Should I look for another job - advice needed

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a new grad and began employment on July 10th on a telemetry floor. On the same day I went to work, an experienced RN was promoted to the floor education director. Anyway, to make a long story short, she has made me feel like a child the entire time. I am constantly reprimanded at the nurse's station, of course only if there is a crowd standing around, for something. It would be one thing if I was actually in the wrong each time she did this, for example, she raked me over the coals one day because a patient, not mine, was off the monitor the day before! The best example is an incident report with my name on it for a patient's blood bracelet being cut off. The patient was not mine, and the signature on the admission was clearly not mine. I have tried to make the best of it, but she is making me miserable. It has gotten to the point that I am wondering if I made a mistake by becoming a nurse. The facility is short staffed with CNA's and I am constantly being pulled to work as one instead of receiving my orientation. Out of my 3 days this week, I was pulled every one of them. That means that I am not getting the orientation I need. I did talk to upper management yesterday, but the issue with being pulled from orientation to be a CNA is not going to be solved anytime in the near future. The only option I have as far as dealing with the education director is to transfer to another floor. I am supposed to "think about it" until Monday, and decide what I want to do. I feel like a failure for not being happy with my job, but I really hate to go back there. The only reason I hate to leave is my schedule - I don't work weekends, but is that really worth being miserable? :(

Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.
Agree with pp, run don't walk out of this hospital! (You did mention there are two more where you live.)

I was also in a hopeless situation as a new grad (different, but just as absurd as your circumstances; another case of nurses eating their young :( ), and my biggest mistake was not getting out in time; I saw the red flags, but chose to ignore them (denial - this couldn't be happening?!)

Big mistake. The evil head nurse (no exaggeration, I assure you) obviously had tried to run me off and when I didn't take the bait she told me in no uncertain terms to either quit or get fired. There I had it - 11 weeks into an "orientation" that was a joke. And if that wasn't bad enough, she also promised me that I would not be able to ever work at that hospital again (I guess she didn't want anyone to know that the lies whe wrote in my "evaluation" weren't true). For years, I was convinced I was blacklisted because their nurse recruiter wouldn't give me the time of day when they had 100+ RN positions listed in the paper... It was probably true - at least she had "not eligible for rehire" noted in my file :madface: I assure you, totally unjustified.

My point (sorry so long): I should have quit before she made me! For years I had to admit to this in my applications for employment (after all, they would call there for a reference); it haunted me. Perhaps I would have been able to transfer internally if I had requested a transfer sooner; as it was, by putting up with the abuse too long I ended up paying a very high price.

Remember: You will find a better opportunity (actually, anything would be better; weekends are simply not worth that much!)

Good luck to you!

DeLana :icon_hug:

P.S. Finally, 8 years later, I just got another job with that same hospital. I now have experience in a speciality area much in demand (dialysis) and I bypassed HR ;) They also no longer ask the dreaded question...

It is unfortunate that there are nurses that choose to treat new grads this way. I don't understand what satisfaction they gain from it. I know a lot of people get upset when you mention "nurses eating their young", but in some cases it really does happen. I wish they would realize that their experience and knowledge base is an asset, and they could utilize it when working with new nurses. The preceptor I had during my last semester of school was such a wonderful teacher. She loved sharing and tried to help in any way she could. I hope to work with someone like her at my next job.

Specializes in ED.

You are a RN - yes as Rn's we have to do all sorts of work (i.e. cleaning up poop, dumping trash god forbid if it's running over and no one else empties it, do lots of paperwork and yes yes yes VITAL signs) BUT as I said - YOU ARE A RN - sounds like this nurse may be insecure, or just one of those people who like to *****. Now you wanted to be a RN before you met her, SHE can not make you change your mind. Just be a RN somewhere else. You should be getting your orientation - BECAUSE.... when you are alone they are not going to care if you did CNA work for your orientation they are going to expect you to carry your load and to do it right!. Stand up for yourself as a RN as a person, and as an adult, and if nothing gets done then you have to do it yourself and move on. It may be this unit it may the hospital in general (if administration is not changing things) but do not let ONE nurse ruin your profession.

TAKE CARE and congrats on being a nurse.

Specializes in Med-surg, LTC, learning Psych.

