Any Advice Or Help Would Be Great

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Hello Everyone! I am in need of some advice. I recently started a job on a med-surg unit (early November). I was so excited when I received the phone call for an interview and even more excited when I got the job. However, here I am three months later DREADING going to work everyday. A little background to this story....for starters my orientation got cut short and I was thrown on my own long before I felt I was ready however, they all felt that I was plenty ready so there I was. I make a 40 minute drive into a place I dread going to EVERYDAY which makes it that much worse. Our floor is a combination of med-surg/pediatrics although we don't get a whole lot of peds. It is a small town community hospital and for the most part staff has been great with me. I LOVE taking care of people and being able to sit and spend time with them. I worked for five years in a doctors office as a medical assistant and although it had its moments, I did enjoy it. I hate to say it, but I think I hate my job. It is definately not what I thought it would be. I have spent moments in absolute tears knowing I had to leave to go into work and have even had moments at work where I just needed to stop and go on my own to cry. Is that crazy??? I don't know exactly what it is about this job that has me in such chaos but my insides get so twisted up before my feet even enter the doorway. I stress out completely before I even know my assignment for the day. Not only does it make for a rough work day but it also makes for a rough family life. I come home and can't get work out of the mind. I can no longer enjoy my off days even because I am dreading having to go to work the following day. And I just don't know why I feel this badly. I have been beating myself up over this because I am not the type of person to give up but I just can't handle much more. It has gotten to the point where I am not even sure if I want to be a nurse after all that time spent in school. Is it nursing I dislike or just my current job???? I am miserable at work and therefore at home. I want to be able to come home and enjoy my time with my children, etc not feel like the world has come to an end every single day. I feel so trapped in this job because it seems there are not alot of openings out there and I need to work so I can have insurance, etc. Does anyone out there have any advice or has anyone ever felt quite the way I do and what did you do about it? I did go in yesterday and tell my manager I was giving a notice but the girls on the floor do a good job of talking me out of it. THe aides don't want to see me go becuase they tell me I am the only nurse on the floor who ever offers to even help them out when needed, etc. I don't mind helping anyone but it seems that not everyone is like that. Anyway...please offer up some advice if you have any. I have to leave for work soon and I am already literally sick to the stomach. Thanks!

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Specializes in mental health, military nursing.

It sounds like your caught up in quite the vicious cycle...

Your job doesn't sound too bad, from the way you describe it - you get along with your coworkers, you like taking care of patients. You sound overwhelmed, which probably started with the short orientation. Nursing is a tough field, and your job sounds just like situations that most nurses experience.

My advice is to take a deep breath. You need to find a way to break this cycle of anxiety. You need some relaxation techniques for at work, and for your time off. When I find myself overwhelmed at work, I find a quiet spot for just a few minutes - I even bring my iPod and put on one relaxing song, close my eyes, and just breathe. You can be spared for four minutes - you will be infinitely more effective if you aren't flustered and panicky.

Remember that your job is just that - your job. It's not supposed to be the focal point of your life. Make sure you are doing things you enjoy, like spending time with your family, getting regular exercise (an excellent stress reliever)... If you genuinely can't shake this dread, see a therapist - sometimes having someone just listen for an hour a week can be AMAZING.

Good luck!

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Specializes in community health.

what exactly do you dread? which parts do you like, what do you hate...

woudl a few days off help?

don't give up on nursing, jsut casue you don't like this place

B

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I did this the first year of working and now believe it was due to not feeling confident about my abilities and decisions. Perhaps your supervisor could recommend a mentor to help you vent and share and generally coach you for a while. What helped me was to get a job elsewhere (grass is greener attitude) only to learn nursing is hard everywhere. By then I was learning shortcuts and had more confidence. Don't get sick over it. Get help.

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Specializes in Clinical, nursing home, hosp - ICU,.

I have to be 100% honest with you. As i read this i cant help but think that it may not be the job it may be an underlying depression issue that has now come to a head. Have you ever talked with someone about depression? Dont feel bad about it = i know that approx 80% of the nurses i work with have taken or currently take medication for depression. I wish you luck my dear!!!

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I did this the first year of working and now believe it was due to not feeling confident about my abilities and decisions. Perhaps your supervisor could recommend a mentor to help you vent and share and generally coach you for a while. What helped me was to get a job elsewhere (grass is greener attitude) only to learn nursing is hard everywhere. By then I was learning shortcuts and had more confidence. Don't get sick over it. Get help.

I think you did say alot when you mention not feeling confident. I have told them many times that I feel completely incompetent. I do feel like a lousy nurse because I don't feel like there is time to care for the patients the way I want to. If I wanted to be a pill pusher and nothing more I woul have saved my money I invested in school. Know what I mean? I enjoy helping the aides when I have time because that's when I feel like I am really giving care. When I am home I can sit and calmly go through the events of the day and it doesn't seem so bad but it never goes smoothly at work. I like being busy but not so busy that you can't think straight and you feel like your license is hanging by a string. Perhaps I am use to the environment of a doctors office and just prefer that setting. Perhaps a hospital setting is not for everyone.

