Are any of you loyal?

[MzTayTay]

I am a 26 year old nursing student about to graduate with my AD in May. A nurse recruiter from a large hospital I'm interested in (Peds) just talked to my clinical group. The point that she kept stressing over and over and over was that things were not looking the best for new grads right now and we would have a much better shot at getting hired if we got experience somewhere else (even other than peds) then applied. I'm sorry but I see a serious problem with this. I am a very loyal person and I do not get frustrated with easily. I do no not plan on job hopping. I do not plan on staying with the job same forever, but I would love to see myself grow and build a relationship with the staff in one place over many years. Yes I want to work to kids but more importantly, I just want to work with people. Does anyone else feel the same way?

[leslie :-D]

Always be loyal and true to yourself throughout your life & you should be fine.

very true for the most part, and good advice.

however.

it was your past experiences that brought you to where you are today.

so please, no regrets, ok?

try to embrace every experience, whether negative or positive.

all of it, inevitably results in wisdom, tolerance, insight, and strength.

win: win.

leslie

[LPNnowRN]

When you watch someone who has worked for a place SEVEN years have their hours taken away and given to a new infection control/ADON position, their position on loyalty is pretty obvious. I left too but for different reasons.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Loyalty sounds good, but workplaces change even if you stay.

I am happy at my unit, and have no immediate plans to move on after 12 years here. Many other nurses in my hospital are fellow old-timers too.

But what if...

A new nurse manager can wreak havoc, changes in policy happen, standards can decline and a satisfactory situation can become unbearable.

The old style two way "company man" loyalty is a thing of the past

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

while i understand that the era of people working for the same employer for their entire career is long past, i find it disturbing that so many new grads take jobs with absolutely no intention of staying any longer than it takes to find the next job.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

The last place I worked before disability was something else (actually, the facility was very nice- but.....). As I watched the administrative nurses getting sacked, the rest of us were literally told to not have contact with them. At work, or home. When I ended up off work, I have no idea what the others were told- all I knew was that nobody returned my calls, and one nurse saw me at a local grocery store, and when she saw I'd seen her, she took off. Literally refused to even speak to me.

The DON did do enough to protect my long term disability insurance- and didn't can me (seizures, dysautonomia- it wasn't like I'd been palming the drugs). But it was clear that I was on the "do not communicate" list. That really hurt. I didn't know anybody else here.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

I know I learned a lot about balance when I was a new grad. I try to be naively loyal, but loyalty doesn't have to mean staying in one place for decades while you watch dream jobs go by. I try to be a hard worker, but I'm going to be dangerous if you ask me to stay six hours past the end of my shift, so I have to say no. I try to be a patient advocate, but some families will move right in and use you as room service if you let them, so I have to draw lines. It's all about balance.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

very true for the most part, and good advice.

however.

it was your past experiences that brought you to where you are today.

so please, no regrets, ok?

try to embrace every experience, whether negative or positive.

all of it, inevitably results in wisdom, tolerance, insight, and strength.

win: win.

leslie

Thank you very much Leslie. I always enjoy reading your posts & your words of wisdom.

It was so awful to see my friend marched out like that. She was an older, not very good-looking very religious lady, not very well liked by anyone but I befriended her (we kind of had mutual acquaintances). I felt so humiliated for her and embarrassed. When she was 'escorted' out, the whole work place stopped and everyone just stared. It was so awful to see, like something from a movie. I've never seen anything like it then or since.

I am in a crisis right now; I don't see myself going anywhere further in nursing. I have just got to the point where I am so incredibly tired & fed up of all the drunks and idiots who come into the ED/ER & complain to us about their sad & sorry lives, when not a one of them takes responsibility for themselves. I'm studying psych & though I do like working psych, I'm getting sick of kowtowing to these people who won't sort their lives out, who keep drinking/doing drugs, who keep bashing their kids, who are rapists, who treat nurses like $h*t, who just turn up to the ED whenever they feel like it numerous times. When do we as a society get to tell them: ENOUGH! Act like an adult, not like a loser idiot.

