Pro tip: I spent 3 years saying yes to every extra shift at the hospital and wondering why I never got promoted
My charge nurse pulled me aside in March and asked when I was going to start working on the stuff that actually gets people promoted instead of just covering everyone else's callouts. Turns out being reliable isn't the same as being ready, and I had 400+ hours of overtime to prove it. Has anyone else had a boss basically tell them they were grinding the wrong wheel?
Sounds like you were running a marathon while the promotion committee was watching a different race entirely. Showing up for every shift is great, but it just makes you the person they call, not the person they promote. At least your charge nurse was nice enough to tell you before year four.