anxiety depression and adhd have caused me to struggle to find my fit as a new nurse

[brad0428]

My question is what type/area of nursing would be a good fit for me now or prepare me to return to acute care in a hospital setting someday?

About 6 months ago I graduated from nursing school and was hired on a unit where I had previously worked as pca for 1.5 yrs. The unit itself was run horribly and many of the experienced nurses left the unit for other jobs. Being a new nurse that was not liked by some of the RN's (but not all) caused some difficulty for me as far as teamwork and looking out for each other and supporting each other went. Also since our unit was not performing well an interim manager was brought in and the manager that had hired me and worked with me for the last 1.5 years was put on leave for training. I did not perform well as a new nurse for several reasons..... Some of those reasons are: I had undiagnosed/untreated major depressive disorder , generalized anxiety disorder and ADHD (which diagnosis and tx began shortly before I was terminated), and the unit was short staffed, inexperienced and not trained well, and the college I attended gave me a semi-poor education and my disabilities hampered my ability to fully absorb the information to my full ability. Having said that I was let go after six months just before I was out of probation (was on my own for 3 months with no preceptor) and my manager told me that she had full faith that I could make it in that world I just had to work a little harder and longer at it then someone that does well in an acute care level 3 trauma inner city hospital on a GI floor straight out of nursing school.

My question is what type/area of nursing would be a good fit for me now or prepare me to return to acute care in a hospital setting someday? Some factors to consider are me being a new nurse suffering from mood disorders and adhd which all appear to be successfully treated thus far but still mildly affect me and being average intelligence maybe a little above in certain cognitive areas and me not gaining the full knowledge or education that I should have in nursing school but still obtained enough to never fail a class and pass the nclex with 83 questions my first time. Any advice anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated.

NewRN

[brad0428]

How do you become a state surveyor? I only have 7 months GI med-surge experience and 1.6 yrs PCA experience?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

How do you become a state surveyor? I only have 7 months GI med-surge experience and 1.6 yrs PCA experience?

You need years of experience, preferably in geriatrics and/or long-term care (nursing home, assisted living, memory care etc.). You also have to be a team player in every sense of the word, because people are going to scrutinize everything you do and second-guess you at every turn. Your co-workers and supervisors are going to ask you over and over again "So what are you thinking, why did you make this decision?" until you're so confused you don't know whether you're coming or going.

I didn't handle that well, so I'm no longer in that position. It's great for the nurse who is very detail-oriented, not so much for someone who's as scatter-brained as I am. But again, you should get more and better experience under your belt before you try for a surveyor position. Check with your state's employment website and see what the job requirements are; they may be different in your state than in mine. Best of luck in your endeavors, whatever they may be.