Did you leave soon after your "One Year"?

rainbowsandsunshine · Jan 24, 2011

I will DEFINITELY be leaving. Actually, I hope I can tough it out to the 1 year mark. When I took my job (LTC), I knew it would be tough... but it is not the physical work that is hardest- it is my coworkers, CNA's, office politics, no supplies and understaffing that is the worst. I am 3 months in now, and struggling to stay through a year.

MJB2010 · Jan 24, 2011

I left at the 6 month mark and it was a miracle I made it that long, I was miserable. I also felt the patient/nurse ratio was completely unsafe. I was told at the interview that it would be 1 nurse=5 patients, sometimes 6.Thge reality= It was the norm to have 7-8 patients and some nights 9-10 were getting pushed on us. And we were all new grads so it was very unsafe. I could not handle that many patients. I learned a lot, but well, I am super excited to have found another job. And with only 6 months hospital experience, it opened a ton of doors and I was able to land a lot of interviews so this new job was a choice not a last resort.

BTW I should mention that the places in this econony that are willing to hire new grads are prob doing so for a reason. Nurses with experience are smart enough to leave when they see the working conditions. I saw a revolving door at my hospital. Go in with eyes wide open. If they are hiring droves of new grads, this is a red flag.

sheronep, MSN, RN · Jan 24, 2011

I definitely plan on leaving the hospital I am at as soon as the year mark hits. I know that every job is not perfect but I hate going to work. I love my patients but the staff is another issue. If I didnt sign a contract I would have left after the first week when they didnt pay me correctly! I am in a residency program and they hired 60 of us!

missladyrn · Jan 24, 2011

I am also leaving at 6 months. My first RN job is on a medical floor with only 6 weeks orientation. I feel like I am drowning constantly and the stress is horrible.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 25, 2011

i left my first rn position at 6 months because i hated the med surg floor i was floated to one day and was never allowed to leave! btw, it was the worse floor in that hospital and the reputation around the community even among patients was that it was not the place to be!

after several unsuccessful attempts to return to my unit or transfer to the ed, i left! i received a job offer quickly (this was in '09)! now the same ed will not hire any nurses without a solid 1-2 years of work experience because the word got out that this hospital was hiring! :rolleyes:

by the way, this job is in no way my dream job!!! i figured it was a h@## hole within two weeks of orientation! however, initally i could not leave for another job because i was still under 1 year of rn work experience and i would have no choice but to return to med surg! :down:

currently, i have over a year of ed experience and i completed my bsn. therefore, i am ready to move on. ironically, there are so many nurses looking for a job, that even with 2 years of work experience i am not getting many interviews. of course i am also applying to areas that are saturated with nurses (urban areas back east and out west), so that may be a factor too. gl!

biblepoet · Jan 25, 2011

I am too trying to leave my job is horrible. Interviews but nothing has offered yet. I am hoping I make the right decision when the time comes.

Ambitiouz · Feb 20, 2011

Just wondering if you guys are including orientation time in your 1 year experience. I'm 7 months in my first job including orientation time. My unit is notorius for hiring new grads all the time and not retaining them. I know there is no perfect job but I just dont see the point in staying where I am not at least semi happy. I would leave now but even I really want to finish out the semester in my rn-bsn courses to avoid new job stress too.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 20, 2011

just wondering if you guys are including orientation time in your 1 year experience. i'm 7 months in my first job including orientation time. my unit is notorius for hiring new grads all the time and not retaining them. i know there is no perfect job but i just dont see the point in staying where i am not at least semi happy. i would leave now but even i really want to finish out the semester in my rn-bsn courses to avoid new job stress too.

hr does not care how much time you spent on orientation as a licensed nurse. hr counts your work experience from the date you received your license and was employed as a nurse. co-workers, on the other hand, may ask that question of you if you have less then 1 year of nursing work experience so he/she can size you up. otherwise, in my experience they do not care.

i finished my rn-bsn too before leaving my current facility. ironically my current facility cannot keep new grads either. they also manage to run off experienced nurses (i am talking 10-30 years worth of nursing work experience). my bsn combined with my work experience helped me to land my new job so i think that you are doing the right thing by staying only to complete this last semester. gl!

-six more shifts to go until i am out the door!!!!!!!!

JenniferSews · Feb 20, 2011

I am still in my same job. Some days are hard, others are okay. On the bad days I might check out jobs at local hospitals. But those jobs that said "1+ years experience preferred" when I graduated 12/09 now say "2-5 yrs experience required." The job market here seems to have gone from bad to worse for new grads. I really feel for those graduating now in CO.

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Feb 20, 2011

people that use this "one year" theory are the ones that ruin it for new grads. It cost about 60,000 to train a new grad. If the nurse leaves after one year the hospital is not able to re-coup their money. I would be leery of some one that had only been at one place for one year and was applying to a new job, unless they were applying to the same dept (med-surg experience applying for a med-surg job) and would not need more than a week to orient to the way that hospital did things.

TeleMeMore · Feb 21, 2011

I am still in my first hospital job, I've had other jobs prior to build experience to even get into this hospital (flu shots, office rn, ambulatory surgery..)

Finally got a hospital job in not such a great community, undeserved population. The hospital ranks horribly but I've learned A LOT, especially when it comes to protecting my license. I agree that a hospital that for the most part, all new employees are new grads...that is a major red flag. All they care about is $$$, not patient OR Nurse safety as you come to realize.

I've been at my current job around 8 months and I'm looking into other hospitals! I haphazardly applied to some of the better hospitals (magnet hospitals and such) and have received some responses!

We will see!