Are There Jobs for Inexperienced RNs Besides Floor Nursing?

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 21, 2016

Hospice? You really need that "scary" experience to be a marketable nurse. Corrections nursing is less scary to you? School nursing is another field but it has its issues. Any kind of specialty nursing like home infusion, home wound care, you are going to need to be able to recognize when something is really wrong. Dialysis?

I wish you would have stayed where you were. As a preceptor, we don't just turn new nurses loose and hang them out to dry. You always should have your charge nurse, a veteran nurse, someone to go to.

If you have been out of school less than a year, you should still be considered a new grad and maybe you can find a nurse residency program where you get a little more time and an easier transition to practice.

jack1971 · Oct 21, 2016

As far as correctional nursing, that wouldn't be my first choice, no. What scared me on my floor were the number of patients and the type of care they required. Bedside nursing is not for me. As far as dialysis, the positions I applied for are in clinic and not home care. No, I do not feel like I am ready to be autonomous in the field. Nurse residency programs are now accepting apps for c/o 2017. So I believe I missed my chance for that. You're probably right, I guess. I probably should have stayed, but I was feeling so scared and stressed. I know that's not healthy. Thank you for your response.

mrsboots87 · Oct 21, 2016

Just about every new grad is "scared" and stressed. It's what keeps us safe in practice. Of course confidence should be built over time, but the worry about harmi someone is what brings on asking questions before acting. Quitting was rash. You should have asked for more orientation, or maybe attempted to transfer to another floor. It could very well be that THIS unit was not for you. Not bedside nursing all together. You can possibly know if floor nursing was a bad fit based on only 3 months. We all feel like failures as nurses at 3 months.

Try applying for hospital positions and new grad residencies and when asked about quitting so soon, state "it was not a good fit" and then sell yourself. Then when you get worried when you're off orientation, don't just up and quit. Get with management and ask for the help you need to be successful. You can't just quit things you haven't mastered without giving yourself time to get competent.

Libby1987 · Oct 21, 2016

If they didn't let you go after 3 mos, perhaps they thought you could manage and were at a stage where they expected a new nurse. I think I'd want to get treatment for my "personality" and contact my former supervisor to see if they'd give me a second chance. It'd be a long shot but I would try.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2016

Other potential areas of nursing for RNs who lack experience include home health, private duty, hospice, long term care, assisted living, adult daycare, jail intake centers, personal care group homes for IDD/MHMR clients, and physical rehabilitation.

Libby1987 · Oct 21, 2016

Home health is the new Med Surg, but working alone.

ottersloveoysters · Oct 21, 2016

Supportive managers and coworkers? I would not have quit if I were you. But the past is the past. In ANY nursing job, there is going to be a certain level of stress, fear, uncertainty, anxiety, whatever you want to call it, if you are taking your job seriously. Expect these feelings because if you don't allow yourself to feel this way, you'll never stay at any nursing job.

elkpark · Oct 21, 2016

It takes about a year to get to the point of starting to feel competent and comfortable. OP, everyone feels the way you describe when first coming off orientation as a new grad. I agree that it was a mistake to quit. Some new nurses panic at that point, quit, get a new job and start all over again, then feel uncomfortable and quit, look for a new job, etc., and all they are really doing is postponing getting to the point of beginning to feel competent and comfortable.

I hope that, whatever job you are able to find next, you stay with your next job at least a year in order to get over the new grad "hump." Best wishes!

jack1971 · Oct 21, 2016

Thank you for your comment, but please be careful who you advise to get "treatment" unless you know their whole story. The last thing I wanted to do was get into controversy over an internet post, but I take that remark VERY offensive. Not everyone is the same and just because one does not have a "personality" to be a floor nurse is certainly not a reason for psychiatric treatment, assuming that is the type of "treatment" you are referring to.

Buyer beware, BSN · Oct 21, 2016

6:04 pm by elkpark

"It takes about a year to get to the point of starting to feel competent and comfortable."

So what you should do at this point is apply to an NP school so you can diagnose illness and prescribe medications.

Why get bogged down with just the bedside nursing, experience and jail thing.

heather713 · Oct 21, 2016

I feel like I wrote this! I thought I had landed my dream job on a surgical trauma floor a few months after graduating. I quickly realized that it wasn't for me and floor nursing was probably not my thing. I had a 9 week orientation and decided not to continue at the end of it. I was so worried I would never find a job and no one would want me because i quit. I found a job in a locked psych hospital and worked there for 10 months even though it was scary and dangerous. About a month ago, I accepted a job in a primary care office and I really love it! I think this is the type of nursing for me. I still do "nurse things" but my stress level has decreased a lot and I finally feel like I can take a breath. Look into office jobs or even a flu clinic since it is flu season and there are tons around! good luck :) you aren't alone with feeling overwhelmed!! I understand what you mean by not a normal new grad nervousness, I had it too.