You can always tell when I've been hanging out on the Allnurses.com forums too much -- I get up on a soap box. I'm amazed, though, at how many new nurses are grasping at straws to find "reasons" to quit their first jobs because they're unhappy and they're just positive that things are going to be better elsewhere. Even if there is no elsewhere in the immediate future. It's not THEIR fault that they're miserable -- it's the job. Or their co-workers are all mean and out to get them. (Probably because of their incredible beauty.) Staffing is a nightmare, the CNAs are all hiding and they're afraid they're going to "loose" their license. They'd better quit RIGHT NOW, so they don't "loose" that license. (I wonder if that one is as transparent to spouses who are looking for a little help with the rent -- not to mention those school loans you've racked up -- as it is to some of the rest of us.) The job is ruining their lives and their mental health -- they're seriously worried for their mental health if they don't quit right now. Where did all of these fragile people come from?
Seriously, folks. The first year of nursing sucks. You have the internet and all of that -- how could you not know that the first year of nursing sucks? It does. We've all been through it. The only way to GET through it is to GO through it, but there's a big group of newbies every year who are SURE that doesn't apply to them. No one as ever been as miserable as they are. No one understands. They HATE going to work every day. Management is targeting them and they're sure they're going to be fired. They're concerned that their mental health might be permanently damaged by the trauma of staying in that job ONE MORE DAY. Given the inevitability of "loosing" that license and permanent damage to their mental health, it's all right to quit that job tomorrow, isn't it? Or maybe it's that their DREAAAAAAAAM job is opening up, and they've been offered the job. It's OK to quit this job to take their DREAAAAAAAAM job, isn't it?
How do they even know their dream job is hiring if they have every intention of making their first job work out? What are all those job applications doing out there, floating around if they're serious about this job? You DID intend to keep this job for one to two years when you took it, didn't you? If not, shame on you!
The first year of nursing sucks. You're going to hate going to work every day, and some of you are going to cry all the way to work and all the way home. You'll be exhausted, both mentally and physically and your normal hobbies and activities may take second seat to the job. You'll be constantly afraid of making a mistake, and you will MAKE mistakes. You'll feel incompetent. You may lose sleep because you're worrying about your job. Switching jobs isn't going to miraculously make you confident and competent. It's just going to delay you on your path through that first miserable year. It may even look bad on your resume, paint you as a job hopper. (I'm always shocked by how many new nurses are on their third or fourth job in less than two years who will assure me that they're not job hoppers. Honey, if you're on your third job in less than two years, you're a job hopper. Really.)
Don't people have bills to pay? Or is it that no one feels responsible for paying their own bills anymore? How is it that so many people feel free to just up and quit a paying job without another one in sight? I guess I'm getting old, because I really don't get it.
And when we graduated, we were taking care of sicker patients than the experienced nurses cared for when they were new. It's not like we were taking care of patients that were in the hospital for "rest cures."
agreed
Part of me feels like saying, "You're right. No one has had it as hard as you. NCLEX was harder for you (collective "you") than anyone else in the history of nursing.
Ten, twenty years from now, when some new nurse tells you that they have it harder because they have to take care of more complex patients than you did when you were new, remember this conversation. When they say their 10 question NCLEX is much harder than your 265 question NCLEX (that can be passed in 75 questions), remember this.
While I don't have decades of experience, I'm far from being a new nurse. I don't think NCLEX factors much into what makes a nurse a nurse, so I'll leave the question for who had a more difficult NCLEX to others.
Instead of Kind of being harsh and saying 'you don't have bills to pay' start a a thread saying I've been in your shoes. It was hard for me as well in (insert ancient year here) and we dealt with it. We didn't have the internet back the. And no one to really vent to. To all you new nurses that are having trouble and feel like leaving your new job? tell us old crusty bats why. We can give tips. Do you have problems with time management? Here's how I deal/dealt with it. Family members breathing down your throat? I dealt with it this way.
Everyone is different with dealing with stress and situations. And some people no matter how much you tell them not to get into nursing do anyway because they think it's like on tv.
I understand what you're trying to say, but the delivery is all wrong if you're trying to get answers from newbies. And it's pretty much a ghost town in here because you guys may jump down their throats.
The veteran nurses say they want to help? This could have been the thread for it. But the message got lost in between all the harshness.
( I know someone is going to say it's not harshness we're trying to helping you etc.. Save it!) :)
I am more of a job hopper now (in the last 5 years), than I was earlier in my career (the first 15). Sometimes I switch due to job dis-satisfaction , other times to learn new skills in a new environment. Not every person is ideal for every job and vice versa. But hopefully, each position is a learning experience.
Yes, in most jobs , there are things we have to put up with , that we hate, that we absolutely loathe...
BUT...
IMHO, the proportion of tasks/things you hate should be less than the tasks/things you love ... if the balance swings unhealthily to what you hate, it honestly is time to look for something that brings the things you love back into the dominant proportion.
