Feeling lost as a nurse

[Gabriella06]

I have been a nurse for two years in an inpatient oncology unit. I have a 4 year contract with my hospital. I'm in my mid-20's for reference.

I was night shift for a year, and became a dayshift RN. I like days mostly because I am a morning person and wake early on my days off. Other than that it sucks having less pay and people around me all the time.. but it works for now.

When I first became an RN I really wanted to do ICU. I was rejected, and oncology offered me a position.. so I just took it.

When it came time for me to be able to have enough experience to reapply for the ICU, I was not given a job offer, not once, not twice, but about 4 times now. (I can only apply within my chain of hospitals due to my contract).

I decided to then apply for the NICU and I was offered a job there, but I turned it down like an idiot because I wanted to try again for ICU. So I lost that opportunity. I regret it and feel like it was a mistake.

So now I am working in oncology. I don't HATE it here, I know everyone on my floor and feel comfortable working there. I even precept new nurses. 

However, I do not feel completely happy. I don't feel like my pay is enough for the work, and I feel bored, tired, and burned out. 

I want to do something else, but I am not sure what.

I've thought about:

- Applying to more positions

- Getting my OCN certification 

-Breaking the contract and going elsewhere

-Looking into NP school - preferably acute care (I'm not sure if it's to early on to go for this)

I really need advice because I feel lost in my career and don't know what to do.

 

 

 

[Red Shirt 6, CNA]

Can you make yourself a better candidate for example is there an unfilled need with the ICU such as specialty certifications that nobody has but is needed or wanted? 

Will obtaining an ONC certification get you a pay increase? 

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I'm sorry you're feeling stuck, contracts can be a difficult situation if it doesn't work out as you hope. Did you get any feedback on why you didn't get an offer in the ICU? Any of the options you mention might work out for the better for you, or not.

1. Apply to more positions- you must have interviewed well if you were offered the NICU position. Perhaps another one will open there and you could explain that you had made a different decision at the time but would now welcome another opportunity to join them. Perhaps a step-down unit would give you some of the experience the ICU was looking for. 

2. Getting your OCN. I'm all for furthering education and knowledge in the current field of work. And OCN certification can definitely open many doors and may even get you a bonus depending on where you work.

3. Break your contract- I wouldn't even consider this until you have an offer in hand from another place. I don't know about your contract specifically, but I've heard that it can be very costly to break and if you're placed on a "do-not-hire" list it can be risky in these days of large health systems merging. 

4. NP school- you're really the only person that could know whether you're ready. My thoughts is that two years is not a lot of experience to draw upon to become an advanced practice nurse, but you will find MANY different opinions on that on this board. There are people will less experience than you that will say they did it with no trouble at all. I didn't start my NP until I had about five years experience, and I was going part time so I had about seven years before my clinical rotations. For me, I needed every minute of those years for me to be close to comfortable in clinicals. But others may disagree. 

Whatever you decide, remember, you're SO young and it's early in your career. Don't feel you need to rush into something just to rush into it. There's nothing wrong with getting a few more years experience in a job you don't hate. We can't all love our jobs every minute, you're the only one that can really evaluate how much you want to leave. Good luck!