anyone quit after orientation? an new grads thinking of leaving nursing

lisa41rn · Mar 19, 2006

Please know, you're not alone. I've been working on a med/surg floor for nine months now. It has gotten MUCH better. I remember wanting to quit in the beginning. Now, I just keep thinking about making it to that one year mark. I would really like to quit at the end of the year with 1 1/2 years experience. Frankly, bedside nursing isn't for me, but I feel I need to keep going. I know exactly what you're going through. The stress is terrible. I was hired as a day/night rotator and lucked out by not having to work nights except for two weeks after being hired. Well now I'm stuck working six weeks because so many RNs are quitting. I feel like crying over it. I'm so stressed over it. Two weeks was tough...how I'm going to get through six weeks is going to be worse. I know I was hired to do that, but it won't be easy. Try to give yourself a little time. If you can make it a year, that would be a big plus on your resume. Good luck to you.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Mar 19, 2006

Unless you have another nursing job lined up, I would advise hanging in there if you could. Having a year or six months of experience under your belt will help you land a non-hospital job that you like.

Of course, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who has to work. If you don't need the money and can tolerate long periods of unemployment until you find that non-hospital job or switch careers, then by all means don't torture yourself. No need to feel like a failure.

Many new grads struggle that first year, cry and hate it every day, that seems to be a normal experience. It usually get's better if we just hang in there a bit longer than orientation and those first few months. I doubted my choice of nursing every day for a long time.

There's lots to do in nursing besides hospital work, so don't think that nursing isn't for you.

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2006

There are many days I consider my options. Orientation is so stressful. But as others have said, without a year or two under our belts, there are few options to consider. I'm committed to two years of bedside nursing at my current facility. After that though, I'm gonna be "outta here" for something else in nursing... maybe a doctor's office or public health. Try to hang in there.

rhenmag9 · Mar 20, 2006

:uhoh3:felt bad when I started to work as a nurse 3 years ago...the long hours, the understaffing, the shifting of schedules..holidays missing, etccc. :mad:

:mad:....but i strive coz i have to feed my self....i have also the thinking of not to quit.... I make sure i will not end up like a crap:chair: and i try to find ways which i will enjoy the profession...my advice, if ur not enjoying it and if it is difficult for u to work in a hospital, try to be in other fields n nrsg, administrative, school or company....be happy and do not quit....work with a happy heart.:loveya::heartbeat. someday, If u find what u are looking, Im sure u'll excel and wll be satisfied in that chosen field.:icon_hug:.....goodluck!!!!

mtngrl, ASN, RN · Mar 20, 2006

I quit a hospital after 4 weeks. It was my second job as a nurse and I had only been an RN for about 9 months, and my first job was in an office setting. I got the hospital job when I moved. I hated it so much, I didn't get the orientation I was promised. I kept complaining about it but nothing was ever done. I felt truly unsafe, and I was scheduled to be head nurse soon! I had no one helping me, the place was always understaffed, it was making me depressed. I quit even though I had no job lined up, but I didn't care because I felt if I was there any longer I would make a bad error or something. I would rather be broke financially than harm a patient. I did find a job 2 weeks later. Though I do think I won't be in this profession for too long. By the way, I just don't bother to put that job on my resume, since I never finished the so-called "orientation". And you are not a failure if you leave nursing....you never know if you will really like a job until you do it, and if you don't like it it's better to keep looking for what will make you happy than spend life miserable and stressed.

pie123 · Mar 20, 2006

Anyone here quit after being on orientation and thinking of leaving nursing altogether? I started my first job in January and am about to finish my orientation at the end of this month... The problem is, I am miserable! I hate the acute care setting, the continuous stress, and the understaffing. I am about to get off orientation at the end of the month but I already KNOW that hospital nursing is not for me. I feel guilty about leaving after the time they invested in me to orient but I really hate it!! I also feel like a failure for not being able to finish what I started... nursing was my 2nd degree (have a BA in psychology) but now I am seriously considering that nursing may not be for me and want to switch career paths again.
Has anyone else quit their first job... how easy was it to find a second job in nursing? Also, I don't think I want to be a nurse in a hospital anymore but it seems like every other job (public health nurse, home health nurse, case management, etc.) that I am more interested in wants at least 1-2 years acute care experience. Would I be considered a failure in the eyes of the managers if I leave the hospital world after only 3 months? Am I still marketable as a nurse? (I wouldn't be leaving on unfavorable terms)
Thanks for any advice or for anybody else sharing their experiences to commiserate with me!

