A little Apprehensive, Need some Advice or Encouragement

[TNViking]

Hello all! So, to start off, when I originally graduated nursing school my dream was always to work ED; after working for awhile in med-surg, I had finally landed an ED job I had always wanted. I worked there for about a year, and while I really enjoyed the type of work that I did I ended up leaving because I couldn't stand a select few people that I worked with-primarily in leadership positions. When I left there, any confidence I had had been destroyed; I remember crying every night on my way home feeling like such a failure and worthless. Now, a year later, I am in a supervisory-type position in a skilled facility; and have redeveloped my confidence as a nurse. I absolutely love the people I work with, they have been very good at supporting me and I truly feel cared about. However, I really just can't get into the type of work. The hours are long, and I worry every day that I am losing skills I had developed in the hospital. Even my days off are consumed with dread going to work. Last week I decided to put in for an ED position at a different hospital; and yesterday they called me in for an interview. I am excited to be interviewing, but I feel kind of scared that I may be setting myself up for the same thing all over again. Thoughts?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

You don't say how long you stayed at your first job, but you stayed at your second for almost a year, and then left even though you enjoyed the work because a you didn't like a few of the people that you worked with. You love the people at your third job but you don't like the work. You don't say how long you've been at your third job, either. And now you're interviewing for a fourth job.

Work is work. There will never be a perfect job where you love the work and every single person you work with. There will always be people you don't particularly like, and many of them will be in leadership positions.

If you're worked about "losing skills," don't. The skills you have actually learned will come back to you when you start using them again. Not right away, but they will come back. One of my concerns about this situation is that you haven't stayed long enough in any one job to actually develop a skill set that you can fall back on. It takes about two years to become competent in a position.

I think your concern that you may be setting yourself up for "the same thing all over again" are valid. My advice would be to stay in your present job for at least two years, and concentrate on learning everything you possibly can. By that time, you will know your job well, and may even discover that you actually like the work. Stranger things have happened. After two years, you'll be in a better position to decide what works with your current job and what doesn't, what you enjoy, what you don't necessarily dislike and what you actively hate. Then you'll be in a much better position to decide what you want to do next. You may even choose to stay in a position where you enjoy your colleagues.