I find myself today some how discourage and with a low spirit, I would like to know the opinion and hear experiences from either new grads or more experience nurses about my story.
I was hired exactly one year ago as a New Grad at the ER in a local hospital. We all new grads were hired with a $5000 contract for 3 years. This contract involved educational training for New Grad ER nurses, This will include a preceptors and a Regional ER course. Well at the time and as a New grad looking for a new experience and any job that came across the ER sounded great, and 3 years contract really did not felt like much.
Well my journey started, I was trying to get use to be called the orientee, because this was the way all our coworkers were referring to us.
Well one day after a couple of week of orientations and lots of CE courses online required by the hospital, our manager said to us the ER course will start next week, but we have to make an addendum to your contract, is not going to be $5000 anymore now is $7500, I was forced to sign it at that point. We all sign it . The ER regional course was 4 or 5 weeks and it was useless, poor teachers nothing ER related really broad and vague. It was like assisting to one of those fast track NCLEX courses, basic stuff but nothing that I didn't knew already from nursing school. I really felt robbed, but again I needed a job and I was still excited about ER. We were suppose to have a ONE preceptor to follow through what you were learning, not many and who ever was willing to take you that day. This is what happened, I had multiple preceptors, some good, some hate to have an orientee and some just care less about teaching you. I completed my 6 month review with clean record :-) I even call dad , I am good I passed my probation period clean with clean record. that was a huge relieve, up to that point all my managers and directors were being some how nice to me. Well things change, once you are on your own with no preceptor, I was oriented during day shift for 3 months and now I was sent to nights. That was a major change for me, keeping in mind I had never ever work a night shift in my life, but that was my agreement and I was willing to fulfill it.
I was hired in March and I managed to keep up my new grad record clean, until season started, most of the techs were either fired or left, I see many nurses leave but I really didn't get involved, I was there to earn my living not to gossip around.
December 31th I was called for the first time to my managers office, I had gave another patient papers mixed with the packet the doctor handled me to discharge this patient, and I mislabeled a blood tube. I was being written up for the first time, my manager didn't look or acted as nice as before, she was rough, mean and really not understanding. I assumed my fault, but I accept my personality is sometimes talkative and I said I am not sure I gave those papers to the patient, because this is the case many times where the charge nurses give discharges or doctors do and then you have to sign on them, and ER is really busy things like this are hard to remember. But I guess I should just assume my fault and leave that office. Well I managed to just say I am sorry I will pay more attention to detail, this was what they counsel me about, attention to detail. Well after that I felt they were watching me, I was so sad and anxious not to make any mistakes that I feel the more careful I was the more clumsy I was becoming. I was called one more time to the office, A Retired Nurse who came to my ER almost at change of shift placed a complaint that she was never place in the monitor, and also I had place a urine sample in the same bag with the tubes, this according to the lab contaminates specimen and she made me withdraw the labs again. I gained a second write up. I appeal the monitor case because it was charted, but manager said patient was a reliable source and eve though I had patient for less than 30 minutes and even if I gave bedside report and it was documented in my chart, it wasn't valid and I had to keep the write up. I did not appeal this write up not until I received the 3rd write up.
The third write up happened last week march, we are talking of 3 write ups in a matter of 3 months. The last write up that caused me a suspension was about my biggest fault, I entered the medication list of one of my patients into another patients chart. They found out when the patient went to the floor and the nurse wrote me up, I have no excuse the ER has been to explosion level and my anxiety because I knew this was going to happened, my charge nurses being of no help, no techs in the ER , many normal factors of the ER.. no Excuse I am making stupid mistakes. I was told by my managers who were very aggressive in front of the ER director in this write up appeal meeting, We are seeing a pattern here you are not having attention to detail and also you don't accept your blames. They also told me that one more error and I will be fired. What should I do? Is this a good time to resign and take a deep breath before making more mistakes? Is my manager going to give bad references about me once I start looking for a job? I really feel stupid for making all this rookie mistakes :-(, mostly because my manager has told me I don't belong in the hospital world.
I am scared of resigning, but I am more afraid of being fired, how to handle this and leave with my head up ?
Sorry, my phone doesn't have the quote feature so I have to do it manually.
Are you sure? On iPhone you just tap the post and options pop up, including quote. On Android, you have to long-press, and then the options will come up.
