Feeling Discouraged....Did I choose the right profession?

Nurses New Nurse

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Hello all! First I will start with my background. I have worked in a variety of healthcare settings for the past 9 yrs since I graduated from high school in 2006. I always thought that I wanted to be a nurse. I always admired nurses and wanted to become one. I love being a caregiver. I completed nursing school in December 2014. I was so happy and excited to finish nursing school. I passed my boards 3 weeks after graduation. Once again, still excited about all of my accomplishments. I just remember seeing my name on my state board's website and crying tears of joy. Then I actually started working as a nurse. Sad to say, I have hated it ever since.

My first nursing job was in assisted living. I felt absolutely overwhelmed. I quit 2 days later. My second job was working in LTC on a rehab floor. I have worked there since February of this year ( I am still there). I hate that job too.I feel absolutely overwhelmed throughout the duration of my shift and this position is only PRN. The only good thing I have to say about this profession is the fact that I have been able to get so many job offers. I have my resume posted on job boards as well as a cover letter so I get a lot of phone calls about interviews and job offers. However, I am tired of trying to find the 'right' job.

I am currently still working in LTC at my PRN job and for the past month I have been working for a contracted government employer. By all accounts I feel like I should be happy and appreciative of all of these opportunities. I just keep listening to everyone tell me that things will get better in time. I'm still waiting on that day to come. I guess I just need some encouragement. I just don't like feeling like I want to break down and cry everytime I get home from work. What makes matters worse is the fact that I am 3 classes away from being able to apply for an LPN-RN bridge program that I was interested in. Should I even go on to become an RN if I don't like being an LPN?

I feel that nursing is stressful.I don't know, I just feel like my life was so much better when I was a medical secretary. I am always stressed about losing my license or being under so much pressure as the nurse. I have never been so stressed in my entire life. I actually enjoyed nursing school and looked forward to working as a nurse. Am I looking at things the wrong way?

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Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.

If you do not enjoy your job as a nurse, yes you will feel extremely stressed and anxious and afraid of losing your license as well as you mentioned. My suggestion is figuring out what makes you happy as a nurse? What area did you enjoy most in nursing school? You are an LPN you stated, I am not sure if you did clinical rotations in obstetrics?

Nursing is hard no matter where you work I think, but if you are in a specialty that you enjoy then you will feel different about your job.

I worked for a skilled nursing facility and I absolutely hated it. It was extremely difficult and stressful, of course unrealistic expectations of passing meds to 30-40pts in 2 hours and I was never able to be finished on time at the end of my shift..there is so much more to do than just pass meds..I suggest figuring out what makes you happy. For me it's OB, it's been my goal to work in post partum and I am still trying to get there as the job market is extremely competitive..I also do suggest getting your RN because you will have many doors I open up to you, many different kinds of jobs you can do as an RN; with your lvn or lpn you are pretty limited I think. Good luck!

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Thanks PostpartumRN for your comment. I am hoping that once I become an RN I will enjoy nursing more. I do not like LTC by any means. However, I also believe that working as an RN in a hospital will not be any better. It will still be very stressful:( I currently work for a government contractor, a job I never thought that I would have as a recent grad or as an LPN. I loved mental health in nursing school. I currently have a tentative offer with the VA. I am hoping that I will love working for the VA, maybe that will finally be my niche in nursing. I did not care for my OB rotations in clinicals.

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Girlfriend. It took five months of working fulltime before I was able to say, "Today was an okay day."

(I started directly as an RN. It was a stepdown unit. It never got really awesome...and that's to say I hated it. Everytime someone delivered a new admit to from the ER, I so envied that nurse that just turned around and walked away. So I became an ER nurse. Some days still suck, but I love who I work with and I love what I get to do (usually).)

