Am I supposed to hate my first nursing job??

Marisette, BSN, RN · May 30, 2016

I did not hate my first nursing job. I did experience mild anxiety the first couple of months, until I learned and felt comfortale in my new position. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it does not sound like new nurse jitters, but more like you don't feel you enjoy this acute care environment. If this is the case, go ahead and interview, but be very cautious of getting into another similar situation. Interview your next employer. Ask as many questions as possible to make sure your expectations of the new employer align with yours. That means the training anticipated, the acuity of patient's in the new unit, the staff patient ratios. Ask more questions if their answer is vague. If they don't want to respond to these questions, it's not worth moving to the new job. So often, I find that leaving one difficult situation does not make the next one better. The flight or fight response takes over when we are unders stress. Leaving difficult situations may appear to be the solution, but then you end up job hopping and in more stress. Starting a new job where you don't know the routine, people and policies of the work place can be very stressful. You have alot to think about. Throughly assess yourself and your needs before you move. Undersand, that no employer is going to meet all your needs, and you will have to adapt to the positive and negative aspects of your next employer.

RNperdiem, RN · May 30, 2016

Being new makes everything harder. I did hate my first job. The jobs that have a lot of turnover(sometimes for good reason) are often the ones willing to hire new grads.

Finish your time there. With the experience you gain, you will have the chops to move almost anywhere in nursing.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · May 30, 2016

The critical level of sick people. We average 4-6 codes per week, it's a mixed bag of pulmonary, chf, and dka pts. At night we have 4-5 pts and they are very sick. I didn't realize this (my fault) when I accepted the position. We also have a 4 bed icu pod....I never wanted to be an icu nurse and do not thrive on the constant codes...it's more intense than I like and though the training is adequate I just have a sick feeling every time I go in. It's one of the fastest paced units and the turnover is extremely high in the unit.

Sounds exactly like my second job. I found it difficult following four years of solid critical care experience.

Interview on the CDU , watch carefully when you tour... they vary widely in their acuity. Use the " not a good fit " blah blah when asked why you are considering a move.

Paying 4 grand for 2 years of sanity is cheap.

Good luck, let us know how it's going.

Beatrice2008 · May 30, 2016

Hi ! I feel this way too! I just got off orientation and I work on med/surge cardiac floor

canigraduate · May 31, 2016

I work in OBS, which is like CDU. It got better after about 8 months, but I had lots of experience to draw on. My training was only 4 shifts, though, which sucked.

We have 5 patients at night. We get the full gamut. Detoxers, chest painers, post cardiac cath, a tele drip here and there, new onset afib, post-op, CBIs, r/o stroke, elderly dump and runs, you name it. The only ones we don't get are on titratable drips or who need q1hr monitoring, they go to IMCU or ICU.

It can get pretty difficult, especially when everyone is on insulin and contact precautions, or q2h pain meds, or q15 vitals. Think med/surg crossed with tele crossed with step-down.

We don't have codes very often, though, we usually catch them and ship them out in the Rapid Response stage.

kp038 · May 31, 2016

I felt EXACTLY the same way at my first job, hated every single day and left after 7 months. It's not worth killing yourself over. Unfortunately your contract makes things more complicated. I work in a different area of nursing now and things are better.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · May 31, 2016

I HATED my first nursing job. I'd done my last semester clinicals in what I thought was a sweet little nursing home with acceptable ratios and decent hours. What I got was a job where I had skilled residents mixed in with severe dementia, and I was forced to double as a CNA for eight residents at the same time I was supposed to be passing meds, serving meals, doing treatments, answering the phone, taking off orders, chasing Alzheimer's patients away from the door because we didn't have a locked unit, etc. It was the only way the administrator could find to make the CNA staffing "legal" without having to hire an additional aide. It was so bad that I left after only three months.

So I made sure to thoroughly evaluate the next employer, which had a good reputation in the community. I did a job shadow one night (in those days, I actually preferred to work nights) and figured I could handle it, which I did (they hired me immediately). I never looked back, never regretted leaving that first job. The facility closed down only a few months after my brief stint there, and many of the residents ended up moving to my new place. So in the end, it was a good thing I made my lateral move when I did.

I can't tell you what to do, OP. You have to live in this brave new world of nursing, but I think you also have to trust your gut instinct. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

Maevish, ASN, RN · May 31, 2016

I am a new nurse currently about 4 months into my first RN hospital job in an ICU step down unit and I HATE it. I get sick to my stomach going in and honestly would rather work in another unit. I am tied to my unit by my RN residency and the idea of a year or longer in the unit is killing me slowly. I reread my contract and it looks like I could be stuck in my unit until I obtain my BSN which is going to be a little over 2 years from now....and I dont think I can make it. My mom who is a nurse told me eveyone HATES their first nursing job and its just part of it....I have an interview at a different network doing something I think I will like better but if I leave I will have to pay back $4000....I dont know what to do. I know there is a learning curve and its something all new nurse have to adjust to but I just dont know if it is normal to hate what you do and not want to do it?? HELP!

