Anyone hate their first job?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi! I just quit my first nursing job. It was on a med-surg floor, which was not what I was planning to do after graduation. My goal was to go directly into community health nursing, but I got antsy because the process of application was lengthy, and took a hospital job.

Anyway, the unit had weak leadership, lack of teamwork, and an over-abundance of gossip, backstabbing and bullying. People (nurses, techs, secretaries, transport, etc. ect.) got away with acting however they pleased. My last day I had to literally fight a tech to get a hold of the only functioning pulse ox machine I could find because she was doing her afternoon vitals. I respect that she has her job to do too, but my demented patient who keeps pulling out his NC, O2 sat dropping to 76% (which I wouldn't have known without the pulse ox machine) who is in need of a restraint order takes precedence over afternoon vitals IMO. Especially when I told her I'd give the darn machine right back!!!!

In addition, I was tired of being made to feel incompetent and lazy by the 7p to 7a staff, especially considering I took on average a 15 minute break during the majority of my 12 hour shifts. I know I didn't do everything right...that I made mistakes. I'm a brand new nurse (started this job in August), and I'd appreciate constructive criticism, not a sneer and dead silence during my entire report. How do people get to be so mean and bitter?

Anyway, despite the fact that I feel justified in leaving that place because it was ruining all aspects of my life (I was sleepless, lost weight, and my personal relationships suffered greatly), I still feel like a failure. So, my question is, has anyone else left their first nursing job too? I just need to know I'm not alone here...

Thanks!

I, too, am a new RN and quit my first nursing job. The unit you described sounded exactly like mine. I am at my second hospital job and am hating it just as much. Unfortunately, I can't quit because I have bills to pay. I think that nursing has made me miserable; more so than anything in my life. I have entered depression and it is affecting all aspects of my life. If you feel like nursing is what you are supposed to do, stick with it. You'll find a job you like. For me, I am starting grad school this summer, pursuing a degree in education.

Hi! I just quit my first nursing job. It was on a med-surg floor, which was not what I was planning to do after graduation. My goal was to go directly into community health nursing, but I got antsy because the process of application was lengthy, and took a hospital job.

Anyway, the unit had weak leadership, lack of teamwork, and an over-abundance of gossip, backstabbing and bullying. People (nurses, techs, secretaries, transport, etc. ect.) got away with acting however they pleased. My last day I had to literally fight a tech to get a hold of the only functioning pulse ox machine I could find because she was doing her afternoon vitals. I respect that she has her job to do too, but my demented patient who keeps pulling out his NC, O2 sat dropping to 76% (which I wouldn't have known without the pulse ox machine) who is in need of a restraint order takes precedence over afternoon vitals IMO. Especially when I told her I'd give the darn machine right back!!!!

In addition, I was tired of being made to feel incompetent and lazy by the 7p to 7a staff, especially considering I took on average a 15 minute break during the majority of my 12 hour shifts. I know I didn't do everything right...that I made mistakes. I'm a brand new nurse (started this job in August), and I'd appreciate constructive criticism, not a sneer and dead silence during my entire report. How do people get to be so mean and bitter?

Anyway, despite the fact that I feel justified in leaving that place because it was ruining all aspects of my life (I was sleepless, lost weight, and my personal relationships suffered greatly), I still feel like a failure. So, my question is, has anyone else left their first nursing job too? I just need to know I'm not alone here...

Thanks!

If you worked with me, I'd support you. I'm not into that nurses eat their young bs. Being in the Army all these years has taught me "TEAMWORK", something you seldom see in the civilian world.

I am sorry you had to leave the job cause of all the bull. This goes on alot at many places. Nurses just dont seem to bond. Its a really fake profession among staff. they smile in your face, and stab you in the back quick. New nurses, etc should be encouraged and supported. Where i work though i noticed we have some new ones and they come with this attitude i know it all, and you dont have to tell me anything, which is not right, especailly just going to a new job. Not saying all new nurses do this, but it sure makes it hard on someone who has been in a job for years and they are trying to teach a new person., and get this attitude in return. I think all nurses should support one another and really bond.

My very first nursing job drove me to the brink of insanity within three short months. I was a charge nurse in a small LTC where the administrator would grab me as I was chasing down wandering Alzheimers patients, passing meds, giving insulins etc. and tell me to scrub the Betadine stains out of a drawer in a room that wasn't even in use! She was an expert at "majoring in the minors"---I'd be running down the hall, and she'd want me to drop whatever I was doing in order to go tend to some housekeeping detail, or to answer phones while the secretary went off to lunch, or unplug a toilet on East hall (I worked the West hall).

Scrubbing Betadine stains and unplugging toilets. Yeah, those are appropriate uses of a nursing license. :uhoh3: How do losers like that get into administration? Anyone that cannot understand that nurse = work with patients and plumber = work with toilets should not be allowed in any sort of position of authority. They obviously are not capable of handling it.

Some people really need to get a grip. Nurses are professionals, and until people start treating us as such, there will always and forever be a nursing shortage and it WILL keep getting worse. Sure, you can con new people into joining the profession, but you cannot prevent them from leaving it once they have been treated like crap.

Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I'm currently still working my first nursing job, and I don't HATE it, but I am terribly burned out. As med surge units go, this one is decent, but there is a lot of gossiping that goes on, more than enough backstabbing, poor staffing, (especially tech-wise) and feelings, on my part, that I am just not appreciated, or particularly well-liked.

I currently feel like I am at an incredible dead-end. I can't seem to get another job within this hospital, and I can't seem to get out of this hospital. I am making plans for getting out of nursing alltogether. Just not my cup of tea, I've decided. *sigh*

Specializes in Rehab, Step-down,Tele,Hospice.

Jayla,

I can totally relate to the shift change report thing. It is my most dreaded part of my day. It never fails that the "older" nurses will find something to complain about.

I'm tired of nurses *****ing at me, Im tired of patients *****ing and most of all Im tired of CNA's *****ing at me.

This dayshift/nightshift thing is ridiculous.

I actually have an Interview this morning and if the offer is half way decent Im gonna jump at it.

Don't feel bad for leaving, I don't... I already have hypertension, tachycardia, and anxiety issues, I really don't need anymore.

I realize that the "grass is always greener" but I actually made a Pro/Con sheet and the con side was wayyyyy longer.

Good luck to you, maybe we will find something that is semi-close to why we went into nursing in the first place. :o

I'm actually working as a PHN now (for the past 2 months) and love it! Hey, there's a shortage in public health too, and IMHO more effort should be focused on prevention anyways. My schedule is 8:30 to 4:30, M-F, no weekends or holidays. It's great. Honestly, the pay isn't much less than the hospital was (but I'm not one to work hours and hours of overtime...).

I agree--nurses should be more supportive of one another. I guess you just need to find the right environment. The nurses I work with now are extremely supportive; I've actually been thanked repeatedly for coming to work with them!! What a differenece.

I'm currently still working my first nursing job, and I don't HATE it, but I am terribly burned out. As med surge units go, this one is decent, but there is a lot of gossiping that goes on, more than enough backstabbing, poor staffing, (especially tech-wise) and feelings, on my part, that I am just not appreciated, or particularly well-liked.

I currently feel like I am at an incredible dead-end. I can't seem to get another job within this hospital, and I can't seem to get out of this hospital. I am making plans for getting out of nursing alltogether. Just not my cup of tea, I've decided. *sigh*

I know the feeling as i am also burned out and sick of all the bull where i work. I probably will be quitting in 2 weeks, as it isn't worth it health wise. you become a nurse to help people, but when you have to deal with all the backstabbing, cut throat nurses, poor staffing, harressment, and discrimination, it isn;t worth it. best thing to do is get out, while you have your sanity.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I'm actually working as a PHN now (for the past 2 months) and love it! Hey, there's a shortage in public health too, and IMHO more effort should be focused on prevention anyways. My schedule is 8:30 to 4:30, M-F, no weekends or holidays. It's great. Honestly, the pay isn't much less than the hospital was (but I'm not one to work hours and hours of overtime...).

I agree--nurses should be more supportive of one another. I guess you just need to find the right environment. The nurses I work with now are extremely supportive; I've actually been thanked repeatedly for coming to work with them!! What a differenece.

WAY TO GO! The only thing you can do about toxic workplaces and people is LEAVE THEM. I am glad you found what works for you.
Specializes in Dialysis.

I am currently in my first job- been there since February, and I'm going to put my 2 week notice in tomorrow. It is on an ortho/neuro floor which has turned into mostly med/surg at times, which is want I didn't want to do after graduation but wanted to get some experience and thought I could do it for about 6 months. Well, I came up short of my estimate that I could last, but that is fine with me. It is way too stressful for me to be worth it. I am lucky when I am able to eat there. I have felt the supportive environment decline the longer I've been there and that is sad. I can't wait to actually have a job that I will enjoy going to. What I really want to do is dialysis, and am trying to pursue that path now. If that doesn't work out then, maybe I'll be delivering letters to a mailbox near you!! :stone which doesn't really sound that bad! :)

Hate their first job? How about that one and every other one I have had since I graduated. I think I need time off. :uhoh21:

From what I see here more people hate their first job than not. Health care facilities just keep going through new nurses till they find one willing to put up with the crap. Seems to me that has been going on for a long time.

I have only had two days at my first nursing job, and I am pretty much hating it already. :o

My preceptor seems to think I am still a nursing student and is letting me do very little. It feels like I am doing only what she doesn't want to do, i.e. help feed patients, change dirty beds, digital stimulations, etc. Our first day kinda set the tone though when she looked at me after I introduced myself and said "It would have been nice if someone would have told ME I would be precepting." Great...welcome to the floor Jaimee :rotfl:

I was originally planning on keeping my OR job, but I started panicking during fourth semester and got concerned about cheating myself out of good med/surg experience. I am now thinking I made a big mistake.

Today, I am going to talk to my preceptor and see if we can clear the air and make things better. If that doesn't work, my days on this unit might be short-lived.

Jaimee

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