ETA: actually it looks like they changed the Android app and merely tapping the post brings up the options. HTH
1. IF 1yr or less = new grad...then having 1yr of experience puts you at the tail end of the new grad category.
There is not a definition for what amount of experience takes you out of the "new grad" category. Really, that's up to employers. If they post a "new grad" position, they are the ones to decide what constitutes a new grad.
This whole thread does illustrate the point that the ED is, generally speaking, not the best place for new grads--I know our ED has been burned a few times on new grads.
The lack of a tech is neither here nor there. I work a surgical floor and 95% of the time we have no aides at all. It doesn't matter. Floor nurses have to work hard and manage their time.
The lack of a tech is neither here nor there. I work a surgical floor and 95% of the time we have no aides at all. It doesn't matter. Floor nurses have to work hard and manage their time.
Any unit in a hospital may not have a tech at any given time, or the tech(s) may be off doing something else. Given the tech situation currently in our ED, I don't have a lot of sympathy for the "no techs" defense.
They could be checking emails, looking up something online that is related to a patient (a correct lab value perhaps?), verifying spelling of a medication? Any number of things that you are not privvy to knowing. You also claimed that your charge nurses are lazy and do absolutely nothing in the thread you started about bring bullied.
what makes you think I'm not aware of the charge nurse role? just as a curiosity, unless play with their phones is in their job descriptions I don't think I'm wrong.
I find myself today some how discourage and with a low spirit, I would like to know the opinion and hear experiences from either new grads or more experience nurses about my story.
I was hired exactly one year ago as a New Grad at the ER in a local hospital. We all new grads were hired with a $5000 contract for 3 years. This contract involved educational training for New Grad ER nurses, This will include a preceptors and a Regional ER course. Well at the time and as a New grad looking for a new experience and any job that came across the ER sounded great, and 3 years contract really did not felt like much.
Well my journey started, I was trying to get use to be called the orientee, because this was the way all our coworkers were referring to us.
Well one day after a couple of week of orientations and lots of CE courses online required by the hospital, our manager said to us the ER course will start next week, but we have to make an addendum to your contract, is not going to be $5000 anymore now is $7500, I was forced to sign it at that point. We all sign it . The ER regional course was 4 or 5 weeks and it was useless, poor teachers nothing ER related really broad and vague. It was like assisting to one of those fast track NCLEX courses, basic stuff but nothing that I didn't knew already from nursing school. I really felt robbed, but again I needed a job and I was still excited about ER. We were suppose to have a ONE preceptor to follow through what you were learning, not many and who ever was willing to take you that day. This is what happened, I had multiple preceptors, some good, some hate to have an orientee and some just care less about teaching you. I completed my 6 month review with clean record :-) I even call dad , I am good I passed my probation period clean with clean record. that was a huge relieve, up to that point all my managers and directors were being some how nice to me. Well things change, once you are on your own with no preceptor, I was oriented during day shift for 3 months and now I was sent to nights. That was a major change for me, keeping in mind I had never ever work a night shift in my life, but that was my agreement and I was willing to fulfill it.
I was hired in March and I managed to keep up my new grad record clean, until season started, most of the techs were either fired or left, I see many nurses leave but I really didn't get involved, I was there to earn my living not to gossip around.
December 31th I was called for the first time to my managers office, I had gave another patient papers mixed with the packet the doctor handled me to discharge this patient, and I mislabeled a blood tube. I was being written up for the first time, my manager didn't look or acted as nice as before, she was rough, mean and really not understanding. I assumed my fault, but I accept my personality is sometimes talkative and I said I am not sure I gave those papers to the patient, because this is the case many times where the charge nurses give discharges or doctors do and then you have to sign on them, and ER is really busy things like this are hard to remember. But I guess I should just assume my fault and leave that office. Well I managed to just say I am sorry I will pay more attention to detail, this was what they counsel me about, attention to detail. Well after that I felt they were watching me, I was so sad and anxious not to make any mistakes that I feel the more careful I was the more clumsy I was becoming. I was called one more time to the office, A Retired Nurse who came to my ER almost at change of shift placed a complaint that she was never place in the monitor, and also I had place a urine sample in the same bag with the tubes, this according to the lab contaminates specimen and she made me withdraw the labs again. I gained a second write up. I appeal the monitor case because it was charted, but manager said patient was a reliable source and eve though I had patient for less than 30 minutes and even if I gave bedside report and it was documented in my chart, it wasn't valid and I had to keep the write up. I did not appeal this write up not until I received the 3rd write up.
