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Discussion

Frozen and Frustrated

i am a relatively new nurse (grad may 2004) and am very frustrated. it seems when i was in nursing school, i felt overwhelmed by the homework, clinical hours, disappointed in my instructors. i live in ak (that's :penguin: alaska, not arkansas) and my program was done completely by distance. we had clinicals at the hospital, however, all of our theory was via the web :crash: or tele. so needless to say when we all graduated we felt wonderful!! wow we did it!!:balloons: i guess my frustration :angryfire comes from, seeing many of the graduates going directly to icu while others tredged in the trenches of the "horrible med/surg floor" so horrible that now, the manager of the floor has been "asked to resign after 19 years." i have recently made several changes, first from the "trenches", to ob/gyn (where i learned i was not a psych nurse and how very much i appreciated my pts intubated and unconscious! :chuckle ) and now to an office position where i currently am a utilization nurse manager,:confused: funny title for someone who simply finds providers to see patients with basically horrible medical insurance. (wishing i was back in the trenches right now) i was just wondering if anyone else has gone through not really knowing where your niche is. nursing has so many areas one can work in....how do you really explore all of the opportunities nursing (trying to find your place) without it looking horrible on your resume??? :idea: ideas???

Featured Replies

I think a lot of other nurses feels the same way you do. It takes some people a lot of trial and error before they find their niche. You'll find your's, dont worry!

  • Guides

Work hard at whatever place you find yourself, sometimes a job will grow on you. The skills you learn one place sometimes surprise you by coming in handy in the next. Also, niches change over time. I've done lots of different things, thought I would never leave med-surg, but now I love the ER. Nice thing about nursing, there's always something new to try or place to go.

:penguin: Here I stand, I can do no other. Until tomorrow. :lol2:

Ive worked ortho/med/surge for 12 years and I love it. However i also know what you mean. Med/surg can be exhausting, frustrating, can give you feelings of inadequacy, and sometimes in general make you wonder why you do it every day (usually because of short staffing).

Sometimes finding your niche is like buying a pair of house slippers that might not be what you really wanted, but eventually you break them in, they fit and then you dont want to replace them.

Everything takes time.

  • Expert

Hi there - we were stationed at Ft Greely from 86 to 88 and loved it! I did several classes at University of Alaska at Fairbanks - talk about commuting 110 miles twice a week! Yikes....it was awful. However, I needed several classes and car-pooled!

Congrats on finishing! I'm gathering you work in Fairbanks? I never worked in AK as a nurse, but believe me, I feel your frustration. Have you considered changing to Bassett? Would that be any better?

Hi there,

I know how you feel. I was a new grad myself back in May 2005. I spend 5 months in Tele, 4 months in the E/R, 2 weeks in Rehab. For the past 6 months, I have worked as a Utilization nurse for an insurance company & also work PT doing telephone triage. I was starting to get a little bored so I am being trained in Transplant Management. Law school is next...

  • Author

well you know what "they" say about alaska....you eiether love it ....or hate it...i happen to be the latter...just making the best of this frozen zone. its actually not that bad right now...still above zero...and...still have nearly 8 hours of daylight...but resources and a "good nursing experience" is kind of difficult in the interior...not like being in a huge city where there are trauma centers etc... you have to be very well acquainted with the life flight nurses lol seems like everything here ( that would be interesting) gets flown out...

i actually work at eielson afb right now for a contracting company (that is to say the least, unorganized) then again, most things that are affiliated with the government are( i say that because i have been a spouse of active duty army for many years and am a little used to the lack of organization). i worked in fairbanks at the hospital for a while, and now stuck sitting in a windowless office(not that it matters because it is dark anyway..just that time of year) trucking along until i make a decision of what i really want to be "when i grow up" i am starting to feel like peter pan "i won't grow up!!" however, i do just want to go to school...maybe law school is next for me too :wink2: lol

nice to know that i am not the only one with a short attention span. maybe a lot of nurses have that personality and that's why we chose a profession that is so versatile (but having options, i think can make it difficult sometimes) there is always "something else" that looks better...y'know...the grass is always greener on the other side...

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