Can nursing be for me?

[djh8kperez]

I've been a nurse since March 2014. The first year I didn't work as a nurse since it was hard trying to get a job. On 2015 I got my first job as a pediatric private duty nurse. It was great. I worked over 50 hours a week. I pretty much sacrificed my holidays and time with my family to work. I loved my patient, I did everything I could to keep her and her family happy. I even switched home health services to be with her.

Unfortunately, my patient moved away and I couldn't be with her anymore. In that time, I started working at a clinic. I was still with the home health but I was in PRN status. I worked a little over a month at the clinic. I didn't stick around because one of the doctors was verbally abusive to the nurses and RMAs. She threatened me and other workers twice while I worked there. Of course, after reporting her, they did nothing to her and I had to still be working with her. So I left and went back to the home health. While at the home health, the company provided orientation for a few patients. One of which I refused to work with because 1. It was an hour drive to get there. 2. I did not feel comfortable working with the patient (she had seizures and choking episodes). There were going to set me up with another patient but they didn't want to provide orientation. They said the nurse can give me report on the patient and I was ready to go. I did not know much about the patient only that she was hospitalized and required an ambu bag if she desated (I've only used an ambu bag once and that was in nursing school).

This is not the first time this company refused me orientation. On one occasion they told me "mom can train you when you get there". Looking back I was so stupid to accept. Fortunately, nothing happened in that shift and everything went smoothly. They did it again, a little later and I refused. In addition, this company had a lot of scheduling issues. They would schedule me and I'd show up and turns out I had to be there two hours later. At times I was scheduled and they didn't even notify me. Ultimately, I left the company.

A part of me didn't want to because now I have to start over. A part of me doesn't know what I want. There aren't a lot of positions for LVN available where I live. I've had a lot of bad experiences with jobs, I don't want to be quitting them. I don't know what to think.....has anyone felt like giving up....

At times I want to just switch careers but I don't know. I worked so hard to be a nurse I just don't want to give up.

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

I'm sorry you feel like giving up. If I was young, and could afford it, I would definitely pursue other careers. I don't think it takes that long to figure it out. I knew when I was young, that I had chosen a career that was not a good fit for me. I stayed to pay for bills, help my family and so on. I'm have been in it for 28 years now, and it gets harder every year.

LVN are nurses and they have challenging jobs also. I don't think getting the LVN job is the answer. If you feel nursing is not for you and you have the opportunity to make a change to another career, you should consider more education and get away from the nursing field.

I've heard of nurses who find a "niche" and live happily ever after, but I think they are very few. Some states have too many nurses and it's hard to get a job let alone find a job in a specific specialty without experience. Even with experience, it may not be the experience they are looking for. It seems employers don't want to invest in orientation and training of new employee's.

Yes, it is sad that you invested so much time in acquiring your RN degree, and it will be hard to give it up. But think long term. Unfortunately, nursing degree's are not easily transitioned to other non nursing careers.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

I'm probably going to piss people of by saying this but if I were you, I'd consider doing an LPN (or LVN if you live in Texas or California) to RN bridge program. There's much more to choose from in the RN route.

[Serhilda, ADN, RN]

There seem to be so many directions you can take with nursing if you pursue a high enough education. There are many other things you could do aside from just bedside care, I'm sure I don't need to list the options for you, but you are a bit more limited as an LVN. And honestly much of what you're saying sounds like something you'd deal with anywhere. Scheduling issues, horrible coworkers, that's something you unfortunately can't escape in any profession. You just have to keep trying to find a healthy work environment. I don't think another career would be the answer, but perhaps becoming an RN would be.

[djh8kperez]

You both are right. Getting my RN is something I should look into due to the many job opportunities available.