Good Job Hunting
Nurses must use detective skills to unearth clues to lead them to
their dream job

By Heather World
July 13, 2004

Sherlock Holmes, RN? Sam Spade, RN? Magnum, P.I., RN? No, they weren’t really nurses, but with their skills they probably could find work in the nursing field that would make them happy. Why? Finding the perfect nursing job requires a little detective work first, health care recruiters say. Nurses who investigate their desires and strengths and who prowl the market stand a much better chance of getting where they want to go in the wide field of nursing.

And it is a wide field, said Cindy Fife, RN, MSN, a senior nurse recruiter at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri.

“I never would have thought I would be sitting in a recruiter position when I went into nursing,” said Fife, who now is the North Central regional chair of the National Association for Health Care Recruitment. “That’s the neat thing about nursing — there are so many pathways you can take within the field.”

Keep an open mind

The best way to figure out which job you will love is to make the most of your education and clinical experience, Fife said. Because goals can change, entering each class or clinical rotation with an open and enthusiastic mind not only helps a student choose a career path, but also impresses employers and instructors.

“It needs to be a win-win situation for everyone,” Fife said. Staying committed and focused to a clinical track, even if it doesn’t seem like the perfect role, may reveal elements of nursing you didn’t know about and actually like. No matter what, a hardworking nursing student leaves a good impression with supervisors, which means positive recommendations down the line.

Furthermore, if a clinical experience does not interest you professionally, you may find resources, including mentors, that will help you figure out where you want to go. Fife said finding a mentor is one of the best things an inexperienced nurse can do.

“If you can connect with a mentor, that can give you opportunities you need to go in [the] direction you want,” she said.

Fife advises everyone from high school graduates interested in nursing careers to experienced nurses to contact community hospitals and ask to shadow nurses on units that sound interesting. Shadowing is a great opportunity to see life on a unit and provides the chance to ask questions about the best and worst aspects of a particular job.

What works for you?

Now that you’ve looked outward, it’s time to focus some attention inward because recruiters agree that knowing the ins and outs of a particular field is not enough.

Those searching for nursing positions should review their past work experiences and pick elements of each job that satisfied and frustrated them, said Christina Purcell, RN, BSN, manager of nurse recruitment and retention at Elmhurst (Ill.) Memorial Hospital.

“Someone gave me advice once,” said Purcell, past president of the Chicago Area Healthcare Recruiters.

“Think about those times in your career when you really wanted to get up and go to work.”

When Purcell interviews nurses for new roles, she asks them what they are looking for in the new position that they didn’t have in previous jobs, as well as what they liked and didn’t like about their old jobs. Don’t stop investigating once you’ve examined all the jobs you’ve held in the health care industry. Looking at other work experience you’ve had can yield important information about what makes you tick.

“I’m a nurse, and I approach things as an assessment: Let’s find out what’s important to you and what you want to do with your career,” Purcell said.

Location, location, location

Finding your passion is one thing. Finding a place to practice it is another. Marilyn Stewart, manager of human resources and operations at Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton, Ill., and president of the St. Louis Area Health Care Recruiters, suggested nurses start their search by looking at rankings and other lists of top facilities.

One of the most coveted awards in terms of nursing services is the Magnet designation, which is given out by the American Nurses Association’s American Nurses Credentialing Center. The Magnet designation is the highest level of recognition the ANCC gives. To earn Magnet status, organizations must prove they meet or exceed specific rigorous standards for sustaining excellence, improving professional practice, and transforming the workplace culture.

For the complete list of all Magnet facilities, visit www.nursingworld.org/ancc/magnet/facilities.html.

Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks the top hospitals in the country in several categories, including cancer, digestive disorders, geriatrics, and pediatrics.

The magazine’s list is available at www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hosptl/tophosp.htm. You can view it by state or metropolitan area by clicking Advanced Search.

If you’re looking for a facility that’s on the cutting edge, The Health Forum’s magazine Hospitals & Health Networks lists the top 100 “most wired” hospitals every July. The magazine features several of these hospitals every quarter. To read these features, visit www.hospitalconnect.com.

Stewart added that visiting the nursing adviser would be a good choice. She also suggested that nurses contact the facilities that interest them and ask to shadow their potential counterparts, too. If you do this, be sure to ask specific questions about the facility as well as questions about the field in general.

Mary Jane Brecklin, RN, MA, BSN, coordinator for recruitment and retention sservices at St. Louis-based SSM Health Care, agreed.

“Your best resources are the people inside the building — they’ll tell you the story,” Brecklin said.

She said you can find out how an organization takes care of its employees by asking the staff.

“It’s important for nurses to ask critical questions: What is your orientation like? What is your turnover? If you have a high need for education, find out what the benefits package is,” she added.

But be sure you do more than merely scratch the surface of an organization’s structure and compensation/benefits package. Brecklin said nurses today might have a harder time discerning which organizations treat their employees best because of the competitive marketplace.

“Because of supply and demand problems, we have many carrots out there for the younger nurse that pull people away from the focus,” she said.

Brecklin also said investigating the mission and values of an organization will help you find the right place to work. Going online and finding the facility’s website is a great first step. You can learn a great deal of basic information in a few mouse clicks.

Presentation

Your mind is now overflowing with relevant information to find that perfect job, but you’re still not done. Those who know what they want to do and where they want to do it have some final preparation that they often overlook, said Desbra Husberg, president of Chicago Area Healthcare Recruiters and a human resources generalist at Rush North Shore Medical Center in Skokie, Ill.

“[It] comes down to how they present themselves in an interview,” Husberg said. Some students come to interviews dressed as, well, as students, she said. Dressing professionally for a job interview is as essential as practicing coherent answers to relevant questions that may be asked, she said.

Husberg also has noticed some people pay scant regard to their résumés. résumésThis is a mistake. résumés should look clean and have no typographical and grammatical mistakes. Furthermore, they should include entries for all relevant work experience.

“We’re seeing more people who had previous careers going back into health care,” Husberg said. “They’re bringing a wealth of information.”

No matter what the previous career, whether it was in information technology or retail, Husberg said some part of it probably will be relevant to nursing. This is especially true for those who have worked with people or have managed any kind of workload. Those skills will translate well to the bedside. Husberg also encourages people to list their volunteer efforts on their résumés.

“A lot of people volunteer with their church for a health fair,” Husberg said as an example. “That shows added interest of the person to give back.”

Tracking down the perfect position can be a great deal of work, but it is worth it when you consider how much time you spend on the job. With a little gumshoe effort, you can turn the daily grind into the best-ever find.

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