Career Change

[EleanorInOhio]

Hi everyone,

I am a new(ish) grad, out of school for 6 months. I found school to be easy as pie, I was one of the lucky ones who flew by without needing to study. Everything just clicked for me. Except for clinical application, I get everything so clearly on paper but my nerves and tendency to shy away from uncomfortable situations really gets the best of me. I know what I am supposed to do, but the need to flee the situation really takes over and all I want is to get out of there.

With that said, I made the (wrong) decision out of school and took a position as an RN in a private practice setting. I spend most of my days educating patients (which I love) or drawing blood. None of my skills from school have been worked on since graduating and with every passing day I realize more and more that I've made the wrong decision as a new grad.

So now, I want to make the jump back into acute care nursing but I just can not fathom bedside nursing. I went to an excellent nursing school in this area, had every opportunity to try skills, and really didn't care for any of it. I know there is this requirement for new nurses to get their skills up to snuff on a med-surg floor but I really just don't think I'll be able to last a whole year doing that, especially when I've already spent half a year doing something I am very unhappy in.

I could use some advise!! Anything is appreciated.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

So now, I want to make the jump back into acute care nursing but I just can not fathom bedside nursing.

Acute care IS bedside nursing.

I get the feeling that you are under the impression that you must love every aspect of what you're doing and anything less than that is unfulfilling You 'really didn't care for' doing what nurses do?

You post really confuses me. If you don't like nursing, do something else. What is it that you want to do on a daily basis? I can't figure that out from your post.

[EleanorInOhio]

I'm sure my post is confusing, because I am truly confused. I guess I should specify that I want to be in the hospital environment, but I don't want to work on a med-surg floor. I think what my problem is with choosing a unit or a path is that I don't know what to expect on each floor. I experienced ortho, oncology, and did my role transition in the OR. Didn't fall in love with those patient populations. I did enjoy the PACU, but understand that it is not an appropriate environment for a new grad. I was looking for some advice on where to potentially go from here. I am incredibly bored in my current position, feeling very much the loss of my confidence, knowledge, and skills. I didn't mean to come off as not enjoying nursing, just haven't enjoyed the areas I've experienced so far.