Life is too short to be stuck at a job that you are absolutely miserable in (for whatever reason)
The problem is people feel entitled to everything. When I started out at 18, I had my own apartment and bills to pay. I didn't have cable, furniture, or a phone. I lived that way until I got married 4 years later. I didn't like my job, but stuck it out so I could move up the ladder and get into management. I have to laugh at how people act these days. You are not entitled to anything you don't work for. You don't deserve that management job with no experience, you don't deserve a car, cell phone, or a tablet simply because other people have them. I have no idea what happened to work ethic. It's long gone. Oh my manager yelled at me or I don't like my coworkers or my personal favorite I'm being bullied. As far as I am concerned people need to grow up and suck it up. And do what you have to to pay your bills. Tired of my tax money paying for them.
Why does a new nurse need to stick with a position for awhile before moving on? Because they come out of school only knowing basics. Nursing education is set up so that you learn most actual skill while on the floor. School tried to give you tools. Your preceptor and resource nurses teach you to use those tools. NCLEX only means you have met minimum knowledge competency. That first year or two you don't even know how much you don't know and I'm not talking IV starts. If you job hop too soon in your nursing career you interfere with your own assimilation of knowledge. I don't believe NETY. I may be slightly crusty. I will gladly precept a new grad even though it makes me crazy lately. The last one had a breakdown when I tried to explain why it's not always appropriate to administer dilaudid IV just because you have a prn order. Understand the crusty bat is trying to teach you and protect your patients and deal with it. I'm not your BFF, I'm your preceptor.
I noticed, during my CNA training, that I did kind of feel like the nurses were hard on us. It was intimidating, scary, and stressful. Most of my classmates, including myself, want to go on to nursing programs, a few had already been accepted. It was like night and day when the class was past the training part. The same instructors who had been so intense just a week or two before were happy that we survived the training. Hugs, praises, recommendations, and requests to keep them updated on our adventures abound. It really made me reevaluate the way I had felt at the height of the training portion. I realized that they weren't out to "scare us off" but giving us a bit of tough love, that in all truth, was likely good for me. I also realized I was being a bit sensitive to their feed back and making it worse for myself. Hopefully I remember this when I get into nursing, and my first nursing job.
Yes they are OUR patients, and our colleagues are OUR colleagues. We have as much responsibility to our colleagues and our profession as we do our patients. If a patient/visitor/doctor/nurse/manager/cleaner is discourteous, we all need to call them on it. "We treat each other respectfully/speak politely to each other here."
Yes, thank you! I can't stand nurses who are always saying they're all "for the patients" and "so compassionate" but they can't manage to direct any of their supposedly amazing people skills and compassion toward their co-workers.
It takes the same amount of energy to say something nicely as it does to say it in a nasty or harsh way, and "it's because I care so much about the patients!" is not an excuse for being an ass to your co-workers.
there also seems to be a ton of negativity whenever someone else tries to get into a better situation. Whether it's leaving a job after only a few months, or planning on NP or CRNA school, or wanting to move into management/away from the bedside...some of the negative comments seem very much like a case of sour grapes, like everyone else should suffer abuse because they had to, and if someone manages to get something better then they've somehow gotten away with something.
If your co-workers or people on here quitting their jobs makes you angry, ask yourself WHY you resent them so much. Are you jealous? Are you unhappy in your situation as well but haven't had the courage to change it? If you ARE content with your job and your life in general, then enjoy what you have and don't waste your time and energy criticizing other people.
Let me make sure I fully understand this: Venting is very therapeutic for you and for other new nurses. It is, in fact, key. But venting is apparently ONLY for new nurses and seasoned nurses are discouraged from venting because 1) it isn't nice and 2) it is destructive to the process of new nurses venting? What's wrong with this picture?[/quote']
I actually didn't say that at all. Sorry you couldn't read and comprehend what I wrote. And if you're "venting" is going to be trashing people because they annoy you then just keep it to yourself. Like you said, you might have been browsing allnurses too much. No matter the causation, don't come back at vulnerable people with insults. Seriously you're going to attack people who are insecure and call it "venting"??! There's something wrong THERE, sister.
I will move as many times as I see fit to find a good match for me. Could care less about "old crusty bat" thoughts on us newbies. You will be okay, and so will I!!!
In this economy, many new nurses may get their first jobs at less than stellar institutions and at shockingly low salary rates. By moving institutions once they have a bit of experience, new nurses may "hop" to a better salaries/benefits and better institutions (with better cultures, ratios, support, time for lunches, and supplies, etc.)
When one is getting treated poorly by an employer, why should one be loyal? As a second-career nurse, I was shocked by working conditions for nurses that I observed when I entered the market. I bettered my situation by looking for and seizing opportunities without regard for time spent.
Many institutions that nurses can work for do not treat nurses well. Unless nurses have worked in other fields, they may not realize that they are poorly treated (and simply accept the conditions).
Addendum: I just reread Ruby's post and realized she was complaining about folks that quit their jobs without another in sight. I have to agree that such action is not wise. It's best to have a job in hand....the better to pay bills...and to make oneself an attractive prospective hire...
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While I don't have decades of experience, I'm far from being a new nurse. I don't think NCLEX factors much into what makes a nurse a nurse, so I'll leave the question for who had a more difficult NCLEX to others.