Well, the start of a new year and I'm kissing nursing
good bye after only 5 short months. I graduated in may and started at a hospital in august. My very first preceptor was a nightmare, on my 3rd day on the floor she said I was too slow and put me down in front of other
nurses or whoever was in distance of hearing her. At one
point she even said, "well, I have her she know's nothing I have to show her everything." So being enthusiastic I decided NOT to let it get to me and proceeded to take her C*ap for another couple of weeks. At which time I was moved to a different floor with a preceptor who was great and I learned alot from. PRoblem was at this hospital IF
I wanted to stay I'd have to take a evening position. SO I left a found a hosptial closer to home on days. Well, once again I have the preceptor from hell not only that but the managers In my opinion are nitpickers. ON my first day on the floor they wrote up a nurse who was in charge of making sure all the phones were back at the end of the day, for not having a phone returned. (someone took one home accidentally).. I found this ridiculous, it's a busy med/surg floor with an 8:1 patient ratio and they are worried about PHONES???? I could go on and on about the other horrors but it would be to long.
Long story short I've decide to quit. Luckily I don't NEED the job to support myself or I wouldn't be able to leave. my hubby makes a decent salary. I do feel bad placing all the financial burden on him but I'm planning on just picking up a admin position somewhere. I don't care if I'm making half the money I jsut want to be happy. I'm so SICK of being stressed going into work, stressed coming home, worrying about this, being stressed on the floor. To me its just not worth it. My hubby is worried that I'll change my mind and want to come back to nursing but won't be able to after leaving 2 prior positions. bUt seriously I can't imagine feeling this way.
I also just found out I'm expecting my first child and I really can't imagine the stress level as well as not eating/drinking/peeing an entire shift is good. So I'm gone. I give up, I give in, I just feel like I can't do it. I'm thinking I'm just not meant to be in nursing, or i woudn't have just kept inheriting bad circumstances and preceptors from hell.
Well, I'd love to hear if anyone else has left nursing? come back and any other thoughts you all might have.
To restate what should now be obvious...Yes, please keep your license current. Enjoy your baby and realize that there are many areas of nursing. You are blessed in having someone there who can support you while you sort things out. Find the area of nursing that will actually bring you peace, joy and fulfillment. It is out there. I haven't gotten to it yet, but for me I believe it lies in a doctor's office or a clinic. I will continue to move about until I get it. :-)
Specializes in Combat Support Hospital; Geriatrics.
There are days where I would rather get deployed to Iraq than be a LVN charge nurse at any of the nursing homes/med surg floors I've worked at. But, I'm going to become an RN anyway (I'm not wasting my money on a 4 year degree when an A.S. degree will get you the same pay) and see if I find my "niche" somewhere in our field.
My contract with U.S. Army is expires soon, I might just go Air Force Reserves since they supposibly get treated better than CSH nurses(68WM6/66B) do.
I truly believe that ANY job IS difficult and requires people and social skills of patience and tact, no matter what field you choose.
I say this with experience being a bit of a renaissance woman myself. I started with a career and degree in translation, then received a degree in fine arts, became a designer ---- had what I felt was a horrible horrible job (my outlook at the time wasn't so healthy), and downgraded to an Administrative Assistant. As an Administrative Assistant, I was busier than I had ever been, crazy busy and I learned to cope with crazy and mean people and improve my own outlook. I was happy. I just wanted more responsibility.
Well, I went through another career change (which is why I'm on this board) and I plan to keep this one successful.
It's easy to jump on the "this is too hard for me" wagon. The best thing you can do instead, is to find avenues to make the job better for you and for those you work with. Or, if you are passive and don't want to speak up and talk to manager's managers about the problems you and staff face, then get another job --- find it carefully and take your time, as it sounds like you have the financial stability to be picky.
Later you can chalk up these tough and bad experiences as "character building."
Also, you don't have to work in a hospital, nurses can specialize, and they can also find a setting that works for them. One of the wonderful things about becoming a nurse is the job security and ability to find that unique job that suits you best.
I hope that whatever field or new type of work you choose that it does go well.
I had the preceptor from hell too. She told me that I was an accident waiting to happen because I had one too many pills in my hand after I closed the Pyxxis. I knew immediately, and put it back, but oh, dear Lord, you'd think I'd killed someone! Then we had a patient who came up from ED with maggots all over her lower legs. I said nothing in the room, for she had taken report early, and didn't wait for me to start rounds. (I was there on-time.) When we got in the hallway, I asked if she was having "maggot therapy" although I couldn't imagine that on a Med-Surg floor. The preceptor told me I was crazy, there were no maggots, that was just her skin. I wanted to looooose it! The stench was terriible, and there were tons of maggots, but since the ED hadn't reported it to her, they didn't exist. (I won't go into her mislabeling the culture vial with another pt.'s name from another room!) I left her and that floor within 2 weeks. I told the clinical director everything that happened, every degrading comment that she made to me, and the director told me she was sorry I felt that way, and moved me to another floor. My next preceptor rocked. I graduate in May, and I am not staying at that hospital. If my fellow nurses are going to chew me up and spit me out, I'm thinking I need to find where the nurses know how to take it as well as dish it out. I think the difference is my age- I'm 43, and didn't just spend 4 years in college to let them run me off. After my Med-Surg time, I want to find my niche'...but I want to know where the fun, nice nurses work as a team. I never, in all my life, imagined that such a wonderful, compassionate group of people, could harbor such a terrible population of incompetent, mean, hateful people. I meet nurses who hate that desciption of "Nurses Eat Their Young" but wow, I find it to be true more often than it should be. That, is my first post. I felt so strongly reading Healer27's post, and it brought all of this bubbling to the surface.
