Return to Work, Different Position

Grace W. on October 31, 2013

Interviewing, Job Search, Work/Life/Cancer Balance

I attended the teleconference about going back to work, resumes, legal issues and such two weeks ago.

I am meeting with my employer now to decide what open position could be a good fit for me.  Because of my lack of immunity after a stem cell transplant, I cannot return as an RN in the Special Care  Nursery.  This is the hospital's policy, not my physician restriction.  They are concerned about me exposing disease to the infants.  I am concerned about that too, but I want to stay healthy. This poses several questions:

  • Because my whole career has been within the Maternal/Child spectrum,  how to "sell" myself as a good candidate for other positions?

  • If no suitable position is available and I lose my job entirely, what happens to my LTD (my doctor says I can work)? 
  • Will I need to settle for any job, even those outside my career field of Nursing?

 I have a Diploma in Nursing and it would be difficult for me to obtain employment as a RN in a hospital without a bachelor's degree now and in the future. What are my options? How do you find non-traditional nursing job opportunities?

Thanks for your help.

Grace 


1 Comment

Image of Julie Jansen

Julie Jansen

Nov 4, 2013

Career Coach Comment:

Dear Grace,
I remember you from the teleconference a few weeks ago. I am sorry that you are experiencing this particularly because you really seem to enjoy working with babies.
Once you know exactly what the job is that you are applying for within the hospital, you will want to prepare for the interview just as you would for any job interview. Read about the requirements of the job, the characteristics or qualities they are looking for, and then look at your skills and qualities and compare them. For example, if it is an administrative position, there must be aspects of your job as an RN that were administrative such as record keeping and scheduling on a computer. Also, you know the hospital well, you have passion for their mission, and you know many of the doctors, RNs, and other staff so you already possess relationships which always makes learning a new job easier.
If for some reason, you do not get another job within the hospital, this would be a great time to go through some self-assessments to discover what type of work would be interesting to you other than nursing. It's important to realize that many people work in 2-7 careers in their lifetime and derive a lot of enjoyment from learning new things, meeting new people and earning money and meeting their values in a different way than before. Identifying and finding work that is different then what you did in the past involves thinking about your skills, interests, your personality type and what you want your work-life to involve (office versus not, varied people, working with kids not adults, etc.)

Regarding your question about LTD, this is one that I encourage you to ask Cancer and Career's legal experts about on the site.
I know that this all seems so scary and overwhelming right now however I encourage you to start the process of practicing for interviews and researching different job paths as soon as you can so you educate and prepare yourself for the next steps.
If you have any other questions, please reach out again. Good luck!
Take care,
Julie

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