New Nurse Burn-out??

Nurses Stress 101

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I graduated from a ADN program in May. I passed my NCLEX in July. I seriously started my job hunt the day I had my registration #, applying like crazy all over the place. Anyways, two weeks into this, I got what I thought was a good job offer and took it.

I was kind of astonished and horrified at the working conditions, lack of support, and ammount of work expected with the nurse / patient ratios in this (or any) LTC. I ended up quitting the job mainly bc I was scared, overwhelmed, the staff were snotty and I didn't have support bc the culture / morale at this place sucked.

I was a serious student, and while I understand that some theories are more practical to implement than others, I don't like doing things 'wrong' at work to this extent.

I'm just not made like that. Can anybody tell me if it's common to be burned out already as a new nurse?

And can anybody tell me what I can do about this?

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It doesn't sound like burn out to me but rather that the job you found just wasn't a good one. Keep looking. One bad job doesn't mean they are all bad.

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I agree - it doesn't sound like burn out to me - more like discouragement. I am a new nurse in LTC. I started about a month ago. They laughed at me when I told them my highest patient ratio was 7 patients! lol I know it will be a huge transition for me because it is a med race as opposed to patient care.

I think nursing is a lot like exercise. You get to that point when you are just so tired that you want to hop off the eliptical but if you just keep pushing past it, after a while, it will get easier and easier :)

Here's to a good workout!

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I agree - it doesn't sound like burn out to me - more like discouragement. I am a new nurse in LTC. I started about a month ago. They laughed at me when I told them my highest patient ratio was 7 patients! lol I know it will be a huge transition for me because it is a med race as opposed to patient care.

I think nursing is a lot like exercise. You get to that point when you are just so tired that you want to hop off the eliptical but if you just keep pushing past it, after a while, it will get easier and easier :)

Here's to a good workout!

That's a good analogy...

Here's to good work outs and getting in shape :)

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While it is true that your first nursing post can be a bit of a shock and that many new nurses leave in the first year out of nursing school there are also some 'bad' LTC facilities out there.

It sounds like you ended up in one of those facilities and I congratulate you on quitting the position. This would not have been a good facility to start your nursing career. More and more organizations are beginning to see the economical benefit of supporting new nurses so keep looking and asking in your interviews what they do to support new nurses and what are the expectations of you during your orientation period.

Wishing you an empowering and fulfilling real nursing 'first' position

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