quit my job woes, must rant!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hey out there. I need to rant, not sure where to start. Please let me know your opinions.

I have been working for a small rural critical access hospital for about three years now. I started there with a nursing externship in the ED. After my externship I was offered a job, per diem to start because there were no FT opportunities. I was offered another job at a larger hospital but A)felt loyalty to the ED, and B) was told I was going to have a great orientation and be a "trailblazer" (I was the first new grad they ever took on in the ED).

My orientation was to include 12 weeks on med surg and an additional 12 weeks in the ED. At about 11 weeks into my m&s orientation the hospital declared that they were going to be laying off 2 nurses from med surg with more cuts possible. I spoke with the director of the ED and the head of nursing and was told that they were not sure they would have many hours for me in the ED. I was then offered a FT job in the OR, ad was encouraged by all the accept. During this time I also worked per diem in the ED. While I loved the OR I really wanted to be back in the ED. After one year in the OR I applied to transfer to the ED. I gave them about 4 months notice ( I was pregnant and made my due date my last day in the OR). I came back after 9 weeks of leave.

Upon return to the ED I was offered 4 weeks orientation. Orientation consisted of me working with a preceptor in the ED. With the small size of the hospital, me working nights, and having spent a year in the OR, I did not feel that I had enough experience to work in the ED with just one other nurse during the night shift so me and other nurses I worked for helped to advocate for more time on orientation which the director reluctantly gave me (in the several months I have been back I have only worked 2 codes). I found a class that I could take through the ENA as an orientation to the ED it was approved but then quickly forgotten and that fell through. It's been several months and I feel more comfortable now but am still not feeling right about it....so I applied to another job at the larger Hospital...and got hired.

I gave my boss at the small hospital 1 month notice. I thought she would be happy for me, naive I know! She was very mad at me and really gave me a hard time when I told her. Saying that I am jumping around and that she just hopes that this is what I wanted to do, that it really looks bad for me, and that I basically used the hospital for it's orientation.

Well the icing on the cake is that I called in sick tonight (for a 3-11 shift). I have not called out once in the ED, and possibly 2x before in the three years I have been there altogether. Truth is that I am sick. I have two weeks left until I am done. I am in no real hurry to be done at the small hospital, leaving was a very hard decision. Anyway so the director asked me what my symptoms were and told me that I was leaving on a bad note.

I feel terrible. I had very warm feelings about this hospital since I had such a great experience there and really felt as though people cared about my profession. I understand that I am leaving only a few months after completing orientation to the ED. I feel that my orientation was lacking and that as a new nurse I need to advance myself which is not happening at the small hospital.

Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

Tell your employer the truth of what you put on here. You're leaving anyway and it you don't want to go back, I would tell them all.

Also see if you can take the 2 weeks either as sick or holiday leave, then you don't have to go back ever.

I gave a full months notice. I have 2 weeks left. I took one day sick and was asked my symptoms and was told I was leaving on a bad note (first time I called out btw)! I guess I just have to accept that it's going to be a hard two weeks!

Specializes in Medical Surgical.

Yes, it will be a hard two weeks. One thing you HAVE to get over is thinking that a boss or a hospital is going to "be happy for me" because you're moving on up. That's like expecting an ex-husband to be glad you're getting remarried, to a rich hunk. Not very realistic.

Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

Where do I begin. I have worked in good ERs and bad ERs. There are way more bad ones. You are right to leave since you are not getting the orientation that you should have and were promised. Administration is always cutting corners and trying to get away with less and less. And they try to pull the guilt card all the time.

The truth is they are not our friends, they do not care about us and have no loyalty to us so we have to do what is right and safe for us.

I am an experienced ER nurse and was given med surg and ICU hold patients a while ago because I was low man on the totem pole and the rest of the staff wouldn't take them.

Well, I was not qualified and I made a big mistake, fortunately the patient was not harmed. But I feel horrible and will never be the same. But I was trying to do my best for them and not be a complainer. Well, as they say "no good deed goes unpunished". You asked for more training, the training you were promised and they renigged so screw them. Protect yourself and make sure you get all the training you need until you feel comfortable. Don't allow yourself to be a "warm body" for them.

