[Kate0140]

I feel like many that have posted before, staff nursing in a hospital setting is not for me. Although most other jobs require the 1-2 years of med/surg experience if not more. Has anyone quit their floor job for another area of nursing before getting a year of experience? If so, have you found that it has hurt you or held you back from other jobs? Do you regret not getting that experience?

Thanks,
I'm trying to hang in there but will only have 4 months experience at the end of January.

[VivaLasViejas]

Well, it would be better if you could hang in there for a while longer......have you tried moving to another unit in your same hospital? (I'm assuming you're working medical/surgical, which is hard on the best days and next to impossible on the worst.) It might be worth it to look into transferring, rather than quitting outright and starting over someplace else; med/surg is pretty much the same everywhere, and other areas of nursing---like long-term care---are challenging in their own ways.

That said, I have done exactly what you're thinking of, and lived to succeed for the most part; in fact, I quit my first job (in a nursing home) only 3 months in and was immediately hired at another LTC, where I worked for almost 2 years after that.

Please bear in mind, however, that almost EVERY nurse goes through a period of adjustment in their first year as they realize that there's school, there's tests, and then there's real life........and the latter doesn't hold much of a resemblance to the former. There's a lot of disillusionment that goes with this, and it's up to the individual nurse to determine if they can deal with the reality and let go of the fantasy. You're in this phase of your career right now; knowing that you're going through a fairly normal transitional period may even help you decide to try just getting through it and learning as much as you can from the experience before moving on. Or not. Either way, you need to understand that what you're experiencing is very common, and that there is help for you, here at allnurses, and elsewhere.

Best wishes, and please let us know how it's going......we care.

[llg]

I agree with mjlrn97 completely. It might help your frame of mind if you think of that year or two as an extension of your education. Those jobs that require some experience first do so for a reason -- they require skills and professional maturity that you don't get in school. You need to acquire those skills before you can realistically expect to succeed in those other types of jobs.

So ... try to find a unit where you like the people and/or like the work and where you can learn those skills without making yourself miserable. If the unit you are now on is making you miserable, look at other units in the same hospital ... then at other instititutions before giving up on bedside nursing completely.

Good luck,
llg

[SaderNurse05]

Well, I worked exactly 6 months in the hospital before I started my new job in public health. I did not think transferring to another unit was going to help much because all the units had the same problems- too many high acuity patients and not enough help. Talk to nurses from other units if you can, but remember they may have their own agendas Explore your options and don't be afraid to sell yourself! As nurses we have great training in many areas, so find something you like and get after it!!

[funnygirl_rn]

Everyone has offered wonderful advise. I too, rather I think we all have felt like this with our first job after graduating. My first job was on the rehab floor at a SNF, then, I became a floater because it paid it little bit more, not much, but something extra, anyway they floated me from rehab to dementia or to the long term hall, where I seemed FOREVER pushing that med cart up/down that very looooooooooong hall-way. The majority of the meds had to be crushed, which even took me longer due to the banging/crushing of those meds. It would take me a long time, then we had about 6-8 tube feeders, lots of finger sticks, and not getting a break sometimes, well...I lasted about 3 months. I really tried to stick it out, but I felt so worn out both physically & mentally, I was so drained everytime I left there.

Needless to say, you have to make that decision, but like other posters said, most SNF & med-surg is like that pretty much everywhere. Just keep looking and maybe you'll find a place where you will meet a nice group who do team work & don't mind helping you out.

Best of luck.

Lizzie

[HeatherLPN]

I lasted one month at my first job. I quit knowing that I even had to pay back my sign on bonus--it was that bad there. I have never worked with more hateful people in my life. I was nervous about finding something else, but I went to an interview and told them that I wasn't going to say anything bad about another facility, but the first job wasn't a good fit and that I would leave it at that. The DON told me that we've all had jobs like that and understood and called and offered me a job the next day. I've been there ever since and have been so much happier there.

I did get a lot of good vent experience at my first job (I had 3 on my floor), and now that we have a vent patient, I am showing RN's how to do trache care and take care of things that come up when you are dealing with a vent patient, and they've all had their licenses a lot longer than I have. So really, it can all work out. It's not worht staying somewhere that you are miserable.

[GooeyRN]

Can you stick it out two more months? I think six months sounds better than four months. Six months sounds like you gave it a fair try and just don't like it for whatever reason. I agree though, try to transfer to another floor withing the same hospital if possible or even within the same system if there isn't anything in that hospital you want. It would be nice to keep sick, vacation, etc. and it would look much better to say you worked for the same hospital or same system in the future.

[fergus51]

I left my first job after three months. It was an absolute hell hole I wouldn't want my dog to be treated at. It has never hurt me and I don't even list it on my resume anymore.

[PedsRNBSN]

I am in the middle of doing exactly what you said. I too knew hospital nursing what not exactly my cup of tea, but planned to stick it out for one year...then hit my six month mark and realized that since they COMPLETELY changed our holidays (upped what we had to work) and upped our weekend requirements that I was going to just look around. Well...guess what I got a job in an outpatient ambulatory surgery center and work four 10 hr days and off every Fri-sun with NO HOLIDAYS OR WEEKENDS!! Oh, did I mention a lot more money too??? Wahoo....if I can do it, so can you. I seriously thought they would laugh when they saw my graduation date, but i went in with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn everything-she said she hired me because she was impressed with my motivation. Good luck!! PM if you need to.

[LadyT618]

PedsRNBSN sounds like me!! I graduated back in June of 2005 and started in the CTU of a hospital in the same month. The orientation was excellent, I'll give them that. But after a while, I realized that that unit was not for me. The schedule also was taxing on my body. They would continually put me on 3 and 4 nights in a row, off for only 2 and then back to work. I've about had it around November and started looking elsewhere. I told them how unhappy I was and asked if I could be transferred. In the meantime, I applied to another hospital for an OR position and found out a couple days ago that I got it!! NO WEEKENDS and NO HOLIDAYS!!! Same pay on 8-hr days that I'm making now on 12-hr nights. After orientation, have the option of going to evenings, which mean a little more in the salary. I am on cloud 9!! I can't wait to give my notice. Now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. So if the OP wants to go, I say go for it!! Follow your heart. If you know you are not happy, then leave. You spend most of your time at work and you need to be happy. Don't stay just because it'll look better on your resume. You don't want to be miserable somewhere and then end up hating nursing altogether.

Good Luck!!