u/False-Injury-5462

I interviewed yesterday for my dream unit, pediatric med surg, as an internal applicant, and I honestly walked out feeling better than I ever have after an interview.

For some background, I’m currently a PCT on a high acuity med surg and step down unit and have been there for about 7 months.

Several months ago, before I was eligible to transfer, I actually reached out to the pediatric manager because I knew this was the specialty I wanted. I emailed asking if there was any opportunity to shadow or learn more about the unit because I wanted to make sure it was the right fit. She was incredibly kind and encouraged me to apply, but explained that I hadn’t reached the required 6 months in my current position yet, so I wasn’t eligible.

I remember feeling disappointed, but I kept working on my current unit, gained more experience, and once I finally reached my 6 months, I applied again. The recruiter contacted me, and somehow I ended up interviewing with the same manager I had emailed months before.

When I walked into the interview, she immediately remembered me. She told me she was excited to meet me and said she remembered my confidence and how passionate I was about working in pediatrics. That honestly meant a lot because I didn’t expect her to remember me after all that time.
The interview itself went really well. She asked mostly behavioral questions, and I felt like I was able to answer them with genuine experiences from my current unit instead of trying to give textbook answers. We talked about the fact that I don’t have direct pediatric hospital experience, but I do have experience working with children outside of work through babysitting and volunteering. She told me that everyone has to start somewhere, which definitely made me feel better.

At the end of the interview, I asked if there was anything that would make her hesitant to hire me because I genuinely value constructive criticism after being rejected from another pediatric position. She smiled and said there was no reason she would be hesitant to hire me. Obviously I know that isn’t a job offer, but it was reassuring to hear.
Afterward I spent an hour shadowing the unit, and honestly it made me want the job even more. I loved the staff, the environment, and it confirmed that this is exactly where I want to be.

Now comes the hard part. Waiting.

It’s an internal transfer, so HR has to coordinate with my current manager if they’re moving forward, and my manager happens to be out of the office until Wednesday. I’m hoping that could explain why I may not hear anything immediately.

Has anyone gone through a similar internal transfer process? How long did it take to hear back after the interview and shadow? And if a manager gave you really positive feedback during the interview, did that end up translating into an offer, or did it still take quite a while?

I’m trying not to overanalyze everything because I genuinely felt this was the best interview I’ve ever had, but this is my dream unit, so the waiting has definitely been the hardest part.

I’m losing my mind with the amount of entitled people at my job. I hate even saying it that way, but some patients genuinely make an already impossible workload so much harder.

Last week on med surg, I had a patient who was fully alert and oriented, completely capable of feeding himself, but refused unless I did it for him. I tried to understand if there was a reason, but all he said was, “Fine, I just won’t eat.” At the same time, I had a quadriplegic patient who literally could not feed himself, 12 blood sugars to do before trays came, vitals, a bladder scan, and a full assignment. I hadn’t even eaten myself and was about to faint. He started yelling and made the nurse come in who said to feed him because he’s a feed due to wanting someone to do it. So I spent time doing that for someone entitled, then he told me he “hoped” he didn’t get me in trouble with a smirk.

I actually threw up everywhere when I got home from physical exhaustion.

Then I had another patient snapping her fingers at me, yelling for me, and demanding I do every little thing for her. She kept banging on the walls and told me she’d disrupt her neighbor if we don’t come “immediately” when she calls. She kept saying she’s wet and when I told her she isn’t she’d attempt to wet herself and take the prima out. Shes AOx4. She told she wants me to scratch her vaginal area and I refused.

It’s not that I don’t want to help people. I chose this job because I care. But being treated like a personal servant while trying to care for patients who truly need me is exhausting. The disrespect is what gets to me. It honestly makes me dread going in tomorrow. Just praying I get hit by a car or something before tmmr :). Sobbing rn because this shit is so exhausting.