I would venture to say it's absolutely NOT normal to detest your first job, though it does happen. What I WOULD say is that most people have a knot in their stomach until they get comfortable at said job, which could be only a few months to around a year.

What I couldn't stand was the feeling that I wasn't comfortable yet or that I might not know what to do if something went down for real. That's very different than hating the actual work. This may not be the floor for you to work at forever, but you are learning valuable skills there that you can take to another floor.

To be honest, you haven't really given yourself enough time to know if you hate the actual job or just that type of nursing/bedside care. It can take awhile to find that out if you're being truly objective about it.

If you're not planning on leaving your current job (and cough up the $4000) then please don't do the interview with the other place. You should only do that if you're ready to give your notice the day of the interview because, quite frankly, I believe it's rude (and borderline dishonest) to take up hospital #2's time and energy if you're not sure you would leave this job in a moment. That's why you had to sign a contract, because people came and left after having taken up mucho time and resources to train them and the hospital is left high and dry again. That's just my 2 cents though. :inlove:

Also, keep in mind that your unit sounds like it's not the average unit. I've floated to an ICU step down (when I was on staff in the actual ICU at the same hospital) and I never heard of 4-5 codes a week, even when I wasn't on duty, let alone having them all happen on the 3 nights I worked. Even after 9 years of ICU I've only seen more than 3 codes (that weren't extended ones lasting 2+hours) in one week a couple of times and I've worked at the big county hospital in Oakland!

Give yourself a year at least, then you can truly say you gave it a shot and that you don't like it (if that's still the case afterwards).

cheers!

xo

mushyrn, BSN, RN · May 31, 2016

This does not sound like a normal step-down unit (PCU), but rather an "observation" unit you later describe it as. A bad one, at that. A true step-down will usually only have 3-4 patients at most. The patients will be very sick but not "sick enough" for ICU (many times they actually are), but still much too ill for a regular med/surg floor.

This sounds like your hospital's cheap way of turning an observation floor into an all in one ICU/PCU with higher billing.

Everline · May 31, 2016

I disliked my first job as a floor/bedside nurse. I dreaded going in every single shift and once I clocked in, my stress level was so high during almost the entire shift. I remember having this horrible feeling in my chest and feeling my heart banging away in my chest. It was awful. My quality of life was in the trash. I tried many things to help make it better but nothing worked. I finally left in my 7th month of that hell. I was fortunate to make connections and get another nursing job before I left that first one. I am now a nurse outside of the hospital and while it is still stressful, it is a different kind of stress and much more manageable for me. I have a life and self-esteem again and have been able to pursue my hobbies and feel better physically and emotionally in and out of work.

I really believe it's important to find your niche, as they say. Sometimes a job is just not a good fit. I had plenty of orientation in my first job and they were generally supportive of me as a new nurse. But in addition to the stress levels, there were some aspects of floor nursing that challenged me ethically, and in the end, I just couldn't continue that way.

Btw, hating your first nursing job is not that unusual. It's so hard in that first year. Nursing school seems to teach you nothing about being a nurse, as crazy as it is. I am now over the one year mark of working as a nurse and I am just beginning to feel like a nurse. So I guess what I'm trying to say is just because you hate a particular nursing job doesn't mean you can't find one that you like.

martymoose, BSN, RN · May 31, 2016

This does not sound like a normal step-down unit (PCU), but rather an "observation" unit you later describe it as. A bad one, at that. A true step-down will usually only have 3-4 patients at most. The patients will be very sick but not "sick enough" for ICU (many times they actually are), but still much too ill for a regular med/surg floor.
This sounds like your hospital's cheap way of turning an observation floor into an all in one ICU/PCU with higher billing.

I get 5 patients every evening. didn't use to be that way.used to be 3-4. They added another patient with "the new staffing pattern" designed by someone who isn't even a nurse.

OP I'm sorry. I hope you find something that works, but the way things have been going, I don't know.

calivianya, BSN, RN · May 31, 2016

I hate stepdown units so I'm feeling you. Anything with more than three true intermediate patients is a nightmare. I can't imagine having up to five of them. I'm agreeing with the PP who said that $4k is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

I hated where my first job was so much that I ended up leaving, but I did not hate my first job.