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.