help, bedside nursing not for me?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2014

You've had a rough year. Congratulations on dumping the ex-- you can really celebrate that. :anpom:

I hear you...and you will hear from people who will tell you that their managers never said anything remotely like they're appreciated as staff members and you oughta thank your lucky stars you even have a job, much less a good one that if you can stick it out for a year will open doors for you. All of which is true. And if the management has lost three new hires that came with you, they are feeling the pinch and may become more open to negotiating with you. You might well be able to say that you will seek another position if you can't work (4 8s instead of 3 12s, or whatever), and they might very well take you up on it.

But if it's making you too crazy and you can't change your hours or days, you need to seek other forms of validation, support, recreation, and cameraderie. Perhaps some other moms at daycare could join you for lunch once a month? A faith community, a hiking club (outdoors is a great, great stress reliever), a mommy-and-me art or gymnastics class, a singing group, a Red Hat group (no, you don't need to be postmenopausal to join :) and they are JUST for fun--and there's something about the hat....), a monthly spa day with facial/mani/pedi, a yoga class, something fun and cheap that you can look forward to once a week, to get out of yourself for a few hours, a reward you give yourself for having done the right thing to cut loose from the loser, support yourself, and your child while you get over this hump.

{{nurse.j}} Hugs! This will get better. :flwrhrts:

Clovery · Apr 16, 2014

Don't quit. Jobs are very hard to come by. Consider yourself lucky you have an acute care/hospital job right out of school without a BSN. I understand your frustrations. I just had my one year anniversary as a working nurse in a similar environment - high staff turnover and no experienced nurses to rely on. I also have a 3 year old in daycare and we get sick a lot! It's a combination of the germs, the 12 hours shifts, and stress in general. When I hit the six month mark at my job it was the worst. I was ready to just let myself get fired and collect unemployment. I was fed up with everything and I just didn't care anymore. Then... it got better. Newer employees were brought in and I was able to help and guide them. I realized I knew more than I gave myself credit for. I vented my frustrations with my co-workers and here at allnurses and we were able to commiserate and laugh. I became accustomed to the personalities of the doctors and how to deal with them. I'm pretty good at sizing a patient or family member up with just a three sentence exchange which determines which of my "customer service personalities" I will use with them. I'm at the one year mark and I'm leaving for another job with better staffing ratios, benefits, and pay. I've been doing my BSN online. I always thought I would love informatics (and I still haven't dismissed it yet) but after two courses in it, I've found it to be very boring. I was just looking at an clinical documentation specialist job listing today and guess what it required... 2 years clinical experience. It seems like you can't do anything else before you put in your time at the bedside. You might find you enjoy it after all. Go to school online, keep working, and apply apply apply. If you stick it out you will be glad you did in the end.

Wave Watcher · Apr 16, 2014

Everyone already has given great advice! You should check around for a school nurse job. I have been a school nurse for over 2 years and love it. Weekends off, holidays off, spring break, fall break and summers off.....all while still receiving a paycheck.

Hang in there!!

nurse.j., ASN, BSN, MSN · Apr 17, 2014

Everyone already has given great advice! You should check around for a school nurse job. I have been a school nurse for over 2 years and love it. Weekends off, holidays off, spring break, fall break and summers off.....all while still receiving a paycheck.
Hang in there!!

How long were you a nurse prior to becoming a school nurse?

Thank you!

Wave Watcher · Apr 17, 2014

How long were you a nurse prior to becoming a school nurse?
Thank you!

2 years - I worked on an Ortho/Neuro floor, prison nursing and supervisor at a LTC. I actually enjoyed prison nursing but we moved due to my husbands job to another state.

nurse.j., ASN, BSN, MSN · Apr 17, 2014

Don't quit. Jobs are very hard to come by. Consider yourself lucky you have an acute care/hospital job right out of school without a BSN. I understand your frustrations. I just had my one year anniversary as a working nurse in a similar environment - high staff turnover and no experienced nurses to rely on. I also have a 3 year old in daycare and we get sick a lot! It's a combination of the germs, the 12 hours shifts, and stress in general. When I hit the six month mark at my job it was the worst. I was ready to just let myself get fired and collect unemployment. I was fed up with everything and I just didn't care anymore. Then... it got better. Newer employees were brought in and I was able to help and guide them. I realized I knew more than I gave myself credit for. I vented my frustrations with my co-workers and here at allnurses and we were able to commiserate and laugh. I became accustomed to the personalities of the doctors and how to deal with them. I'm pretty good at sizing a patient or family member up with just a three sentence exchange which determines which of my "customer service personalities" I will use with them. I'm at the one year mark and I'm leaving for another job with better staffing ratios, benefits, and pay. I've been doing my BSN online. I always thought I would love informatics (and I still haven't dismissed it yet) but after two courses in it, I've found it to be very boring. I was just looking at an clinical documentation specialist job listing today and guess what it required... 2 years clinical experience. It seems like you can't do anything else before you put in your time at the bedside. You might find you enjoy it after all. Go to school online, keep working, and apply apply apply. If you stick it out you will be glad you did in the end.

