6 months of experience as a new nurse, help!!

[LHCL RN]

I always read articles and googled "I hate my job, what can I do?". So I figured I might as well share / receive input because I'm at my whits end.

I'm a night shift nurse, on a proclaimed

"heavy" med-surg unit. I have 6 months of experience and have just had the worst shift of my career. When I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

Now, I know there will be bad nights and some that are good. I can sit here and honestly say (without exaggerating) that I have had maybe 2 or 3 good shifts at work. My floor is highly understaffed, charge nurses feel entitled to not lifting a finger (no matter how much you are drowning). Some coworkers will sit by and watch you struggle, and that's the majority's mentality on my unit.

I decided to take a "sick" day because I am emotionally, mentally, and physically drained from the night before. I felt that it would have been negligent of me to come into work not being able to perform my duties safely because of the night before. However, as I type this I feel guilty for not pushing myself to go in. I guess my question is, is this normal to already feel burned out because of the lack of management involvement even when asked to step in? Is this a good time to transfer? (However, I am terrified because I have seen / heard of coworkers trying to leave / transfer and then suddenly get written up to be forced to stay an additional 6 months on the floor).

I will say this, my time management skills are not an issue. My meds, assessments and the needs of my patients are all met before midnight (and majority of the time all my charting is done). I feel that I have a good head on my shoulders, I'm a decent nurse who goes above and beyond and am able to handle tough situations without having a panic attack. However, last night was unbearable and I feel like I'm at the end of my rope.

**************

At least 1 of my 3, 12 hour shifts... I in some way get verbally harassed or abused by patients. This (I feel) is a UNSPOKEN epidemic on healthcare professionals that needs to be brought to light. Last night was at its worst.

[malenurse69, MSN, NP]

Takes a full year for a new nurse to even start feeling comfortable in their role. Give it time. Be pleasant, keep to yourself and get that year of experience then move on if you must.

[jennylee321]

Why was last night so bad? Can you give us a little more info ?

[LHCL RN]

Without writing a novel, here's an overview.

15 minutes into my shift I receive an additional 3 patients all at the same time. I only recieved 1 report out of the 3. I briefly checked in to make sure all were stable (1 had a plummeting BP) before I could look anything up. Meanwhile, asked for help and received none. My charge and coworkers watched me struggle as I tried to balance a mess. Not to mention, 1 of the new admissions was uruley, uncooperative, and yelling down the hall. This patient told me that I was "incapable of proper care because I didn't know what was going on", demanded to talk to a physician (which at this point, was an on-call physician). Patient cursed and swore at him ... this went on all night while refusing required care to help his condition. 2 hours into my shift, this patient had verbally abused me, told me I wasn't a credible nurse, and threatened to "do something if I didn't leave".

The rest of my night included call bells going off every 20 minutes, 1 PCA for every 24 patients, dealing with a unstable patient, an unruley patient ... while trying to uphold the most efficient and proactive care for all.

[cleback]

The unruly patient would have bothered me as a new nurse. Now I would just say Bye Felicia.

But the overall teamwork sounds to be lacking on your unit, which makes everything more stressful. Try to stick it out and transfer or get another job when you have some solid experience.

[Crush]

From what you have written, it sounds like team work is not there. 3 admits at same or even close to same time is difficult and your co-workers should have picked up on that and at least given some assist. That is some cruddy teamwork on their part, especially since you asked for help and at the very least the charge was aware of your 3 admits and should have helped or sent help.

And yes, it takes a year to year and a half to start feeling more comfortable/confident on the floor.