I have been working at a Psych hospital for 5 months. This is my first nursing job after graduating nursing school. I got hired for the overnight shift. I have heard overnight shift is a little slow paced, so I figured I would ease into nursing. After the first month, my sleeping pattern went erratic. I tried everything in the book to try and sleep during the day. Nothing worked. I told my manager during the 2nd month that I would like to switch to evening shifts because of these issues. She said from there on that she will give me 2 days evening shifts, and 1 day overnight shift. The schedule came and I was still scheduled overnights till today (5th month). During the 3rd month, I asked again about the status of my shifts, and she said she is working on it. By now, I take 15 melatonins & 4 benadryls to go to sleep during the day, and during my shift I drink about 15-20 cups of coffee. I even carry caffeine pills with me if things get worst. Even with the sleeping pills I would only be able to sleep 3-4 hours a day.
It got to the point where I could not pay attention during work. I started making mistakes. I even threw up during my shift. By the end of the shift my body would shake from lack of sleep. During the 5th month, I asked my boss if I can switch to resource. She said NO! I then told her that I'm putting my 2 weeks noticed, because of all these issues that I'm having. My boss told me to not show up at work at all. She told me that I don't need to give her a 2 weeks notice, and "just be done with it." So basically she said don't come back.
Now the problem is: What do I tell my next employer. I need to put down that I worked at this Psych hospital because it will be counted as experience. It is too hard for a new grad to find jobs. Putting this definitely will help me. But when I fill out the application, it always asks: Can we contact your previous employer. What should I say?
