[CrazyFLBean]

After 1 year of nursing, I can honestly say I still hate where I'm at in all this. I am a LPN (the RN wait list was too long so I did this first to bridge over but then had a baby inbetween so plans got delayed!)
Anyway, I live about 1.5 hrs outside of a major city so the job opportunites by me are NOT great. I have my choice of nursing homes basically and the local hospitals do not hire LPN's.
I want to be in maternity and eventually in NICU so you can imagine that LTC is NOT what I had in mind. Over the past few months, I have cried and cried about my job. I love being a nurse but I don't like the facilities that overwork people. I have to work nights to avoid daycare (can't afford it actually) and with that, I have 60 patients all to myself! I have tried 3 other facilities and it seems they get worse and worse the more I move jobs.
I am miserable and have abiout a year left until I am a RN. I seriously don't know if I can last a year! I hate to be so negative but I really can't help it. It is taking a toll on my life and my attitude and I'm bringing down others around me. Sorry for the vent, I just needed to get this off my chest since no one else listens to me!

[NsgChica]

CrazyFLbean,
Sorry that things aren't working out for you at your job as an LPN. All I can say is...If you really need the job to support yourself and your child, you should stick it out for this last year. If you can live by reducing your hours (going PRN or working only weekends) or not working at all...why make yourself miserable. Going PRN and doing weekends usually pays adequately...but insurance is usually not included. You can also try applying to an agency/home care type of job. There are a lot of peds cases that need LPN's, of course this is different in each area...but it's worth the try. Life is tooo short to be miserable. If you absolutely have to stay where you're at..cut down on your hours and when your at home don't think about work. Hope everything works out for you XOXOXO

[woknblues]

I don't know you, or your whole situation, however...

Find another job and quit ASAP. If you don't, here is what will happen. You will become more and more bitter until you quit impulsively and put a strain on your family finances, and hinder your future job search with no reference.

Try to get a performance evaluation from your current job (especially if you think it will be very good). Then, when you have another job lined up, go in to your manager and tell them exactly what is happening and "what can they do about it?" If they give you the run around, politely ask for a reference and give them your 2 weeks. Call the new place and inform them of what is happening. You will likely get a 2 week vacation, as most hospitals don't work employees who have quit. I advise you to set new goals for yourself and your career during that time.

best of luck.

[jjjoy]

Maybe you can look for a less traditional LPN job out there. That means moving beyond the newspaper wanted ads and positions advertised by flyers in the mail. There are random jobs out there that want licensed nurses... Red Cross, clinical research, county health services, and more.

Is there a local university? They might have random opportunities for someone with your background (eg student health, clinical research). If you're really feeling like you need out, check out administrative jobs in a hospital, like in medical records. If there's a major medical teaching/research facility in your area, it's worth checking their job listing periodically. There are many health care related jobs that don't require a license, so you might not want to overlook those.

On a job website like Monster, do a keyword search and then SKIP all of the "regular" sounding LPN job descriptions (eg LTC). Notice any other interesting job descriptions that may be there. You may not be perfectly qualified but it gives you an idea of what other words you might want to use to look for other jobs and what other types of organizations might be hiring LPNs in your area.

These types of positions come and go quickly so you need to keep checking back regularly (say, at least once a week). This strategy isn't a quick fix as it can take several months to find jobs for you to apply to. But such jobs are more likely to be worth it to in the long run since LTC seems to be burning you out.

It can be depressing to check such places and find nothing (underqualified, overqualified, etc), but if you don't check, you might be missing something, so bite the bullett and see what else is out there.Some of these positions may mean a pay cut, but perhaps you could supplement it by picking up some agency work.

I also second looking into agency work if you don't need full time benefits. Can you work fewer hours, keep your benefits and pick up a shift or two with an agency? Working with an agency can introduce to different facilities and you might find a place you'd rather work.

Good luck!!!