Deeply saddened.....

[TXNurseBSN]

I have been perusing this board for the last few weeks and I feel so much sadness and frustration coming from us new nurses. Was it only a few months ago that so many of us were so happy posting on the NCLEX board that we passed and had finally obtained that elusive title of R.N. behind our name? What kind of profession takes that optimism and excitement and completely squashes it in a matter of a few short months???

Few of us chose this profession because we wanted to become rich, we did it to make a difference. Then, we start our first job and have so many patients and so little time that we question our decision as to why we work ed our ***** off to get through nursing school. For what? No respect, stress, hunger pains, bad bladders, and fear that our brand new license is on the line every time we clock in for a shift.

I just quit my job after only 3 months and when I walked (ran) out of that hospital, I felt better than I have in months. I am a dependable, reliable person who has always stayed at a job at least one year, many times 5-6 years. My sanity and my new pregnancy could not tolerate this job. At this point, I cannot see myself ever doing floor nursing again. I got a job as a school nurse and will see how things go. I am excited and optimistic about it, though. In the meantime, I am researching all of my options, maybe a return to school (not for nursing). I am reading Nursing Against the Odds by Suzanne Gordon. That book should be required reading for anyone even considering nursing school! What an eye opener.

I guess I just wanted to reach out to all new nurses who are having similar problems and let them know they are in my thoughts and my prayers. I hope we all find a path that works for us whether it be in nursing or elsewhere.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Wow - I have been a nurse for 14 years and I think it is much harder being a new grad nowadays! I feel for you guys.

Please don't give up. If the first job doesn't work out or isn't a good fit - get another. If you don't get a good solid preceptor (who wants to precept), ask for another.

I wish you all the best.

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

I think TraumaRUs has a good point about looking for another job. When I came out of nursing school, I had my heart set on being a great ICU nurse, not really being realistic about all that the job would demand of my mind and body. Spending a few hours in clinical in that setting, and working as a tech is a lot different from the real thing. So I went into a huge teaching hospital's trauma ICU. I hated it from day 1 and now, 9 months in, I still hate it. Now that my eyes are open and I know what bedside nursing demands of me and knowing more about what my strengths and weaknesses are, I'm looking for something better suited for me and I do see some possibilities for greener pastures.

Yep, I'm saddened and frustrated to the point of tears too often about all this but then I try to see the bigger picture. I'm a greenhorn and what are the chances I would stumble onto the right job right out of nursing school?

[pkapple]

I know the first year is rough. Heck anytime you change units or facilities can be tough! Hang in there, every one of your co-workers has been thru it, some did it easier than others. I honestly believe schools are doing a diservice when they rush you thru every department as a student and give you just one pt or tell you to shadow. I remember all the paperwork and looking up every drug and all those diagnosis and care plans in school, but ya did it the night before. Maybe some of the students who were told to wait til they got to the real world, now understand what it might have meant. Still not the way to help a student, but school is soooo not the real world.

Good luck to all the new grads at every level. If you hang in there and really learn from the chaos, you will become skilled, not just in procedures, but in organization and prioritization. Form a group at work to destress, give up another hour of your home life to vent and learn from co-workers both new and "aged" . There was a hospital that provided a travel nurse group for this same type of situation--it was great for everyone.

[kit3375]

Over a year in I can tell you that I feel much, much better than I did about six-eight months ago. It was very gradual but it DID happen. The first year of nursing is like trial by fire sometimes... ANd there is still craziness, quite often, but I do have much more confidence in myself as a nurse now. I just wanted to add this to tell you to keep up the hope and if you look at my old threads you will see I have felt absolutely horrible sometimes over the past year, and overwhelmed, but it HAS gotten better and it will for you too I bet.

Thanks so much! It feels good to know that there is light at the end of this tunnel.

[TXNurseBSN]

I think TraumaRUs has a good point about looking for another job. When I came out of nursing school, I had my heart set on being a great ICU nurse, not really being realistic about all that the job would demand of my mind and body. Spending a few hours in clinical in that setting, and working as a tech is a lot different from the real thing. So I went into a huge teaching hospital's trauma ICU. I hated it from day 1 and now, 9 months in, I still hate it. Now that my eyes are open and I know what bedside nursing demands of me and knowing more about what my strengths and weaknesses are, I'm looking for something better suited for me and I do see some possibilities for greener pastures.