When push comes to shove they will protect themselves and to heck with the nurse. I wish it wasn't so, but it is.

I know it is hard to leave people that you work with and have grown fond of, but in the end we are responsible for peoples lives and need to have the proper training and the proper tools and supports in place so that we don't harm our patients. I know my post may sound negative but believe it or not I actually love being a nurse and love being an ER nurse, but nursing is hard and we rarely get the support we should have.

Good luck and enjoy your new job and don't look back.

I, too, have worked at a small rural, critical access hospital ER. I know what it is like to work codes with a less than ideal number of staff. I have worked in a larger General Medical hospital, too. I understand your tendency to feel loyal to a facility for allowing you the opportunity to get your feet wet.

Keep this foremost in your mind. Keep your integrity. Once you lose it, it's hard to get it back. Conduct yourself professionally. Look out for YOUR patients and YOUR VERY OWN safety and well-being. Understand that no matter how diligent you are and how noble your intentions are, there will ALWAYS be somebody who will find some reason to put you down. That's just a given in most aspects of life.

Realize this: though many nurses have a true calling to care for people, health care is a business, and business people pretty much call the shots. Most business people are most concerned with a bottom line and with not being bothered and hassled. They will not lose a wink of sleep over nurses working short staffed, without proper supplies, or without basic security in place. Human Resources are the cheapest resource that they have. Business will very often use you up, risk your safety, or even destroy your health and NOT care about you or the diligent special care you provide your patients.

It is not my intention to paint a dismal discouraging picture for you or any other nurse. PLEASE realize that you must always do what is best and safe for your patients AND yourself. If a situation is unsafe or untenable, and the facility is unwilling to properly address it to ensure the best possible patient outcome or staff safety, then end your association with that facility.

If someone should make a job jumping comment during an interview, you say to them, "The casual observer making a superficial review of my application may call me a job jumper. It is my experience that some facilities don't share my patient care values. If you'd like to know more, I'd be more than happy to clarify for you my patient care and safety concerns and priorities. Then you can make an informed evaluation of my work history."

Though I've only been out of nursing school about 2 years, I am a middle aged gal who investigated medical malpractice cases for the State of Louisiana before I ever became a nurse. Rest assured, there are all sorts of perfectly good and admirable reasons for leaving a facility or agency.

*Being scolded by a preceptor for refusing to give a bolus dosage of a vasopressor when there was NO order for it. "We always give a bolus before starting the low dose continuous infusion. No, we don't have a standing order or protocol for it. I just always do it that way." (Well, this nurse isn't giving it without an order!)

*Being scolded by a preceptor for getting a doppler when a patient returned from the cath lab with a COLD foot with NO palpable pulse. "Don't bother with that, just assume that it's ok." (My patient came in walking on two good feet,and I intend for him to leave here walking on two good feet.)

*Being scolded by a preceptor for spending time looking for an intermittent wall suction fitting. Having to explain to a preceptor that there is a difference between continuous and intermittent suction and how continuous pressure could erode the gastric mucosa and having to point out that the order is for INTERMITTENT suction for the patient's NG. (The doctor ordered intermittent, and that's what my patient is going to get.)

*Being instructed by a QA Nurse to falsify a medical record. Having to explain legal and ethical consequences of falsifying a record to this person who also works as a nursing instructor.

Ignorant, incompetent, manipulative, or jealous people can readily attempt to apply the stigma of job jumping to a nurse when what the nurse actually has is a badge of honor and integrity. As tough as it is to say, there are many many folks who simply are not COMFORTABLE even being in the same room with integrity and competence. Do the right thing and at some point, in some way, it may result in your having to leave a facility or agency. When it all comes out in the wash, you will NEVER regret doing the right thing--what YOU KNOW to be the right thing. You may face some personal difficulties or hard times for doing the right thing, but it will ALWAYS be the best thing in the big scheme of things. The only person you have to sleep with is yourself. Do the right thing and you will be able to sleep like a baby.

Last, and not least: Get your own individual professional policy.

This gal with the silver streaks in her hair knows what she's talking about, for sure and for certain.

That is hilarious! Good point!

ruthfarmer, I am looking into it right now! Thank you, I had thought about it in the past because in the end the hospital is always looking out for themselves.

+ Add a Comment