Thanks for letting me get that out. I want to add that I still have faith that I'll find the nicest people in nursing....
Specializes in inpatient rehab (general, sci, tbi, cva).
At the very least, get a subscription to a nursing magazine. They sometimes have mail-in credits for education and information for classes in your area.
It is tough out there I must admit and I don't doubt that those things aren't happening, but there are so many opportunities I can't believe that you would waist all the work you did to get your degree and license. If people are treating you bad then you need to let everyone know about it and if the hospital doesn't support you then move on, but don't quit until you have really tried everything. If you are a quitter, then you are not cut out to be a nurse!
I want to tell you to not give up. I too, had a bad experience in a hospital. I had a Nurse tell when in nursing school, that I would never make it as a nurse. I was one of the outstanding students in my class. I tried very hard and was very dedicated. I have found through my last 15 years of nursing, that their are alot of choices for nurses, not just the hospital routeen. You could work as a Home-health nurse, Case-manager, ect. there are so many options depending where you live. There are alot of caring Professional Nurses out there, there are also those that just do it for the money, and their attitudes, I don't know how they made it in nursing school. My instructors would of ate them alive, if they treated anyone so demeanful. Just don't give up, if you enjoy caring for your patients. Nursing needs more nurses, that really care. I still deal with those type of nurses, who want to be judgemental, you have to be non-judgemental to be a "Real Nurse". It takes self-preserverence, and having that self-confidence. I felt like it was my calling to be a nurse, that's the only reason I have'nt given up. Because it is very hard at times, and very pleasing other times. Don't let others destroy what you have worked so hard to achieve. Give it another shot, and you might have a different experience. I too, stay away from hospitals. Good luck!
There are some wonderful words of advice to you on this board. I really don't have anything new to add but much of the same advice. If you really want to be a nurse, then take some time off, enjoy your baby, and think about what you really want to do. Definitely, keep your license. I was really discouraged after I started working as an RN. I had given so much time, money, etc toward attaining this degree (blood, sweat & lots of tears) that I decided that I would just keep trying to find my niche in nursing. I absolutely hated the hospitals and it was because of nasty drs. and sexual harrassment. Back then women had no recourse against this and when I reported it to my don, she said: "Oh, just ignore them". But I couldn't, so I decided to find another job. Of course, I ran into more nasty drs but not so much sexual harrassment. I have been a nurse 30 years and looking back I'm glad I stuck with it. You will NEVER get away from rude and nasty people, but there are jobs in nursing where there is less of it. Over the years I have worked in LTC, dr. office, extended care facitlites, adult day care (which I loved), and clinical research (which can also be a good job- good hrs, a lot of indepence, which I like). I am a very stubborn person by nature and I feel this attribute helped get me through some very difficult situations over the years. Now, I am investigating starting my own home care business. There are so many options to choose in nursing. Good luck with your baby and good luck in whatever you choose to do in life.
Wow! Nurses really do eat their young! I too felt the same way as you do while i was on orientation. I cried all of the way home from almost every day of orientation! I stuck with it for over 2 years being miserable on one unit and moved to our sister unit. While I felt much more comfortable there clinically, the backbiting that you experienced continued! After 2 years on that floor I decided that rather than quit nursing altogether, which I seriously considered, like many of the other new graduates that worked on these 2 horrible units, I decided to go back to school for my BSN. An opportunity came my way to get off of that floor and into a MUCH better position. Now I am happy with my job for the most part and will finish my degree this summer. The beautiful thing about nursing is that there are endlesse opportunities out there. You do not have to be miserable. The hospital setting is NOT for everyone:nono: ! I can't wait to get out myself! Good luck with your new career. I hope your posting sends a message to all of those impatient nitpickers out there! TAke care and best wishes for a happy future for you and your family.
Boy, can i appreciate your position (the originator of this thread). I have been a nurse 30 years and my first two jobs were similiar to yours. there are always going to be those people that make life miserable. (i don't know why nurses eat their young, but they do).
The best response, when you are ready to try again, is find another field of nursing. med-surg is one of the most difficult areas. after about 5 years of nursing i was ready to leave it, but then i was working on my BSN and discovered it as a profession rather than a job.
i went into pediatric intensive care, had a lousy preceptor, but loved thejob. once we got the preceptor part worked out, i loved it. but then i went to work in Quality Assurance. and let me tell you, i found my nitch. i love investigating and collecting data to improve things for nursing. there is always soemthing going on. I have been fortunate to have a career with several managed care organizations and thus have worked in several different states. i have had to travel for my position. I have had the opportunity to teach.
QA is all about improving things which is what nursing is all about. it is usually a monday through friday job and is different every day.
Nursing is a great career because you can do almost anything you want to do with it. you can be in a hospital, clinic, outpatient, ambulatory, ER, ICU, OR, office, managed care, case management, nurse call line center, insurance, occupational health, school nursing, teaching, pharmaceutical sales, pharmaceutical drug safety, and a whole plethera of other opportunities. if you are an entrapaneur, you can create your own nursing speciality.
don't give up on your first year. there is too much out there to try. start with baby steps. volunteer at a free clinic. get a feel for other areas. join professional organizations and talk to experienced nurses. get a real prespective before you give up. go for it. and good luck.
nurselinton
1 Post
sorry to hear this but always remeber if you don't suceed you must try and try again!