I agree with everything Postpartum RN said. It's hard regardless, but you can find something you love. I have, however, never met anyone who said, "I JUST LOVE LONG-TERM CARE SO MUCH! I FEEL SO FULFILLED." It's possible that you could find something you like better as an RN. But maybe you could do something less stressful even with your LPN: there are always a ton of postings for clinics in my area.

Also: consider why people are banging on your door for these jobs. Are they desperate for ANYONE? Is that why they're snagging resumes off the internet? I don't know the answer, but it's a thought.

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Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

As PRN, how many hrs do you work each week? If your shifts are random & irregular, it will take much longer to get comfortable with the duties & responsibilities of the job (any job) without feeling like you're drowning every minute.

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Thanks everyone for the kind words. However, I believe that my frustration has caused me my license. Although I put in my notice a few weeks ago (I submitted a 30 day notice ) I became overwhelmed and quit my shift 2 hrs in. I told the charge RN that I was working with that I couldn't take it anymore. I was tired of her not helping me and feeling overwhelmed. My DON says that she will report me to my BON.

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I'm a long term care nurse and actually I love being a long term care nurse. I left my acute care job to go back to long term care. So there are people who do love it...

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Specializes in Management, Med/Surg, Clinical Trainer.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. However, I believe that my frustration has caused me my license. Although I put in my notice a few weeks ago (I submitted a 30 day notice ) I became overwhelmed and quit my shift 2 hrs in. I told the charge RN that I was working with that I couldn't take it anymore. I was tired of her not helping me and feeling overwhelmed. My DON says that she will report me to my BON.

She can't report you for quitting your job. But you can be in trouble if you abandoned your patients. I hope there was someone else available to cover your patients when you left 2 hours in the shift.

In addition, I have to agree with a few of the other posters upon coming out of nursing school I did not feel comfortable in my skin until I was on the floor a good 6 months. Nursing school teaches us the ideal philosophical way and then we get hit with reality and need to make decisions on that reality....with not much of a safety net.

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Yes there is an RN that works on the floor with me. I told her that I was leaving and she took over. However, I feel as if I don't stand a chance because I had already started my shift. I never imagined that after all of my hard work this would happen to me. I am seeking an attorney but I'm not sure that I will be able to afford one or that they could even help me at this point. I wish that I had chosen a different profession!

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Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.

Well with nursing, you really don't want to just up and leave after you accepted a load of patients. It doesn't matter if you quit or not, you should've stayed until your shift is over, because now it is seen as abandonment. You agreed to the terms when you accepted the patients, and those terms are that you will care for those patients until your shift is over, which it was not. So you might want to contact your professional insurance and inquire about that.

As for quitting, well if you're that miserable then by all means stop doing nursing. Yeah you put in a lot of work and effort but why are you continuing with it if you hate it so much. Nursing is a career, it's not a job at McDonald's or something. You can work at McDonald's even if you hate it because it's only temporary. But with nursing, it is meant to be a career, something that you will be doing for a long time. And if you know you hate it, then you really gotta ask yourself, do you want to be doing something that you hate for a long time? You're not doing yourself or the patients any favor by sticking with something that you hate. We are all humans and it can spill over into our care.

Find something that you can see yourself doing for a long time. Life is short, don't make it any worse by constantly doing something that you hate. I absolutely loathed the mindless work in cubicles and could t see myself stuck in a cubicle all day for a large portion of my life. That is why I up and left my BBA program, even though I was more than half way done, to get an associates in nursing.

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Yes you're right. I wish there was a way for me to see the real world of nursing prior to now. Oh well. 3 nurses told me prior to graduating that nursing is not what people make it out to be. Wish I would have listened. Lesson learned. Thanks for the kind words everyone

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Also, one more note, I loved my patients but I hated the politics and bullying I have experienced at my nursing job. I never said that i hated my patients. Being a caregiver was all I ever dreamed but dumping 50 plus patients on a nurse is not what I ever imagined. I submitted my resignation 3 weeks ago and went in day after day after doing that, only to be totally overwhelmed. I feel like I should've just quit last month smh

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