I have an employment lady who is searching for a nursing/admin job for me, and she keeps emailing me with different job opportunities, so I will move after I pay off some debts. It's only my debts that keep me here.

I have to get out of this job next year to save my sanity. But I will never be loyal to any employer ever again, not after what I have seen with my own eyes.

[kelll]

I have read all the replies to this post and must agree. Most likely if this position does not meet your expectations you will only stay with it until your needs are met and you can find something better. I love my current specialty unit and would love to stay there. I have been there for over 8 years but will be leaving soon bc I am have found my limitations on "loyalty".

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Thank you very much Leslie. I always enjoy reading your posts & your words of wisdom.

It was so awful to see my friend marched out like that. She was an older, not very good-looking very religious lady, not very well liked by anyone but I befriended her (we kind of had mutual acquaintances). I felt so humiliated for her and embarrassed. When she was 'escorted' out, the whole work place stopped and everyone just stared. It was so awful to see, like something from a movie. I've never seen anything like it then or since.

I am in a crisis right now; I don't see myself going anywhere further in nursing. I have just got to the point where I am so incredibly tired & fed up of all the drunks and idiots who come into the ED/ER & complain to us about their sad & sorry lives, when not a one of them takes responsibility for themselves. I'm studying psych & though I do like working psych, I'm getting sick of kowtowing to these people who won't sort their lives out, who keep drinking/doing drugs, who keep bashing their kids, who are rapists, who treat nurses like $h*t, who just turn up to the ED whenever they feel like it numerous times. When do we as a society get to tell them: ENOUGH! Act like an adult, not like a loser idiot.

I have an employment lady who is searching for a nursing/admin job for me, and she keeps emailing me with different job opportunities, so I will move after I pay off some debts. It's only my debts that keep me here.

I have to get out of this job next year to save my sanity. But I will never be loyal to any employer ever again, not after what I have seen with my own eyes.

I hear ya :)

Here in the states, one of the big problems we have (imo) is that our govt is at least as nuts as the nuts..... The lawmakers are in need of the asylum. Not looking good here

[abakrn819]

Loyalty really is hard to promise when you are a new grad, I would know. I got hired before graduation on a floor that I KNEW was going to be MY DREAM FLOOR. It was cardac, and with the hospital building a new HEART HOSPITAL (which was my "dream") to open a year after I got hired, I knew I would get to work there and my dreams would all come true. Boy, was I wrong.

After passing my boards and working as a nurse, I hated it. Not so much the floor itself, or the cardiology, but just the hours and the anxiety that was caused. So here I am, 7 months after starting as an RN on this floor, applying, interviewing, and accepting another job within the hosptial. I stayed loyal to the hospital, yes. But if I wouldn't have gotten a job offer here, and got an offer somewhere else, you can bet I would have accepted somewhere else.

You will not know what you love until you experience the real job. Clinicals give you SOME experience, but its not good enough to know what you are really going to love! I have heard so many nurses say I thought I would love it, but ended up hating it, or vice versa!!

Think of it this way, if you accept a job with a company, and after a few months a job opens up on peds within the same company, your chances of getting that job are a lot better! And, honestly, getting a job period is hard sometimes. So, my advice as a new grad is to just take what you can get right off the bat and get some experience. ANY experience is GOOD experience when you go to apply for your dream job! Just work hard, give whatever job you get 100% and eventually you will work your way up to your dream job :)

PS - even though I got hired in a new department with new (amazing) hours, I still don't know if it will be my dream job! Sometimes you just gotta try a few different placed before you find the right one!! Kind of like searching for Mr.Right :) Best of luck to you!!

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

Yes, I'm loyal. The shortest length of time I spent at any job was 4 years, the longest was 11 years. I only take jobs that I want, and then I only stay as long as I am growing personally and professionally. I've never been treated badly at work, on the contrary. However, I have never been paid very well either. You have to decide what is important. I usually took the poorest paying position that offered collegial environments, lol.

[MzTayTay]

To an employer, you're more like a hooker than a wife. They're paying you for your services, not bonding with you eternally. Feel free to move on when it's all over, because I guarantee you they will do the same.

Thanks for all your responses! I especially liked the preceding one! Im still laughing!