Thanks so much! I guess all I can do is ride out the year and finish school online in the meantime. We are supposed to have a new group of residents come in June (my 6 month mark) and hopefully that will add some flexibility in schedules. Apparently they may add some 8 hour shifts on my unit. Maybe working 8's will be something they'll let me do if I tell them I'm at my wits end, I know it's expensive for them to lose staff. Thanks again for all the encouragement, I stayed at my last job waaaaay longer than I wanted but I had to do it to pay the bills and finish school...another 6-7 months is manageable. However, IF its just not working out, would it be horrible to take another job if I'm offered one? I want to keep good ties with the company I work for.

Thanks again! Riding out cold #3 this year and hoping I feel better in time for my weekend at work :/ missing easter with my little man so feeling extra down today.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2014

Your little man won't know the difference if you don't -- Have "Easter" on Saturday or Monday and he'll be just as pleased with the decorations, decorating eggs, chocolate bunny, and special dinner. :)

See if you don't feel better at the one year mark, because you might very well. And remember: you'll have a year of seniority then and won't be starting all over as a newbie at the bottom of the ladder as you would if you took another job. And you'll be in a position to help next year's newbies better than the help you got. This, in turn, can translate into more flexibility with scheduling, an chance to get into a clinical specialist/leadership role down the line, and then ... :) Seen it many times.

nurse.j., ASN, BSN, MSN · Apr 18, 2014

This is very true. Thanks (: my biggest question is though, is how to stay positive and not let work make me so miserable? I know I sound like a whiny *****, but as some of you know, it's hard to go to work for 12 hour shifts when you dread it. Its always a mixed bag of what the day will be like between missing supplies, lack of support (my company just lost a law suit for nurses not getting proper relief to take breaks), and morale...I work tomorrow and Sunday and trying to psyche myself into thinking it won't be that bad. I am finally feeling a little better, saw a Dr and I have a cold and now seasonal allergies which I've never had before, so taking more meds to stay better. Hopefully my personal stress doesn't add to the work stress and I keep getting sick.

Thanks! (:

RiverNurse · Apr 18, 2014

First off - hang in there. I think almost every nurse has experienced this sensation and stress related illnesses. Mine was diabetes (II). It is definitely a crucible, trial by fire. It's like eating an elephant... you do that one bite at a time. Being a new nurse is much like that. It's one crazy, sleep deprived, basket case step at a time - at least that's how it was for me. This is my second career - I thought the first year would kill me. All the stress, night shift work and surprisingly co-workers. The best I could do back then was just trudge along. The PCAs would not help and complaining didn't work, either. I had to get creative with solutions - how to avoid the radar/laying low/avoiding conflict - but I learned. Plus there was so much I felt I didn't know. Crazy making stuff... and I was in a marriage that wasn't working... Bad, bad combo.

Now, though, I've been in nursing for almost 7 years. I've specialized and love it. My marriage ended a little over a year ago and things have calmed down considerably in my personal life. Now the only drama I have is deciding what's for dinner - and I like it that way.

Take it easy (seriously),

RiverNurse

bluebell2014 · Apr 29, 2014

How much do you make as a school nurse with all those time off? Do you work in the summer time when you are off? Sorry for the direct question.

nurse.j., ASN, BSN, MSN · May 12, 2014

Well a month has passed since I posted and its only getting worse. I've tried to rally with fellow coworkers and with management about getting more support for the team but they're not budging. I also failed to mention we don't even have a PCU charge nurse on the floor...our charge nurses are Med/SURG RNs who have no experience with PCU pts so we can't even ask them for help/nor do they have the knowledge to help us if they could. We have had some clinical coaches occasionally available but they are not extending them for the next 6 months as requested by many staff members, and in 4 weeks a fresh new batch of residents (all brand new nurses like my group) are coming on to the floor and we are going to be responsible for helping them. The 2 experienced nurses on my unit are looking for new jobs and so far no signs of any improvement. Have had some really horrible shifts and it no longer is just that I don't care for my job, but the pt and nurse safety issues that have and will continue to come up. And you better believe if something happens, my company's lawyer won't be defending me.

I have been sick again, incredibly depressed and my days off are spent stressing over how the hell am I going to get out of this? The schedule has continued to be difficult on my son, and he's been having a lot of issues...more than just the normal 3 year old tantrums. I feel so defeated and wonder if I should just take a leave of absence, go back to bartending and serving until I can either a) find a better job or b) start my BSN program so I can open up my options for non-beside nursing positions...

This job has taken a toll on my health, my son...when do you say 'F it, I need to be happy and my child also comes first?'