feeling frustrated about jobs

[KellyDAguilar]

I need some advice. I feel like I have been job hopping, but I seriously have not been trying to. I have been trying to find a good fit and as an LPN that can be hard. I had a job with a residential treatment facility non profit in behavioral health for 3 years. Chose to leave due to horrible gossip and harassment that came out of the blue for certain staff members towards each other and myself. However, I was also looking for more experience clinically. Took a job at an LTC facility, learned a lot in 9 months but was working 12 hour shifts with no break, heavy patient loads--and these patients had very high acuity treatments etc..and the nurse to patient ratio due to that was unsafe. I was trying to move in the company but left because nothing was opening up -- almost everything else was an MA position, which I am seeing a lot. I ended up taking a ALC position third shift with my very first nursing job, but the hours were so tough, I was offered a 2nd shift position at a mental health hospital which would have been great but the charting was all paper and very messy -- which I did not know about in the interview! So hard to pass meds safely with paper charting especially after using emar. So I just accepted a position in a Urology office and I am not sure what my role will be, it seems very vague. Pay is way less. The MA's do all the procedures and the nurses seem to just do phone work and triage, once and awhile some clinical procedures. The office environment is totally different and every one is in each other's business which I am not used to. It's hard to get used to day shift hours and I starting to think 12 hour shifts are better. More time off, 8-5 can be a whole other burnout. I am so frustrated! I know I am a good nurse and just want to find a good fit, but all this job hopping is starting to get frustrating and I am wondering why it is so hard to find decent work environments in nursing. Advice please!

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

Trust me, you will learn to LOVE the liberal holiday schedule.....

[AJJKRN]

Sometimes it takes a while to find your niche. With that being said, sometimes it takes a while at a job to find your niche too.

Did any of these jobs offer a shadow day prior to acceptance to gauge fit? Could be what you're lacking.

[oceanblue52]

Nothing wrong with finding a good fit, and I will always advocate leaving an atmosphere that feels toxic and unsafe. Have done a bit of job hopping myself too, and can very much relate! Very hard to find the perfect fit.

Sounds like with the last few jobs though that you are not giving yourself a chance to settle in and get comfortable, but are leaving when you encounter something new. For example, paper MARS and charts get a little getting used to, but they aren't THAT much different from the eMAR. MARS are just a vehicle to providing care. Perhaps you need to give yourself more time to really get acclimated to an environment before jumping ship. Every new job I have had has required getting used to a whole new charting system, new policies, etc. It can feel overwhelming and it's easy to reminisce about the old job that was more familiar and comfortable. We call this "rosy retrospection bias" in Psych.

An idea: Try setting a timeframe for yourself at this new job. Give yourself AT LEAST 6 months to get acclimated. Especially with jumping to all these different specialties, you are bound to be uncomfortable with some aspect of the job. Be patient with yourself. Can also be helpful to reflect every day and journal about the good things that happened. Without self reflection, it is very easy to fall into the trap of "the grass is always greener..."

[KellyDAguilar]

Unfortunately I think I am going to move on from the urology job. Thank goodness I got a great offer from another skilled/assisted living, which I think I will stick with for awhile :) Turns out with the urology job, I took a hug pay cut for being in an office, but it is mostly triage with some nurse visits -- and the visits are things that are pretty complex like bladder instillations and botox treatments. These are also listed under "RN visits" which is strange.