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 am in my first year still too -- and I find I do things like that at times too, then after a minute I go "duh!" I have asked nurses who have only a few years in how long did it take before it became more natural and they said about a year so . . .I know I will always be learning which is why I what I love about nursing but this first year is the pits in many ways.
IMHO, no one should EVER just leave a voice mail that they are not coming back. This is so unprofessional and should be reported to the board. If you are considering quitting, at least have the decency to give your employer the required notice, even if you are still on orientation.
As unprofessional as it is, unfortunately many people do this across all employment settings. People dont care and just figure they wont put the job on their resume so who will know. I witnessed a nurse quit a job over voice mail and she knew she could have called the clinical administrator to speak to someone, but instead just left a message "I am sorry, its not working out and I wont be in tomorrow - I wont be back."
IMHO, no one should EVER just leave a voice mail that they are not coming back. This is so unprofessional and should be reported to the board. If you are considering quitting, at least have the decency to give your employer the required notice, even if you are still on orientation.
I agree. Not to mention that could bite someone in the *** when they go to apply for the next job.
I agree. Not to mention that could bite someone in the *** when they go to apply for the next job.
Absolutely, when you enter this profession, you have a professional obligation to give the proper amount of notice to that employer that has hired you and trained you. They have given you that professional consideration and it should be given back. If nothing else, go to the employer and tell them honestly why you are quitting. I believe that most of them would be undertanding and may even help to move you to an area that is not so stressful, or extend the orientation time. I think employers should report nurses to the board that are not professional about giving notice. It should be a mark on their licence. But then, that is just my two cents and we all know how far two cents goes these days.
I was asked to quit my first nursing job at the end of orientation. it was in a big hospital that had its own nursing school, and those grads already knew everything and everybody, and they offered no help to me. I felt that I'd never been in nursing school. I was told that orientation was a period of time offered to learn how the hospital functioned, and learn policy/procedure, not a time to learn things I should have been taught in school. Going from having 2-3 patients in clinical to having a wing of 25-28 patients was quite a big jump. My next job was night shift in a long-term geriatric facility, followed by other nursing home jobs and it was very discouraging..................until I found psych nursing. 18 yrs later and still loving it every day. M-F, 8-5, no holidays, no on call, my own office, great benefits. Stressful......you better believe it, but also very rewarding. Don't give up on nursing, just find your place in it.
Absolutely, when you enter this profession, you have a professional obligation to give the proper amount of notice to that employer that has hired you and trained you. They have given you that professional consideration and it should be given back. If nothing else, go to the employer and tell them honestly why you are quitting. I believe that most of them would be undertanding and may even help to move you to an area that is not so stressful, or extend the orientation time. I think employers should report nurses to the board that are not professional about giving notice. It should be a mark on their licence. But then, that is just my two cents and we all know how far two cents goes these days.
I believe there is a professional obligation to give the proper amount of notice in any field -- that is just common decency and respect! I dont care if it is McDonalds . . .giving 2 weeks notice is not the end of the world! I had a staff at my former job leave at the end of the day, apparently full well knowing he would not be back. When it was his next shift, he was a no call, no show -- when we tried to contact him, he would not return calls, never returned keys etc. So, he eventually was terminated by us, and that is what his records show should he ever want a reference. I only found out later from another staff that he knew he was not coming back but did not want to say anything --
I believe there is a professional obligation to give the proper amount of notice in any field -- that is just common decency and respect! I dont care if it is McDonalds . . .giving 2 weeks notice is not the end of the world! I had a staff at my former job leave at the end of the day, apparently full well knowing he would not be back. When it was his next shift, he was a no call, no show -- when we tried to contact him, he would not return calls, never returned keys etc. So, he eventually was terminated by us, and that is what his records show should he ever want a reference. I only found out later from another staff that he knew he was not coming back but did not want to say anything --
I guess what got me started on this soap box was not too long ago, an aide walked off the floor midway through a shift. We saw him go out the door and did not think anything of it until a while later when no one could find him. This is an aide that is starting medical school this fall. I felt it unprofessional on his part and insisted that we let the university know of his actions so it could follow him into his medical career. His leaving, totally hosed us as we were already short staffed with him. The hospital would not report it so I'm sure he will do it again, somewhere else. At some point, people need to be held accountable for their actions and when their past actions sneak up and bite them one day, maybe they will think before they do it again.
