Unbeatable Baseline Experience

Medical-surgical nursing can provide an unrivaled foundation for your nursing career. Rawle Parker, RN, MPA, employment manager at St Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Paterson, NJ, believes the diverse nature of medical-surgical nursing offers a panoramic view of nursing practice and an impetus for future specialization. “Many new graduate nurses have ready-made notions of nursing,” Barker advises, “ but you should be prepared to start at the entry level and work hard, no matter what type of nursing you aspire to. You may have to give up something that may look glamorous from the outside to find the right match for yourself and your individual talents.”

The Right Match

Recruiters and nurse managers look for people who will be good matches for their facilities. St. Joseph’s nurse recruiter Eileen Kimball, RN, suggests that graduate nurses talk to hospital employees or to their former instructors about each hospital’s unique culture. “Find some connection, and then go with your gut,” she advises. Some graduates make these connections during their clinical rotation as students. Kimball says, “If you really liked the atmosphere on a unit, picture yourself working there. Think about the people and the environment, and ask yourself if you feel compatible with what you see.”

The Right Attitude

Barker looks for three essential qualities in potential employees: the can-do factor, the will-do factor, and the fit factor. “It’s not always the superstar who fills the bill,” he says. “We look for people who present themselves as team players rather than honor students who might actually work better alone. Skill and expertise are important, but how a candidate’s personality could affect the rest of the coworkers is more significant. So we look for these three factors. The can-do factor refers to the candidate’s training and credentials. The will-do factor indicates the candidate’s level of motivation. The fit factor determines how this person’s personality would fit into the hospital’s environment and team effort.”

Motivation and Flexibility

Kimball agrees with Barker’s criteria. “My first concerns are the applicants’ motivation, their knowledge of this particular hospital, and their flexibility,” she explains. “I always want to know why people chose nursing and why they want to work at this hospital. Then I look for people who are flexible and able to deal with rotating shifts. Availability is key, because the hospital can’t change to meet an individual’s schedule.”

The Right Cover Letter and Resume

Kimball notes, “Most of the time, I look at the applicant’s cover letter in addition to the resume. Whatever impression I get from the cover letter is a lasting image. The cover letter transforms the basic resume into a whole person.”

Kimball also advises applicants to use cover letters to accent their nonnursing backgrounds. “If a nurse had been a camp counselor or had done a lot of babysitting, I would consider him or her for our pediatric specialty. Or if nursing is a new graduate’s second profession, I’d want to know what she did before she entered nursing. We like to see the whole person, the mosaic, all the attributes that go beyond nursing.”

The Right Interview Techniques

Be prepared to talk in depth about your life when you go for a job interview. “Candidates for jobs really need to express long-term interests they have pursued, and they shouldn’t be afraid to toot their own horn about their achievements,” Kimball advises. “For example, a former emergency squad member is likely to have skills that are compatible with critical care. The specialty wouldn’t be an unreasonable reach for that person.”

Kimball also suggests that applicants call to confirm their appointments, arrive on time for the interview (make a dry run if necessary), dress appropriately for the particular facility, and answer questions honestly.“ Honesty comes across in an interview,” Kimball emphasizes.

Consider All Options

Kathleen Murray, RN, director of nursing education at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, advises new graduates to consider part-time jobs that will give them solid professional experience until full-time jobs open. Murray says, “New graduates may not be able to get full-time jobs right away in their facility of choice. Part-time jobs will get their feet in the door.”

Internships are a viable option for many new graduates. “Jobs aren’t as plentiful as they were in the past,” Murray explains. “We realize that it’s hard enough to get through nursing school, only to discover you can’t land a full-time job. So we offer internships to graduate nurses and externship programs that can begin before graduation.”

Some graduate nurses opt for patient care assistant training. “This training helps new graduates develop their basic skills,” Murray states. “Other new graduates continue their education by taking telemetry, venipuncture, IV certification, and ECG courses,” she adds. Murray advises graduate nurses to stay in school if they can and perhaps make the transition from an associate degree program to a baccalaureate program.

Per diem work provides new graduates opportunities to explore various work settings, and it allows nurse managers to assess how new graduates function on their units. “If you make a good impression during per diem work, the managers will keep you in mind when a job opens,” Murray advises.

Hospital mergers often generate “campus” environments. If a position opens in one campus component, a graduate nurse who is already working part-time or per diem in another component can apply for the new position under the same “umbrella” without losing seniority or benefits.