First job charge nurse with no experience

[Flavia1986]

Hi i'm trying to find out if all the jobs are like this or the first one that i got is some kind of special :) i got my interview for an RN position ,they offer me a position to find out that i will be a charge nurse with no experience i asked for a lot of training and orientation and they offer me 4 days of orientation and the fifth day i was on myself ,wow ....that was something ,and guess how many patients i had on my section .... Fifty ,5 and 0 that's correct :) just me and 3 Cna ,anyhow i want to see what the future will bring cause this place brought me a lot of tears and i had to say good bye cause i couldn't do it even if i had a lot of experience . Thank you in advance for all your comments ,all are welcome .

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I would be terrified to be a charge nurse NOW and I have just over a year of experience. As a charge nurse you're a resource to the staff, so need to know the ins and outs of the facility and the policies AND just basic patient care really, really well. My charge nurses all have a slightly different style but I trust their judgment on clinical as well as procedural and logistical questions. I think any place that accepts charge nurses without a couple of years of experience is setting you up to fail, big time.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

50:1 is too much for one nurse, especially a new grad with no experience. I think you did the right thing by declining the offer.

I'm also curious if they wanted you to supervise or just be the nurse on the unit? Some times us LTC nurses are called "charge nurses", but then we always have a supervisor as well.