I quit my first job on a Medical-Surgical unit in TWO weeks. I am on my second job right now. It took me only one week to get this job. But I don't care for it either. I have been off orientation for just over a month. Like you, I feel that hospital nursing is not for me, at least not the bedside. In my current job, I am in a 2 year ($7500) contract, due to a course that I had to take as part of employment on the unit.

I am planning to leave in one year. This summer I am going to start taking classes toward another degree. Also, doing this will keep me busy enough, and time will seem to go by faster :). Good luck, and know that you are not alone.

celle507 · Mar 21, 2006

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences with me... Hearing your stories makes me feel better about my own situation and makes me feel like I am not alone.

However, it seems like even though we don't enjoy nursing, we are all "sticking" with it for as long as we can ... why is that? I guess it seems like all the time and pain spent in nursing school will go to waste. I know in my head that I should try to stay another couple months in this position but I don't think I can physically and psychologically.

To mtngirl and pie123, where are you working now? Are you still working in a hospital (med/surg) or were you able to switch into a different area of nursing even with the limited med/surg experience? Mtngirl, do you think you will get out of nursing soon or are you trying to stay in as long as you possibly can.

Also, I just got accepted to grad school to get my masters in community health nursing... however, I am afraid that the degree will be useless unless I get acute care experience (which I really don't want to get). My other option is to go for my masters in public health which will completely distance me from nursing altogether... any advice?

Geeg · Mar 21, 2006

I worked in a unit where 10 new grads were hired at the same time, only 5 made it out of orientation. One even left a message, over the weekend, on the manager's voicemail saying she was never coming back.

annarborrn · Mar 21, 2006

I have been working on a very busy post surgical vascular thoracic unit. When I first grad I had grand expectations of what life would be like post orientation. I am a year and a half as an RN and I don't think bedside nursing is for me at all even though I am good at it, it is no as rewarding as I thought. I think it is time for grad school ,but for what???

I am glad to know that I am not alone. Does anyone think changing units would help?????

Town & Country · Mar 21, 2006

Just my opinion, but I think you all should think long and hard about quitting your jobs just out of orientation.

This is almost never a good idea and it will come back to haunt you.

You are not experienced enough to be able to gauge the working environment of an acute care setting - IMHO, the only real reason to quit a job right out of orientation is for patient safety and the sheer inability to be able to take care of the patients assigned to you - and you would have surely noticed that in your orientation period.

Stick it out for a year, look at it as a CHALLENGE. You can do it. Don't expect alot of positive feedback and feel-good fuzzies from the other nurses on the unit. They're probably rationing their seconds and using their time wisely.

Don't tell yourself that it's too much for you and/or it's making you miserable. You're programming yourself to fail and/or quit.

DidiRN · Mar 21, 2006

Although I think ideally sticking it out for six months to a year is true, I do know with this awful nursing shortage, there are alot of facilities out there, out of sheer desperation, pushing new grads too soon to relieve their staffing shortages. There is a real crisis going on in nursing today, and although the plus side is loads of jobs available in most places, the big downside is the working conditions that are not ideal, and downright dangerous at some places. Please keep this in mind, and I wouldn't recommend staying at any place that would put you in this kind of position, even six months to a year. Yes, it's normal to feel inadequate and unsure of yourself as a new grad, yet be aware of facilities who also are not looking out for your best interest and giving you the proper orientation and support that you need in your first year or so. JMHO.