Nurse Jobs London

So now I’m trying to decide whether I want to take a permanent job someplace or keep on traveling. Both have their charms. Traveling is good because I know it’s only 13 weeks if I don’t like it, but the downside is that I feel rootless much of the time. I would love to have a place of my own and be settled somewhere, but I’m not sure I want to be embroiled in hospital politics any more. I’ve toyed with the idea of moving to Capital City whether I actually get a job there or travel from there. Ideally I would find a travel position within 3 hours driving distance, get my schedule “blocked” (set up so that I work all 36 hours within 3 days) and come back home when I’m off.

So, to that end, I’ve applied for a number of jobs, but I’ve only actually had an interview with one of them. That was at the hospital I worked at as a traveler in Capital City, but in the (mostly autonomous) heart hospital there. And I didn’t get to talk to the manager, only the HR guy, who asked me some very good questions. But that was last Thursday, and I have yet to hear from anyone. I am dubious that anything will come of this. Back to the drawing board *sigh*

In any case, I can’t go anywhere until after the middle of February when I will welcome my new grandson into the world. He is a long-awaited blessing for my daughter and her beloved, and quite possibly the last grandchild I will have. I’m not missing his arrival! After that, who knows?

Back to filling out applications and sending out resumes.

I came back to what passes for home, and the assignments that were coming up were just not what I wanted. I got one call from a place I hadn’t even said yes to (as a matter of fact, I’d distinctly told my recruiter NO but apparently she submitted me anyway). I might have considered it some other time, but it’s just not where I want to be right now. Then I got a call from another hospital in a city I’d been to before, but the package I was offered and the circumstances of the job were most definitely not to my liking, so I told that manager no. Meanwhile I’d started talking to my very first recruiter again.she’s never stopped calling to see how things are going, and I like her.

BUT.in the meantime, a friend of mine who lives in a University Town in a nearby state told me about a job opening in a quite different field–permanent, and not something I’d done, exactly, but close enough that I felt comfortable applying. So I did. I went up there and had a 2 hour interview with the person who would be my immediate boss. She seemed to like me; it was one of the best interviews I’ve ever had. I went home and did all the online stuff they require (why in hell did I have to do advanced math problems?????) and waited. The following week I got a call from the HR director asking me if I could come up again and meet with the Clinical Director and the Director of Nursing Services. He told me I was their “leading candidate.” Well, of course I could. At their expense? Wow! I must be pretty close to in. So I drove back up there, and the next day I had my interview. Except it wasn’t that easy. I got lost trying to find the office. I called as soon as I realized I was lost, but I ended up being about a half hour late. The interview seemed to go okay, though I thought the nursing services person was a bit uptight. At the end of the interview, one of them said the person I’d met with initially would be calling me in “a couple of days.” So I waited. And waited. Finally, on the advice of a friend who’s been through this, and whose advice I’ve come to depend on, I e-mailed her last Friday, a very tactful e-mail asking if I had perhaps missed some communication since I’d been traveling. Well.FINALLY.today I got an answer:

“Thanks for getting back in touch with me. I appreciate you coming up here for the second interview and I apologize for the hotel mixup. I have interviewed several candidates for this liasion position and again, appreciate you coming here but I’m afraid that after much thought it’s just not a good fit for us. Good luck in your ventures in the future and all my best.”

Okay, fine, I can appreciate that. But just why in HELL did you keep me dangling for two whole weeks? That is not only unprofessional, it’s downright RUDE. I’m not so much upset as I am just angry and hurt.

So I’m back with my recruiter Lizzie.my first one. She has me submitted already to a hospital Up the Road, a teaching hospital (love those!) on a telemetry unit, start ASAP. I told her I could start in about 10 days. Meanwhile, since her agency has changed hands, I’m having to do all the paperwork I did initially, all over again. I guess if I go there it’ll be okay, it’s close to here so I can run home over Christmas and be done with my contract when my daughter has her baby in February. But sheesh, it really hurts when the job you’re the “leading candidate” for turns to dust and ashes, and they don’t even bother to tell you.