Yep, I'm saddened and frustrated to the point of tears too often about all this but then I try to see the bigger picture. I'm a greenhorn and what are the chances I would stumble onto the right job right out of nursing school?

I think you hit the nail on the head, you DO have to find the type of nursing that is best suited to your needs. I knew the first year was going to be really hard. That part did not suprise me a bit. I was completely prepared to face it head on until I found out about my pregnancy and started having problems.

I appreciate all of the advice and support. You know, docs have a full year of internship. It seems as if nursing students should take all of their classes the first year or two and then spend an entire school year just working full time on a floor under supervision. Maybe we would feel more prepared after graduation. As somebody else posted, clinicals were not a true glimpse of "the real world."

[lisamc1RN, LPN]

I can totally relate! I've been a nurse for 2 months and there have been several days when if I have felt like walking away and never coming back. I've cried my eyes out and felt like the worst nurse in the world! There is just so much to learn and then there is the "attitude" that a very small number of nurses who say nasty things like " this place has gone to hell since they hired all the new grads." It makes it very hard to work with a nurse when you know that's how she feels about you. And forget asking her any questions. Thank God for the much larger number of nurses who aren't like that. I know that I've made myself a promise... I will do one year at this job and re-evaluate. That's if I continue to have more good days than bad ones. If it starts balancing out the other way, then I may start looking elsewhere. One question that I haven't answered yet is, how would I know if I was making a good move or just jumping from the frying pan into the fire?

[RN and Mommy]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I am truly loving my first year as a RN. Sure, it gets stressful and there are too many patients to care for and not enough nurses and you get slammed with admits and discharges and surgicals and so and so wants their pain pills and so on, but all in all, I truly love it! I work with a great group of people and I know that because of them I am so happy. I work with great CNA's who are truly wonderful! I have been a RN for a little over 3 months now and I am loving it. The only part of my life that I don't like right now is finishing up my BSN. It is a year of HE**! Only 7 1/2 months left! Ahhhhh!

[chris_at_lucas_RN, RN]

I walked away from my first RN job after about 8 weeks (slept since then, so that's just an estimate).

I could not bear to watch how poorly patients were treated, the shortcuts the nurses who were supposed to be mentoring me took, the excuses the nurse managers made for them.

I'm not talking about little picky stuff. I'm talking about life threatening, slipshod, plain ole poor (or lousy) care.

And this was a magnet hospital.

I don't have an answer still. I wish I did. I wish I was still working telemetry. I wish, I wish, I wish.

And this is while I am very much enjoying the nursing part of the job I presently do.

I do think it is a nursing fact that nursing students will generally be treated poorly by their instructors, it won't be fair, good nurses will not make it through the program because of it, and that's just the way it is.

And I think it is also a nursing fact that the first year, for most of us, will be our being dumped into the real world of nursing, where not everyone shares our ideals, where we will have to become a little more realistic ourselves, and where we will have to draw our own lines in the sand, where what we are willing to let go and what we must stand up and be counted for are our decisions.

It's rough. It's hard. But in the end, we are fighting the good fight. In the end, patients and their families have a better quality of life, a better hospital experience, better care, because of us.

We are not going to change anyone's personalities. If they have been there 30 years, and it's our first job out of school, and they are not very nice, guess who is going to win that one? The odds are pretty good that everybody knows what those grumps are about, and there's a reason they aer still there and no one is messing with them. And we aren't going to change it.

We are going to have to pick a place and settle in for the long haul.

Personally, I think we should develop a system of support. (ummmm, for me it has generally been allnurses.com and people I've "met" here....)

Hang in there. Be the best you can be, do the best you can with what you have. Find something postive in everyone and tell them (it will destroy their nasty attitude or at least make them wonder what you are up to). But don't let anybody run you off your first job. I did, and I'm sorry about it. I wish I'd had the guts and spine then that I have now.

Love you guys!

