hppygr8ful wrote:You are totally correct in our needng to look outside our experience and comfort area when looking for our diversion and post diversion jobs.
In my own case I had been an L&D nurse. That was the some of my experience swaddeling babies, doing deliveries etc.... Then my world came apart and when I was finally approved to return to work I found that no one in acute or L&D would hire me. I was so desperate I went to the psych hospital where I had gone through rehab and put in an application.The DON met with me that same day. I actually cried during the interview. She offered me a job and I went to work learned how to be a the best psych nurse I could be and late when I finished diversion I found the job I have now - working with developmentally disabled adults. I love my job, the company I work for and my patients. I have referred several people to my old workplace and they have all been given a chance to recover in a friendly supportive workplace.
All that I have now would never have been possible is I had not been willing to try something completely different.
Peace and Namaste
Hppy
I was restricted from working any job that had any access to narcs for my 1st year. I had worked for 18 yrs in clinical settings, started med surg, then CVSICU, then cath lab. My opinion of nurses who worked outside of the hospital was very poor, I did not consider those jobs to be "real nursing" jobs.
In addition, I had very limited computer and typing skills, had no idea what a fax machine was, and my wardrobe consisted of jeans, and scrubs.
I felt totally unqualified for any job other then what i knew, and was furious with my addictionolgist for passing his recommendation to the BON and asking that it be in my contract. I was so jealous of the other nurses who were able to work in familiar settings.
I was hired by a large corp that did 3rd party UR and CM. They were thrilled to have me with all my experience and hired me despite my subpar skills. They required typing 25 WPM, I could only do 18 WPM ( and this was the best of 3 tries)
I also vowed to be the best UR nurse in my department and was just so thankful that someone had given me a job. I discovered that my ability to learn and conquer new skills carried over to this setting, and my orientation was decreased from 12 weeks to 6.
I also found confidence in my self and had the courage to try other jobs, and had much success.
I am so grateful that I was forced into the position I was. I have thought about this many times, and know that if I had not been restricted from clinical work that I would never have been open or willing to work in other setting.
When other nurses post about having problems finding work, I know that many are like me, and are not open to seeking options. I also believe that just responding to their posts with info like this is not very effective, for several reasons.
I think that if these nurses knew that they were getting help from a credible source is the first step, followed by working one on one, and getting an indepth idea of what they have done, what their resume is like, what they say,,, etc.