The third write up happened last week march, we are talking of 3 write ups in a matter of 3 months. The last write up that caused me a suspension was about my biggest fault, I entered the medication list of one of my patients into another patients chart. They found out when the patient went to the floor and the nurse wrote me up, I have no excuse the ER has been to explosion level and my anxiety because I knew this was going to happened, my charge nurses being of no help, no techs in the ER , many normal factors of the ER.. no Excuse I am making stupid mistakes. I was told by my managers who were very aggressive in front of the ER director in this write up appeal meeting, We are seeing a pattern here you are not having attention to detail and also you don't accept your blames. They also told me that one more error and I will be fired. What should I do? Is this a good time to resign and take a deep breath before making more mistakes? Is my manager going to give bad references about me once I start looking for a job? I really feel stupid for making all this rookie mistakes :-(, mostly because my manager has told me I don't belong in the hospital world.
I am scared of resigning, but I am more afraid of being fired, how to handle this and leave with my head up ?
I'm really sorry you're going through all of this. I've been an LPN since '08. I worked in the hospital ER a little bit in nursing school during clinicals at a local hospital. I worked with some of the RUDEST, GROUCHIEST, should've retired years ago RNs & LPNs ever! They were so mean to me. The woman who took me on as a preceptor was horrible as well. I remember going home crying, extremely stressed out after working the ER one night while in school. That hospital was a union hospital though, and fortunately the nurses went on strike during my time of clinicals in the ER there. Due to the strike, students couldn't be in the hospital, and I was moved to a local outpatient clinic to finish clinicals. I LOVED my clinic preceptor at the clinic after I was moved. She was very nice to me, and the clinic atmosphere was much better than the hospital ER. Anyway, my point is, the ER can be a stressful atmosphere, especially for a student nurse or new grad. Have you thought about trying something a little slower paced such as a clinic, urgent care, med-surg, etc. until you get a few years of nursing under your belt? Sometimes we just have to find our niche in the nursing field...
I worked as an LPN for a while, but have left floor nursing due to anxiety problems. I'm currently working as a PRN on-site health screener nurse (very low stress nursing job). I was having so much anxiety while working full time as an LPN I would question myself constantly- "did I chart that? Did I give the right med? Did I do this? Did I do that?" It was getting so bad I realized maybe nursing wasn't for me. I am currently taking classes to be a medical coder. I'd like to get in to chart auditing, medical coding nursing. Not to discourage you from nursing in anyway, just saying sometimes a change is for the best in some situations... I'm sorry to hear about your situation, and hope you can get things worked out.
Unfortunately, he/she may find it all too easy to find such a position these days. Seems to me that LTC's & LTAC's are hiring more & more new grads simply because they don't know what they don't know and are willing to step off the cliff way more eagerly than someone with experience.
Now that is definitely a COB, jaded opinion as to the "why would they hire a new grad?" question, but it's definitely happening.
What does COB mean? (Urban dictionary has a gross definition )
This is your first comment regarding her new-grad status..The statement below does not, in any way, tell us why you decided to key in on her saying such.
Therefore there was nothing that I did not "get"...as it was nothing there to "get"
THIS! I can't comprehend how the OP thinks that she is a new grad despite having 1 year of nursing experience. A novice nurse? Yes. A new grad? Absolutely not.
It was not until I said,"Its Not a big deal" that you explained why you even mentioned it..
"@QuietRiot, it is a big deal. Although she is a new nurse, she is not a new grad. This is not about titles, but more about how she sees herself. Self assessment is important when it comes to improvement; and when someone places themselves in a category beneath the level of where they should be, it says a lot about how that individual views themselves."
When I stated that "when you magnify small minuscule references it's best to tie it back to the overall picture".... I was referring to your first statement. Maybe you didn't get that :) or Maybe there was nothing there to get..
)
Red Kryptonite
2,212 Posts
Are you sure? On iPhone you just tap the post and options pop up, including quote. On Android, you have to long-press, and then the options will come up.
ETA: actually it looks like they changed the Android app and merely tapping the post brings up the options. HTH