[peace_solace]

Maybe I am in the minority here but I am truly loving my first year as a RN. Sure, it gets stressful and there are too many patients to care for and not enough nurses and you get slammed with admits and discharges and surgicals and so and so wants their pain pills and so on, but all in all, I truly love it! I work with a great group of people and I know that because of them I am so happy. I work with great CNA's who are truly wonderful! I have been a RN for a little over 3 months now and I am loving it. The only part of my life that I don't like right now is finishing up my BSN. It is a year of HE**! Only 7 1/2 months left! Ahhhhh![/quote']

This is what I like to see! Thank you so much for posting that. I will be graduating in May of 2007 and I know it will be incredibly demanding but I'm glad to see there can be some good parts too.

[hlfpnt, BSN, RN]

Not that I wish misery on anyone, far from it, but I'm so glad to discover I'm not alone in my feelings concerning my first job! I thought maybe I was just being too picky or something. I love the job itself...caring for my patients, developing new skills & learning. It's a hard job & I knew it would be. I've been around the medical field long enough to know better than to expect anything less. So it's not the job, it's the atmosphere. I'm well aware there is no perfect job & every place you go will have some kind of snafu, but some of the things I'm seeing here are OMG!!! Wound care either doesn't get done or it's a half a$$ job, patients are laying in poop at shift change because someone had to have a break 30 minutes before clock out time, meds are not on the floor & the pharmacy really isn't concerned about this, some staff can be seen on cell phones or watching TV in rooms while others are busting butt, depending on who your aide is you can call all day long & never get an answer or catch some really nasty attitude because you interupted their personal conversation with another aide in the break room, appearantly it's ok for some people to wear street clothes to work - there is very little professionalism there, & over half of the experienced nurses just are not newbie friendly - how can I learn if you're not willing to teach me, but will bury me if I booboo?! Most of the time I feel like I'm walking on egg shells. These are just a few of the things & it appears this facility has been this way for a long time & nothing just ever gets done about the existing problems. It's discouraging & most days I leave feeling like I've either missed something or just have not been productive enough. I question whether or not I've truely done the best that I could have for my patients...even though I know I have. The good days are really good, but unfortunately the bad ones do out number the good. Normally I'm not one to give up & just walk away, but I'm begining to dread the days I have to go to this place & I've only been there 2 months. I really wanted to be there at least a year & plan on trying to hold out as long as I can because I know it looks better, but I'm scared it will come to the point of going home in tears...I've faced that before & am in no big hurry to experience it again. All I want is to be a good, safe nurse so that I can give my patients the quality care they deserve.

I apologize for the vent & for this being so long...but I do feel a little better. I know this is an OP thread, but after reading all the replies it seemed like a good place to fit in. All my best to all us newbies, I know we'll make it! :)

[DeLana_RN, BSN, RN]

I appreciate all of the advice and support. You know, docs have a full year of internship. It seems as if nursing students should take all of their classes the first year or two and then spend an entire school year just working full time on a floor under supervision. Maybe we would feel more prepared after graduation. As somebody else posted, clinicals were not a true glimpse of "the real world."

Isn't it ironic - this is how it used to be, with the old diploma programs. These nurses were truly prepared to start out running because they had already done it - in school. Alas, no such thing today (there are only a few diploma programs left), so most of us did not get nearly enough clinical experience in our ADN or BSN programs.

I have a BSN and can write a great research paper in APA format - but there are times when I still don't feel comfortable with some nursing skills, and I graduated in '98.

Hang in there, and to all you new grads: try to do a year on a hospital floor if at all possible. This will be your missing clinical experience and invaluable for your later career. Then you can leave hospital nursing and feel like you're well prepared to deal with (most) situations. However, you will continue to learn throughout your career.

DeLana :)

[pocovan, MSN, RN, NP]

Wow just reading this thread made me feel so much better knowing that others have felt the way I have. I left the CCU and felt such a relief on my last day. I went from CCU to Home health care and it has been better, but still having some rough times. I am tender hearted and I am not use to people being so mean to one another. I guess I have to toughen my exterior or let it roll off my back more.

Another thing that I am not use to is the long hours. I love my husband and sons and I only work part time, but I still don't like the long days I work. Anyone else feel that way?