How would you have handled this?

[ChuckieRN]

Hello Everyone,

I am a new graduate RN and recently resigned my first nursing position on a 24 bed Med/Surg floor that I started on five months ago. Some examples of the environment: Every evening I would find myself to be the only nurse on the floor while the other nurses and ancillary staff had dinner together in the breakroom. One evening I was at the med cart preparing to address pain experienced by one of my patient as call lights were ringing in at the desk along with the phones ringing. Being new, I was focused on the task at hand. The secretary, the charge nurse and all other nurses were in the break room. The secretary came out of the break room and screamed at me " you know, you can answer these calls." No one in the break room batted an eye. I informed her that I was addressing my patient's needs and that I was not equipped to handle the entire floor. I could, however, cover my "partner" if he or she let me know they were leaving the floor. Also, the experienced nurses went up on the roof on the the 4th of July to watch the fireworks and left me and another new grad on the flloor alone. There is no communication, I must add, you just suddenly are alone. The other new nurse started a month before me and left at the same point in time I did. The few examples provided are just the tip of the iceberg. I could not even get a civil answer to a procedural question. It got to the point that I would spend more time wondering where the next coworker blow was going to come from than one should. The acuity level of the patients was extreme. I feel that a new nurse is in a vulnerable state under the best of environmental circumstances and I choose not to be in this type of environment. Has anyone had this type of experience and how did you explain why you left to your next employer? How would you have handled this situation? Thanks in advance for your input.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

I just recently graduated and started my first nursing job. My preceptors were so mean to me and they made me feel stupid. They made my life miserable everyday that I went into work. . .one day I just decided to leave the job. I was only there for a month. . .I was able to get another job. I'm just starting orientation at my new job and I hope that things go better. . .Marina

Don't worry. What happened at your first post-graduate job stays there. It is so sad that the places that need nurses the most subject them to the kind of experience you had without seeming to notice where the problem is in their own system. Let me assure you that a great deal of it is due to poor supervision and management. Remember your experience so that if you ever find yourself in a management position take time to make yourself aware of how the staff is interacting among themselves and step in if you need to. I hope you find a better situation in your new job. Honestly, there are some real excellent RN role models who will be most willing to bend over backward to help you get started. Good luck, kiddo.

[live_N_scrubs]

...Remember your experience so that if you ever find yourself in a management position take time to make yourself aware of how the staff is interacting among themselves and step in if you need to. I hope you find a better situation in your new job. Honestly, there are some real excellent RN role models who will be most willing to bend over backward to help you get started. Good luck, kiddo.

Thanks so much for the encouraging words. I hope to find those excellent role models and learn alot from them. I'm the type that has a hard time being treated poorly, I don't react very well. That's probably why I only lasted one month at the old job. Because of this bad experience, I have made becoming a preceptor one day one of my long term goals. I don't ever want any new grad to feel the way I did.

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

The only thing I would have done differently, as has been posted, would have been to line up another job first, for several reasons.

You don't have to explain why you quit if you still have a job. An employed RN is an unquestioned current asset - to some employer. An unemployed RN is full of questions.

You have a stronger bargaining position. You can counter an HR offer with "Well I make this much now." You can't do that if you don't have a current salary.

You can honestly tell your prospective employer that you haven't let your current employer know you are 'job hunting' - and ask them not to contact them. This comes in handy when you are leaving a bad situation.

Many hospitals in the same area have an informal 'no headhunting' agreement. They won't actively recruit you unless you come to them first. Sometimes, HR dept considers that a coup - and that makes the hiring process much easier.

I'm on my 4th job as an RN. I didn't resign any of my three prior positions without having the next job already lined up.

~faith,

Timothy.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

I had a horrible experience as a new grad RN in a surgical unit. The place was a viper pit. I lasted 3 mos. On applications, I list my reason for leaving as "poor working conditions." No one has ever questioned me about it.