Heck, I'd look for a new employer. But if you're hesitant to do that, I'd absolutely transfer. You're not supposed to be counted as staff for orientation (or at least, any of the places I worked didn't). The hospital hired you presumably to train you to do a job that needs hands on time. Pulling you to work as a CNA undermines that and--one thing to really keep in mind--even if you are working as a CNA you are likely still responsible for the level of care of a novice RN. In NYS, when I was an LPN I'd occasionally be pulled to work as a CNA and the state practice act said that was ok, but I would still be held to the level of care at which I was licensed. So, once the facility got that in their hot little hands (courtesy of a little birdie) they stopped doing it.

Whatever else you do, keep your head, ask for a witness to any meetings (seriously--is there an Employee Liaison or someone like that who can go with you, most facilities have them) that touch on how you're doing. If you can't do that, document everything in writing in the meeting and tell them you're doing it. I've been there--and the documentation helped. But I still quit.

Isabel, RN

Dear TriageRN, I have to go! Thanks for your encouragement. They will NOT give me a good reference after having "eaten" their young (me) & spit me out. Any Ideas how I can get another job with less than 6 months on the first job & no reference? This is so painful, I'm not a bad nurse at all but made to feel I am so have little cnfidence developed.

Specializes in Gen Med.

Hi I am a new nurse as well and I don't like the floor on which I work. However, at the end of the day you aren't there for the staff; your there for that patient in the bed. It is true that you have to get along with staff in order to achieve the best patient care. but keep the overall picture; the patient, in your mind and you will do well.

Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.
Hi I am a new nurse as well and I don't like the floor on which I work. However, at the end of the day you aren't there for the staff; your there for that patient in the bed. It is true that you have to get along with staff in order to achieve the best patient care. but keep the overall picture; the patient, in your mind and you will do well.

I agree with you in saying that it is about the patient. I wish it were that simple. I think that it is important to have self confidence in yourself, and unfortunately that is not at an all time high. It makes for a miserable day when someone is demeaning. As far as it being about the patients, they deserve to have a nurse caring for them that has had a proper orientation. I work step down ICU/telemetry and I am not at all ready to go out on my own and administer cardiac drips that I have not been trained to do. I worked too hard for my license to do that. I am sure BON will not care that I was emptying bedpans and did not get the proper orientation.

I hope this does not sound like I am bashing you for your response because that is not my intent. I sincerely appreciate your response.

Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.
Dear TriageRN, I have to go! Thanks for your encouragement. They will NOT give me a good reference after having "eaten" their young (me) & spit me out. Any Ideas how I can get another job with less than 6 months on the first job & no reference? This is so painful, I'm not a bad nurse at all but made to feel I am so have little cnfidence developed.

?????

Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.

Today was the dreaded day that I had to decide wheter I was going to transfer to another floor or resign from my position. It really helped to read what others had to say about this.

I did resign from my position, and I know that was the right decision for me. I am disappointed in the way my resignation was handled, but I really cannot say that I am shocked. I went in to talk with the nurse manager and resign. She was "unavailable." I was told to leave a message or email her. I left a message, but she did not call me back. At 10:30 she was still unavailable. I was scheduled to go in at 11:00, and really needed to talk to her. I ended up sending an email. I do not think that was the best way for me to communicate with her, but she was making it impossible for me to speak with her. Her assistant had told me just to email her, but I still am not happy with that situation. I could beat myself up over it or choose to move on. I think I will choose the second option to move on and be grateful I did not spend anymore time there.

Specializes in Emergency.

It's over. Let it go. Take the rest of the day and do something nice for yourself - shopping, lunch, a movie. It's all fresh and raw right now but you WILL heal. And I firmly believe that when God closes one door, He opens another. :icon_hug:

You could get a job anywhere! You are talented and should be receiving the respect you deserve. Not to mention action should be taken if someone is violating rules and laws. HOpe everything works out for you!

I agree, the second option sounds better, move on. Don't beat yourself up over it. It sounds to me like you made every effort to try to work things out there, and made every effort to speak to your NM personally. You had to do what you had to do. You certainly deserve better treatment than what you were getting there, for sure.

Like I said before, you will have NO problem finding another job where you're given a proper orientation and the respect you deserve. Good luck finding your perfect job! Keep us posted.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Were you being paid nursing wages when you were working as a CNA?

In our state you are only allowed to work within your scope of practice. If you are an RN, you are working as an RN, you have the responsibility of an RN and are not allowed to work in any other position (ie claim to work as a CNA with a CNA's responsibilities).

Please tell me you're not allowing them to pay you CNA wages. And if they're not, who's in charge of the money around there because they are throwing it away.

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