Playoffs

As we come to the close of yet another NBA season, we are ushered into, in my opinion, one of the most spectacular and aggressive displays of human athleticism : the NBA Playoffs. Since being conditioned into a Laker fan at the age of six, I have always watched the Playoffs mainly for the Lakers. But during the course of the past few years, I have learned to expand my NBA knowledge. This year's Playoffs could not come at a better time. I'm starting to swim in the stresses of my life, but with the Playoffs here, I get to take a breather. As the eloquent writers of the (flailing) show "How I Met Your Mother" articulated in a recent episode, "What's great about sports: they take your mind off your troubles, if only for a moment." Agreed.

Limbo

I had mentioned in a previous post that my dad knows that nurse manager for the unit I am applying to. Tonight we went to visit her. She lives on the floor below us, and my parents thought it would be a good idea to just drop by. I was a little uneasy about this because some people don't like that. Luckily, she was very nice and was glad to see our family. She said she would talk to the nurse recruiter tomorrow and see if she could set me up with a nurse manager interview. Sweet! Then I learned that there are only 19 spots open for the RN residency program and 600 have applied. Shit. She also mentioned that she interviewed someone yesterday right after that person had their panel interview. So the panel felt that person was well suited for that unit, but I was not offered that. I feel like I'm sinking.

I have tried my hardest to not let myself think, "You got this," even though everyone around me is saying that I do. I refuse to let myself think that because I know that if I do, and I don't get the job, I'll be even more let down. Even though uncanny events in my life have somehow come together to lead me where I am, I still won't allow myself to think that I have a good shot at getting the job I want. Ah, the good ole defense mechanism.

It makes me uneasy that applying for a job is not really about your skills, grades and what you bring to the table. It's about who you know. I realize that this is how it is, but it's difficult for me to embrace. This whole application process to this particular hospital has been based on who I know, well mostly who my parents know. I supposed I just have to suck it up because this may be the only way I can get a job in this economy.

Step 4/5

Ah, step 4: panel interview. The most nerve-wracking step of them all. My appointment was at 10:45 AM, but they were running behind by about an hour. While I was waiting to be called in, the fire alarm went off and the whole building had to be evacuated. At least that got my mind off the interview. Once we were allowed back inside, I started talking to the other applicants who were also waiting for their panel interview. Aha, my competition! I didn't get much time to speak with them because once I started getting to know them, the recruiter came in to escort me to the interview room. It was a room of five employees gathered around a round table. I'm not sure what their names and title were because I was too nervous to even try and remember. All seemed nice except one. I think she was the Director of Nursing. She was kind of cold, but I guess that goes along with interviewing. For sure her number one agenda was not to make me feel comfortable. They asked me five questions, one being a case scenario.

"Mr. Wright is a 76 y.o. patient with pneumonia. T 101.2, P 120, RR 28, BP 180/90, Pulse ox 88% on 2L O2. He is on regular diet but only eats 30% of his meals and his family has not come to visit in days. What is he at risk for and why? What are your concerns for this patient? What are your nursing interventions?"

No too shabby. The rest of the questions were about my clinical experience with patients and experiences with peers. I felt like my interview was short. They asked me their questions, asked if I had any questions for them (I didn't. My mind was just blank.), and sent me on my way. Brilliant.

Now I wait for the nurse recruiter who recruited me to call me and tell me whether or not I get to have an interview with the nurse manager of the unit they decide to place me in. It's in God's hands now.
Oh how I hate the waiting...