Quitting during Orientation / weighing my options

[Currybread]

Hi, I'm a new grad nurse that graduated in May 2015. I started my first job in August in a new grad program on a medsurg floor. At first the job seemed perfect, it was close to my home, good pay, and it seemed to be new grad friendly. But after working there for a while I realized I just can't adjust to working 12 hour night shifts and I just don't fit in with the rest of the nurses (while the other new grad hires do). I have a very introverted personality and quite socially awkward so I often feel isolated from the bubbly, outgoing personalities that the other nurses have. Furthermore, I am a slow learner and my preceptors get annoyed with me while the other new grads seem to grasp things so fast. Medsurg is so broad that I get overwhelmed too easily. I am almost done with orientation and making progress, but very slowly, and I'm not enjoying a minute of it.

I'm starting to think that medsurg isn't the place for me. I am thinking about going into mental health instead. With my connections I am almost positive I can get a mental health position in one of my past clinical sites (it has 4 open spots). I have more fun in psych and the orientation process there is much smoother. The people who work there are easier for me to get along as well. Plus, it is evening shift so I wouldn't have to stay up all night anymore! If I got the job offer, I might just switch over. The only drawback is the much longer commute.

I would feel bad for quitting my current job because the hospital already invested so much in me and my manager had so much hope in me. I feel like this will burn bridges and I would never be hired there again. Also, since it is a new grad program, everyone would be talking about me, the new grad who quit. It's embarrassing, but I should probably learn not to care so much about what other people think.

Should I stick with my current job? Leave for the mental health position if offered? Should I put on my resume that I have 2 months experience at a hospital that I'm contemplating quitting from? It is hard to tell if my struggles are just due to being a new grad or if there is a real problem.

[browneyes3000]

Please do not quit. I know it is hard, but please try to stay at least a year. It is stressful to be a new grad and you are not alone with the thought of quitting, but you will have more options after gaining at least a year of experience. Nursing world is small and please try your best not to burn any bridge. You will have the final decision, but I really hope you think carefully before you quit.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

I would not quit. Stick it out for a year and then apply for your dream job. There may be open slots, but mental health attracts many nurses

looking for a change just like you are. You may be up against people with much more experience and then who do you think they will go with? Not trying to be harsh. You have connections, but these connections will also be aware that you left your current position without finishing orientation. Even if you can make it six months, that is better than quitting now. A colleague of mine quit before the end of our residency program (takes one year). He had to switch health systems entirely. What do you like about mental health? I think it has a perception that it is "Easier" since many of your patients are walkie-talkies, but if you feel like an introvert, consider what this would mean for working with mental health patients.

[caliotter3]

There is no guarantee that the new position would be forthcoming, a better deal, or even survivable. One can pretty much guarantee, though, that leaving your first position so early in the game will be detrimental to you. It is just a matter of degree of how detrimental that is to be seen. Stick with your present job.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Tough it out for at least a year. Quitting before then as a new grad will make finding a job a lot harder, even if you already have connections. Things change. Just know that you're not alone. I know that typically newer nurses start out on night shift but have you spoken with your supervisor about trying to switch to days? What is it exactly about nights that you cannot adjust to?

[claire628]

This is how i feel with my current job. I feel like leaving...

[Da1uLuv_RN]

So did you leave?

[Xtinatwo]

You sound exactly like me we same personalite I am also new grad graduated may 2015 landed my first rn job in November. Your story mean exactly like mine. But I was not in a new grad program I wish I was. I would diffidently wouldn't quit. I was slow to learn and everything I was on a medsirg, oncology, dialysis, and pallivative unit. I was on there for three months because I was let go . Now I am about ready to start my second job at small community hospital mental health unit. I am so nervous. I would just stick with it so that you can gain more skills. I wish I had that opportunity.