Corporate America vs. Nursing- culture shock! Any others out there?

[socishan]

:behindpc: Hi all, I was just reading some more posts and noticed that there are a lot of 2nd career nurses out there. Was wondering if you could share some motivational stories or experiences with me? I am also entering nursing from corporate America and am going through a bit of a culture shock with clinicals and starting nursing school and working as a CNA where I don't have time to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, or barely sneeze! How did you all do it? Are you glad you made the switch? Did you like your desk jobs better or do you like nursing better? Did you experience "culture shock" too? It's a totally different world. I really love taking care of the patients, but WOW is it hard work!

Thanks for all the support!

[tiggertoo]

I would go back to my corporate IT job in a heart beat. I had 18 years of software experience before I took a layoff. Now, after shelling out 45k for a nursing degree I worked at one hospital for 3 months before they asked me to leave! They couldn't actually articulate a reason I did not fit in. All they could muster was that they had a "feeling about me". So here I sit almost a year out of nursing school, with 3 months actually nursing experience. I am hear to tell you that no one, no one hire new grads between June and January. So I will likely loose my house, my pets and what was left of my dignity to the back stabbing culture of floor nursing. Sorry, I don't see it getting better, and I was at a Magnet Hospital.

[tiggertoo]

I'd like to know where these 80K jobs are?

[Sheri257]

I'd like to know where these 80K jobs are?

I'm a little surprized by your question. Since you live in Sunnyvale, there should be plenty of them. Sunnyvale, and the Bay Area in general, is the highest paying area of the state and, probably, the nation.

Just as an example, these are some of the pay rates which were posted in the California forum of this board recently for the Santa Clara County hospital in your area that will take effect in November:

Clinical Nurse I's earn $82,729.92 - $98,074.08 annually

Clinical Nurse II's earn $79,532.96 - $103,954.24 annually

Clinical Nurse III's earn $87,709.44 - $126,366.24 annually

http://www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs/Employee%20Services%20Agency%20(AGY)/attachments/RNPA%20MOU%202004-2007.pdf

As far as some hospitals not hiring new grads at certain times, that can be true since new grads need a lot of orientation. For some hospitals ... once they get a group of new grads together they don't always want to take someone after the fact since they usually train them as a group.

But, at least in my area of Southern California ... that's not always the case. Kaiser, for example, only takes new grads at certain times of the year. But we've had a situation recently where a bunch of new grads from my school recently quit one hospital after three months orientation because another hospital closer to home just raised their pay substantially.

These new grads didn't have any trouble jumping ship to the other facility, and I'm sure the fact that they already had three months of training didn't hurt either. So, it probably depends on the hospital's policy and, of course, how short staffed they are.

:typing