NURSING - REGISTERED NURSE: Job Applicant

REGISTERED NURSE: ROLE-PLAYING SCRIPT FOR JOB APPLICANT,
MS. TULI, MASSASOIT COMMUNITY COLLEGE, SPRING 2008

It is Spring 2008. You will soon graduate with an associates degree in the nursing program at Massasoit Community College with a 3.8 GPA reflecting your outstanding commitment to your studies.

Your father works at the Brockton District Court as a court officer and your mother is head of development for the Brockton YWCA. Through exposure to their work and their commitment to helping people in Brockton, you’ve always wanted to work in you’re hometown community caring for people. Since you were a child, you’ve dreamed of becoming a nurse and have diligently toward this goal. During high school you volunteered at Brockton Community Hospital in the gift store and as a guide when patients needed directions to various departments.

All the time you’ve been enrolled at Massasoit to get your associates degree in their registered nursing program you have worked full time at Brockton ElderCare, a large elderly care facility. First, you helped the intake staff when new residents arrived taking basic information and recording test results under the direction of the Director of Intake Services. Then you worked with the activities director to plan and execute special events for residents. As your studies progressed at Massasoit and the head of Brockton ElderCare realized that you were conscientious, hard working and meticulous in handling details of medications prescribed for patients, you were assigned to support the nursing staff in inventorying and ordering medications for the facility. Your work was so highly regarded over these several years that the Director of Brockton ElderCare offered you a position as a staff registered nurse when you graduate.

Your goal, however, is to get a job as a staff registered nurse after graduation at Brockton Community Hospital. The hospital has an outstanding reputation and this is your opportunity to build a nursing career in the hospital. Besides, with all you learned about care for elderly people, you’d like to apply that experience in a hospital setting with the expectation that, well and properly treated, these older patients would not need to enter an elder care facility and instead, could live at home for a lot longer time. Every year, BCH hires 3 associates who graduate from registered nursing programs. You know that these positions at BCH are highly sought after and that your competition is fierce.

You’ve done your homework. www.wageproject.org tells you that, given the statewide shortage of registered nurses which is driving salaries up throughout Massachusetts, the staff registered nurse job has a salary range of $58,000-$70,000 with a median salary of $64,000. The benefits package for this position is worth another $26,000. You’ve determined that your target salary is $64,000 which you firmly believe, given your work experience, your volunteer activity on the front desk at a homeless shelter, and your 3.8 GPA is justified.

You know that living on your own in the Brockton will be expensive. You have hefty student loans to pay off. You want to buy a car so that you can go skiing in Vermont on winter weekends. The minimum salary you can possibly accept is $61,000 and that would mean living VERY modestly.

You were thrilled yesterday when Mrs. Powers told you that she was very impressed with you and offered you a job. She asked you to come back today just to settle a couple details like salary, benefits and starting date and then sign a contract.

You have the last appointment of the day. Mrs. Powers must leave in 15 minutes give a speak at a seminar in Brockton. /

Can you and Mrs. Powers come to an agreement about a starting salary which you accept? Can you get her to agree to your target salary figure? To a fair benefits package? Make notes on what you consider your persuasive points. Decide the sequence in which you will present these points. Make notes about the language you will use. Make notes about her likely objections to raising her offer and what you will say.

Use every minute of that time to get her to your target salary. Remember, this is your chance to start out being paid what you deserve. Remember, too, that $64,000 is what you’ve determined is you’re worth doing this job.

Go for it!