Hello,
I am really in a bad situation. My RN license was reinstated in October 08, after almost 4 years of suspension (I violated the terms of my VRP agreement by relapsing with narcotics) During these 4 years, I have had a series of office jobs , and I have failed at most of them...I think I lack the computer skills and maybe I am under so much pressure that it is difficult for me to learn. (I did take evening classes for computers). I was just terminated from my last position as a Clinical Analyst & I am not even sure why-I was called into my supervisor's office after I had been working for 2 months, and she said "We have been monitoring your progress, and although you have shown improvement in your work, we have decided not to move forward with a permanent job offer."
Since my license was reinstated, I thought that I could once again work in a hospital. As my license is now "On Probation" for 3 years, I sought the advice of my caseworker in the Disciplinary Unit of the Voluntary Recovery Program. Her advice was "You cannot work in ER, critical care, or home care. You cannot work in any position which is not supervised. You CAN work in med-surg or telemetry." So I proceeded to fill out on-line applications for every available med-surg or telemetry position in my area...I got one interview for a QA nurse, at the hospital where I worked for 20 years-the interview went very well-and then, nothing...I also interviewed for a medical chart review company, and again, interview went well, and I was initially offered a job-but the job offer was rescinded a day later b/c of my On Probation status!
A friend informed me that "No hospital will hire you, as long as you are On Probation. This is b/c of something to do with JCAHO." As far as the QA job, she said "You will never work at a hospital where you were fired. That hospital has a secret 'Do NOT Hire' list, and you are on that list-forget ever going back there!"
I am at my wit's end...I am a single parent and have less than $1,000 in the bank. I cannot pay my bills. I went down to the welfare office and applied for food stamps and medical insurance but was denied b/c I was still getting unemployment checks (I am due one more, and that is it!) The unemployment checks are only $441/week anyway. My mom is dying in a nursing home, so I cannot ask my father for financial assistance-it is too horrible to imagine asking him when he is dealing with my mom's impending death...My 13 y/o daughter is not doing well in school, so I met with an Academic Intervention Team to try to help her (this is the first time she ever has had any academic problems). I called her Dad (my ex for the past 10 years) to see if he could help me in any way-his response was extreme anger and now he is going for custody, so that back-fired!! I have some medical problems which led to my addiction problem in the first place, but now I have no job, so no health insurance. I have no prescription plan either-so I cannot take my meds b/c I cannot afford them. I really do not want to add sickness to my list of problems!
Any suggestions are appreciated ! My background is critical care/ER/IV Team.
thanks