Feeling lost

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in ED, med-surg, peri op.

I’ve been a nurse for almost 4 years now. 2.4 year float pool at a community hospital. And 1.5 in ED in a large city hospital.

last month I decided it was time to find a new job, I had a interview for a PACU job where they offered me the job. Then after doing reference checks, didn’t hire me. At first I blamed my current manager, but turns out the manager of PACU was just a ****. I’m now happy I didn’t get the job. 

Since that happened I’ve been feeling lost. On one hand, My manager thinks I turned down the job, and has actually been acting much better towards me. Even gave me Christmas off this year! But on the other hand I still leave most days feeling angry, and overworked. Plus I’m completely over shift work. I think I’m burnt out. 

I turned down a interview this week because I just don’t know what to do next. After what happened with that pacu job, I’m very cautious of jumping into something that I might regret. I also really want Christmas off, but not sure if it’s worth another 4 months here  

I made a list of what I enjoy and what I hate about nursing, but that hadn’t helped much. 

Im looking for some advise/guidance/people experience with this. 

1 Votes

I'd say interview wherever it is offered. Stretch your comfort zone as far as looking a different aspects of nursing. Never know what might resonate with you! Best of luck

3 Votes
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

You're in the "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know" phase. You know you're not exactly happy where you are, but it's a known entity. And yes, having Christmas off is a perk and not guaranteed if you switch positions and are back to low man on the seniority list. However, as charleefoxtrot said, you might find something better if you push your comfort zone. No one else can truly say what will be best for you, but if you keep going trying to avoid the regret of a bad decision, you may regret that as well. Good luck!

1 Votes

I guess I'm somewhat confused.  If you were offered the position pending a reference check and the offer was later rescinded, wouldn't that lead you to believe that one of your references didn't speak favorably of you?  From my perspective, I'm not so sure that the hiring manager torpedoed your transfer.  Am I missing something?

 

2 Votes
Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.

It is difficult to know what to do sometimes. If you are not happy I would keep looking and see what comes up. I have changed jobs where it did work out better and also where it was much worse. There really isn't any way to know for sure. You can look for red flags etc which may help a little but who really knows. If you start looking now you may not even start the new position by Christmas or still be in training so might still be able to get it off? I would check with your references if you think that was the problem (are they current, correct contact info etc).

Good luck!

Scour the job boards for work from home jobs. I got into utilization management  with an insurance  company.

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