New Grad - not good fit
Looking back, I think starting off in Nuero Medsurg was not the best idea. There’s so much gray area, things that are gauged by interpretation, as well as TBIs. All nurses on that unit are ::eventually:: put through MOAB (management of aggressive behaviors) class. Powers that be on my unit sent me to that class in my 6th week. As corny as it sounds, I left feeling empowered. Before the MOAB class, during week 3, I had been sent in to administer blood and several push drugs to a young adult with a frontal TBI. He had punched nurses in the ER and had a red light outside of his room. As his nurse, he had already spent the first half of the day yelling at my preceptor and I while being visibly agitated.
Problems began when my nurse manager stated after that ordeal, that “I seemed hesitant to deal with some of our patient population. Do I think I can care for our TBIs moving forward?” This is when I pointed out that I had not yet been trained to deal with situations like that. Yes, I was hesitant. But came up with a plan with my preceptor, poked, administered a transfusion and did the 10 minutes of push drugs myself. Basically, I’m doing my best here. On a whim. In a known dangerous situation. I stated that putting me in that situation was less than responsible on their part. …. It was not taken well. Things went downhill. I became a target to management. Things like “Nurse seems hesitant to perform duties” and even a completely made up entry about me leaving my shift before completion one day ended up in my file. I submitted detailed written responses, with emails and documentation to back it up. But, the damage is done. Those entries are in my employee record. I was asked by HR if I’d like to look for opportunities on other units within the system. I accepted, mostly because I felt targeted and like I would be fired if I continued to work on Nuero.
Here is the problem: I have since applied to 4 different positions on the internal job board. The Day unit, ARU, Rehab, and PACU. Also a few long shots, like hospice and a GI clinic. All of them were rejected within a few days. I feel this may be due to what was submitted by my prior nurse manager. As a new grad (who is in the New Grad Residency program), I did not expect to encounter this level of difficulty finding a new unit. Worst of all, I’ve emailed 3 different internal recruiters, asking for feedback, pointers, and suggestions as far as what to apply for. I have gotten zero response from any of them. I am starting to wonder if I’ve been black balled. At this point , I have no idea how to proceed. Has requesting to shadow a shift on your time off ever gotten anyone somewhere ? Foot in the door ? Advice ?