Hate it already

Red Kryptonite · Mar 17, 2015

Being a professional student is not a strategy for becoming successful at life. Pushing your way through times that suck and are hard, is. You say your preceptor treats you well and teaches you a lot. That's a blessing. Read some threads on here about nightmarish preceptors and see how lucky you are.

What you're going through is called growing pains. If you want to be successful and able to run your adult life on your own, you have to go through this. Nothing worth having comes easily.

Force yourself to give it a year. I bet you won't recognize yourself, in a good way, if you do.

Red Kryptonite · Mar 18, 2015

Somebody close to me posted this on Facebook today, and I thought it would be relevant here.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Mar 18, 2015

Somebody close to me posted this on Facebook today, and I thought it would be relevant here.

Indeed. It is not easy. In the end this may not be the floor for you, but give it some time. Believe me Nursing is not easy. It is exhausting some days physically and mentally. Being a student forever isn't the answer. Why invest more money into something that you don't like? Perhaps also get a job working PRN in PDN or Hospice to see if that flow works better for you. I wouldn't just leave your acute care job yet.

browneyes3000 · Mar 18, 2015

Please do not give up. You will feel better after 6 months. Patients need you.

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Mar 19, 2015

Your mother telling you it's ok to fail, after three weeks, is not doing you any favors.

Sometimes you just have to tough it out.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Mar 24, 2015

I am a new grad nurse. I am about to enter my third week of training. My preceptor is a good person she is teaching me a lot. But she even told me what are you doing on this floor? This floor is too tough for a new nurse. I work on a neuro/ med surg unit. I can not deny I am already hating this floor the patients are all heavy. I feel like all I do is pass meds. You can tell that the nurses that have been there for some time dread being there themselves. You can just see it on there face. I am not going to lie before I walk into work I cry. I think to myself wow I don't know how I am going to do it on my own. On night shift and six patients that are all heavy. My mother has noticed how stressed out I am and told me maybe I should leave the hospital for sometime and go back to school. She has told me money isnt everything your health and state of mine is more important. I am not going to lie I have thought of quitting and going back to school for my masters of something. And taking some time out the hospital. I feel like the hospital isnt for me. I don't know if how i am feeling is normal. All my friends say do your time and leave. But idk if I can stay there 6 months. I feel if I stay there I will be jeopardizing my license. Sorry if I am venting I just need some advice. I am sure there are some that have felt like me or been in a similar situation. And what did you do to overcome it? I have just worked to hard for my license just to lose it like that. Maybe I am just being paranoid. I know as a new nurse your options are very limited. I do have hospital experience as a CNA but not a nurse. I just want to be happy.

Paragraphs, please.

The first year of nursing is very, very difficult, and it takes at least that long to become competent. Real competence takes two years or more. If you haven't yet become competent, you aren't really in a position to determine whether or not nursing is for you. Or whether you belong in the hospital. Or anything, really.

How you are feeling is very, very normal. Being a perpetual student isn't the answer. As others have suggested, you need to push through these feelings and stick with it until you've learned what you can from this job, have become competent, and know what you really like and don't like about this job. A supportive preceptor is a good start -- you're lucky there.

Now this "jeopardizing my license" business is pure nonsense. People don't lose their licenses from staying in a job they don't like. Now if you're diverting narcotics to self-medicate because you hate your job, that's one thing. But just being very busy, in a job you don't like or being new won't cause you to lose your license. That is, however, commonly cited by new grads as a reason they should up and quit their jobs.

Suck it up. Stick it out. Cry every day if you have to. I did. But along about a year (or more sometimes) you'll start to know what's expected of you and how to deal with the situations you encounter. And a year after that you'll be truly competent. Then you'll be in a position to decide whether or not hospital nursing is really for you.