New Grad: Acute care or Home health?

[nursebabyxoxo]

So I am a new graduate that has been on a Medical Surgical floor for about 2 months s an RN at an acute care facility and I absolutely hate it. I have been on this floor a CNA for two years and have seen people come and go, because of the stress, lack of support, pressure and poor management. The only reason I stayed was because I knew how hard it is getting a job as a new graduate.

When I started I was already unhappy because it was not the type of floor I wanted to be on.. geriatric floor with nurse patient ratio 1:7 and because of the horror stories people used tell me about the floor. Despite the fact that I hated the type of floor I loved the staff and told myself to suck it up. However things havent been good lately. My manager told me I was an incompetent nurse and that I pretty much don't deserve to be one because I do not pay attention to detail, know how to prioritize or know my patients from front to back without looking at a sheet of paper. Mind you.. I have been on the floor for about 4 weeks. This was heartbreaking for me to hear as a new graduate. Also, The person who is orienting me 99% of the time is really mean and goes to my manager and talks behind my back (they actually gossiped about me for 1 hour.. and i found this out at a meeting when they confronted me). When I told my manager what was going on with my preceptor she told me that i have to deal with it since she is a "model" preceptor and that I should appreciate and respect her.When I confronted both of them they told me to my face that I was falsely accusing them and was causing "drama" and that I was being "unprofessional" and that I "lied" about everything because I cannot accept that I have imperfections. I am lost.. and confused.. and crushed. is this how nursing really is?

I knew from day 1 I should have left the floor and now my gut feeling is to leave. I do not want to be on a floor where there is drama and people are lying to my face and accuse me of something that i never did.

Everyone tells me to do Med/surg and to suck it up for a year... but I am SO unhappy. Maybe its the facility or my floor/staff, but its ruining my whole vision of nursing. My dream job is the VNA and I was recently offered a position as a new graduate VNA nurse, but what if i actually don't like the VNA once I get into it? if I start at the VNA does that mean I am stuck there forever? if i left my facility right now does it look back if I leave an acute care facility after 3 months? or should i suck it up and stay where i am right now?

[nutella, MSN, RN]

I think you can be successful as a community nurse if the VNA has a real new graduate program with a mentor who follows you for a while after orientation. It is a totally different working and requires specific skills.

If you leave acute care after 2 months for the VNA but do not like that environment or the agency either it will be more difficult to find a new job.

[Atl-Murse]

Sometimes truth can hurt. I have learned that when more than one person criticized me there may be some truth . Not saying you are wrong but take a deep look inside and see what you change

[SmilingBluEyes]

Dig deep; acknowledge your shortcomings but also realize you do not deserve to be treated like crap on any unit. It may be time to move on; go with your heart. Don't let others bring you down; improve where you can and let the rest go. Some units are toxic and unhealthy, especially for relatively new nurses. It sounds like it may be time to move on. Chalk it up to experience, learn and grow from it, but move on.

[jennifer_app]

You worked hard to graduate from nursing school that means you are somewhat competent .