dunk, if you ask me)
So.
I've managed to get the eye of two ICUs--one in South San Francisco, and another one in Santa Clara. The problem is two-fold: it's NIGHTS and the other is that Kaiser hospital seems to not give you an ICU placement without lumping in the Step-down obligation...so...I have to do step down in order to get to the ICU. Cross training I think they call it.
All this means to me is that I will get minimal time in the ICU as long as they can ship me off to the step down during a shortage.
WTF?
Anyway, I'm pretty unhappy these days. I'm not ready for the NCLEX, I have no job...etc.
oh well. That's what's up here and why no updates. not much to tell.