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Specializes in AA&I, research,peds, radiation oncology.

Apply for a position at a doctor's office. Maybe you need a slower, familiar environment. You sound as if you are overwhelmed. Take some time off and apply at a few offices. You deserve it for yourself and your family. God bless!!!

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Specializes in MOHS surgery.

My first job as a nurse was at a nursing home. I was 18 and terrified. I would ask my supervisor a question and she would just tell me she had already told me once and wouldn't tell me anything. she wouldn't help at all. It was terrible. thankfully there was another nurse there to help me along but it was terrible. I worked there for a few months then decided to quit. I couldn't take it anymore. I sent my resume' out to several different places and ended up with the worlds BEST job. I loved it! You just have to figure out what kind of nursing you really love.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.
I think you did say alot when you mention not feeling confident. I have told them many times that I feel completely incompetent. I do feel like a lousy nurse because I don't feel like there is time to care for the patients the way I want to. If I wanted to be a pill pusher and nothing more I woul have saved my money I invested in school. Know what I mean? I enjoy helping the aides when I have time because that's when I feel like I am really giving care. When I am home I can sit and calmly go through the events of the day and it doesn't seem so bad but it never goes smoothly at work. I like being busy but not so busy that you can't think straight and you feel like your license is hanging by a string. Perhaps I am use to the environment of a doctors office and just prefer that setting. Perhaps a hospital setting is not for everyone.

It sounds like you're "hanging on" to the old job. Frankly, 2-3 months isn't much time to adjust to a new type of nursing. Before you jump ship I think you need to really analyze what's going on with you so you don't go out and repeat it in another job. Working in a clinic is very different from working in a hospital--not better or worse. I've worked in a 40-bed NICU, a large L&D,a middle school, and in a busy doctor's office and found that I was equally run ragged.

Every time I have changed jobs I hated it. I learned that I have to give myself a year to work out the bugs before I start really feeling comfortable. I don't take to change very well so it have to be very patient with the learning process. Until you understand the root cause of your crisis I think you need to just sit tight. :nurse:

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Specializes in COS-C, Risk Management.

Before you make a drastic decision, I agree with the above posters, particularly with the depression evaluation. If you can't identify a particular problem with the job, maybe the problem is with you? I also tend to think that surviving nursing school is a bit like a self-induced post-traumatic stress disorder and you may just now be feeling the effects of the stress of school. It's very common among new grads to have those feeling of incompetence, even after over 10 years, I still have my days where I feel like a complete idiot.

Is there a possibility of trying a different shift? A different floor? Have you discussed the situation with your supervisor? Do you have a trusted co-worker with whom you can talk through your anxieties? Does your facility have an Employee Intervention Program you can access? Consider all your options before you decide to leave.

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Sounds like a famliar story. I graduated in May and for the first 2.5 months I felt the same way you did. Time has passed and although not much I'm getting into a groove. Don't get me wrong, just a week ago I had a real bad night, a hospice patient, a pt having a seizure and a pt go into asystole for a few beats while at CT, I also had 3 other patients. Once the tornado calmed down, I cried, got a few hugs from coworkers, thank you from family members, excused myself from the floor to clear my head and went back at it. I was so much like you when I started the tears, the dreaded car ride to work, not being able to enjoy my time off thinking about going back was all that was on my mind. Like some of the other posters I called my Dr. got some much needed meds for anxiety and now I can say for the most part I love my job. You say you have great co-workers as do I and that really is a golden ticket. Give yourself time and it will play out, your not alone, so many of us new nurses feel the way do. You'll get into a routine and learn how to manage time better to give you that extra few minutes with your patients and you'll see you will make a difference. Hang in their RN, you got through nursing school you'll get through this....meds do help.:)

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When i read your post I felt like you read what was on my mind. I've been a nurse for 4.5 years. I have also recently changed specialties. I was a Psych nurse for the last 3 years, I relocated and got a new position in the float pool of a big area hospital. Well, I was oriented for a month and sent out on my own. I constantly feel overwhelmed, incompetent especially when sent to a floor that i haven't been to in weeks. I love patient care but don't care too much for the technical part of the job, it takes me forever to chart in the computer and I'm an avid blogger. I dread going to :uhoh3: work just because I know there's an unrealistic expectation to care for 5 patients who are mostly post-ops and new admissions.There are terms and procedures that I'm unfamiliar with depending on what unit I get sent to. Sometimes I get floated half-way during my shift to another floor. I feel for you, I could also use the same advice given by the rest of the nurses. Sometimes it takes time but even time cannot fix everything wrong with nursing..i.e being expected to wear multiple hats and do it well. I'm longing to go back to psych but there's not openings in my area. I've found that being vocal about your feelings helps,being early to work so as to prepare and relaxation exercises on your days off..like yoga. Try it. Good luck.:up:

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