Fifty Ways to Leave Your....

[UM Review RN]

last job.

We all do it. It's very rare that we stay on the same unit, the same location, the same area in nursing. Most of us never come upon that perfect niche the first time, or if we do, situations change, people change, and suddenly, we're the square peg in a round hole and the fit is no longer comfortable.

What was the REAL reason you left your last job, compared to the reason you gave your next employer for leaving your last job?

Real reason:

I left my last job because without warning there was a huge shakeup from Corporate and our DON was fired, the ADON was brand new, the administrator was replaced. Suddenly I had no backup and no authority, and I felt that I was putting my license in jeopardy.

Stated reason:

I loved it there (I really did), but I needed a change, and I felt I was losing my clinical skills.

Tell us one of the fifty ways you left your last job.

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

That's my dream too, if I were ever to win the lottery---I'd build a continuing care retirement community and staff it with only the best people I can find. I'd also pay them a living wage, offer great bennies, and work to retain them. For the residents, there would be comfortable, pleasant surroundings, a healing garden, pets, and good food that's attractively prepared. I love the elderly, and what passes for care in so many institutions isn't good enough for my DOG. Where I'm working now is as close to ideal as possible given the current socioeconomic realities, but I'd make it even better if I had the money and time to do so........~sigh~.........oh well, one can dream, right?

Marla, I like your idea, for staff and residents. You must have quit working at the hospital. Are you still in the same town, maybe the south side?

mimi

[lannisz]

Stated reason: I've been offered my dream job.

Real reason: I was offered my dream job. And I was looking to leave for a position where the scheduling wasn't so unpredictable, where they valued nurses (we lost half our nursing staff in 18 months) and didn't think they could just replace us with unlicensed assistants with NO formal training. They kept asking us to do more with less... Definitely some unsafe practices and a lawsuit waiting to happen!

[dragonflyRN]

Stated Reason: Inconvience of insurace benefits.

Real reason: I was lied to about insurance benefits. My first position an a RN was 40 miles away and out of state. When I accepted the position I was told that they had an insurance plan that would work for me being so far away. It didn't. Who wants to take a sick child that far? I voiced my concerns to my manager, as I never wanted to leave. She tried...but really what could she have done?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Marla, I like your idea, for staff and residents. You must have quit working at the hospital. Are you still in the same town, maybe the south side?

mimi

Nope, I've been out in the hills north of town for 3 1/2 years now. I work in the next town over, am DON of an assisted living facility, and have never been happier!

I'll tell you sometime about the nightmare that hospital job turned into........I spent most of 2005 bouncing in and out of the ER for stress-related illnesses, and when I finally figured out why, I walked out of there without even working another shift. No regrets, either.:wink2:

[RN007]

The moral is, there will always be those who don't communicate, don't understand, and could give a rats behind that people, especially adults, have widely different learning styles, who are in positions of power over you. Don't let them own you. Never let them see you cry. The devil comes in many forms, and I think for some reason he likes to teach nursing.

Thanks, Indy. Good advice. I beat them to the punch. I immediately emailed my course instructor briefly explaining what happened and asked for a meeting. No, as upset as I am, they will not get the best of me, b/c they no longer deserve it! Linda