Dear Cindy – New Grad RN's Job Problems

I am very confused about things. They say there is a nursing shortage, but I cannot find a job. I am currently on leave at my employer, because they said I was not ready to be a critical care nurse. You see, I graduated in December 2005, and I finally passed the boards in December 2007. I was hired in the NICU and loved it; I had no idea I was doing anything wrong. All of a sudden they placed me on leave with no pay – that was four weeks ago. I have been applying everywhere, and I get no response from anyone. I had one interview, and I have not heard back from them. I am very stressed and upset; I don't know what to do. Everyone wants experience, and I have experience in postpartum, but I get no response from them either. Please give me some suggestions, I am desperate.

Sincerely,

L

It is true that there is a nursing shortage, but it's also true that there are some regional pockets in which there is no nursing shortage. However, the existence or absence of a nursing shortage doesn't seem to be the issue in your case.

And I'm also confused about your situation.

It seems very strange that a hospital would place a nurse on leave without the nurse personally knowing exactly why s/he was being put on leave, and/or without the nurse being given a detailed explanation about why s/he was being put on leave. What, exactly, did your preceptor and/or manager say that your weaknesses were, and how did they help you to address them? For example, were you not offered a means to improve your readiness for critical care, such as an extended new grad critical care preceptorship, residency, or internship? If this was not an option, were you not offered a transfer to another unit, such as stepdown NICU, nursery, postpartum, or pediatric? As for the leave itself, is this an indefinite leave or a set leave, and what did they say you would have to do to return, if you wanted to? What does your employee record state about your eligibility for rehire? What do your references say – are they actually bad or are they so-so?

Before I did anything else, I would want to ensure that I was totally clear on what the hospital felt my weaknesses were, whether I still had a job with them (i.e., is this a temporary leave, or a permanent leave), and what they are saying to potential employers regarding my rehire status and my reference. After all, it is almost certain that your problem in finding employment at another facility stems from the situation at the facility from which you are on leave, due to your uncertainty and confusion, your diminished confidence level and, potentially, bad references.

This is not the end of your new career, but you can't improve and move on until you know what the problem is. Once you know what your weaknesses are, you can work to address them. This will help restore your self-confidence, and will allow you to allay concerns an employer may have about hiring you, which will allow you to restart your career.

Good luck.