I didn't read through all the posts so I don't know if this has been suggested but have you thought about psych nursing since you have a degree in psychology? It isn't the same as med/surg nursing and you probably are familiar with the sort of patients you might encounter, maybe work in an outpatient clinic so you wouldn't have to deal with acute patients as often. Just a suggestion.
I am also a recent grad and it was a little bit intimidating and scary at first, it still is. I just started a critical care internship that is 24 weeks long. It began February 6 and today on the 6th of April I can say that it is easier than 2 months ago but still scary.
I think that nursing is one of the strongest professions in the world and anyone who does it and can get through their first year is strong too! You graduate from a very rigourous program, go on to take one of the most horrifying tests of your life and than get out of school and think that you really have not learned anything. But, we get jobs and start working and learn the most we ever could once we graduate. Everyday is scary for me but I know that the reward is knowing that everyday I have impacting at least one patient's life and they have truly impacted mine. I think that every nurse should at least give it one year. Maybe not with some of the working conditions that were previously stated but one year where the environment is nurturing for you in the least bit.
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.
I haven't graduated yet but I've been working as an extern with the hope of avoiding some of the "new grad shock" that people experience ...
If I relied solely upon my first extern job in making decisions about whether to stick with nursing ... I would have quit the profession entirely. The facility and patient care was horrible. I really made me question whether nursing was right for me.
But now I'm working at a much better hospital. The patient care is much better and, consequently, the patients are happier which does make the job a lot easier. The RN's are much more helpful and everybody at this facility really helps each other and works as a team.
So ... it may be a matter of where you work just as much as anything else. I wouldn't totally quit the profession until you've tried other jobs that may end up being a lot better than where you are now.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Well, at the risk of exposing myself to criticism there are some ways to make the transition a little easier that I've never mentioned because they really are kind of bigoted, I guess. Find work in hospitals that are smaller and in communities that are middle class or upper middle class. Hospitals in nice parts of a town that service a population of serious working class people. You're more likely to be exposed to a nicer clientele. I worked in a resort town for some years where there were a lot of very wealthy people. It was great. Everyone was happy. But you have to be willing to trade off that job anxiety for a little kowtowing and customer service with a smile. We were rarely exposed to indigent or welfare patients. The working class wants to be out of the hospital ASAP and are mostly very cooperative and willing patients who care very much about their health and, for the most part, follow doctor's orders.
I've also worked in intercity, county and teaching hospitals that service a much broader client base. One hospital wrote off 50% of it's patient accounts because they were never going to be paid. Many of their patients were homeless, indigent, sicker than dogs when they are admitted, and had a slew of problems along with their medical illnesses. The staff used to joke around that the house special was a trip to the dental clinic and an extra day as an inpatient to have full mouth dental extractions for people who never had dental care, could never afford it, and had black, rotting, abscessed teeth. These were some of the hardest and most challenging places I've ever worked. Guess where I learned the most, however? In these hospitals. But, I will admit that I didn't work at my first one until I had already been working for 5 years in one of those smaller, nicer community hospitals on a general medical unit. By then, I was ready to take on the heavy duty problems of the intercity hospitals.
AngelsRN
153 Posts
I am in my first year still too -- and I find I do things like that at times too, then after a minute I go "duh!" I have asked nurses who have only a few years in how long did it take before it became more natural and they said about a year so . . .I know I will always be learning which is why I what I love about nursing but this first year is the pits in many ways.