Has anyone ever quit a new job after a few weeks?

[HealthyRN]

I hate my new job. As it is my third job in a year and a half as a nurse, I have decided that I am leaving the profession. With the help of a career counselor, I have determined that it is not about not finding my niche in nursing. I truly made a poor career decision. Now I'm left with yet another dilemma. I don't know what to do about my current job. I've been working on a med-surg unit for about 6 weeks. This job is destroying me. For the first time in my life, I believe I am truly depressed. My husband and I are fighting all the time and it is directly related to the fact that I hate my job and I am consumed by it. It's basically all I can think about even when I am not working. My health is suffering as well. I was recently diagnosed with a gastric ulcer and this added stress is not helping.

I desperately just want to call my work and tell them that I am not coming back. I don't think I can bear to stick it out for a two-week notice. But I am worried about the consequences of doing this. I am planning on going back to school for an MPH and I work for a large university system. In the future, I may want to work there again, although NEVER as a nurse. Does anyone knows what happens in circumstances like this? If years later, I apply for a position unrelated to nursing, would they not hire me based on the fact that I quit without a notice? On the other hand, even if I do give a notice, would they still not hire me since I only worked there for 6 weeks? I am worried about the fact I will be tagged a "job-hopper" if I quit this job and never be able to find another position, even if it is unrelated to nursing. But this job is bringing me down and it feels like nothing is worth the stress and unhappiness. Any advice?

[HealthyRN]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read and reply. In response to some questions, I am out of orientation, so I would be affecting staffing on the unit. I am currently finishing my first semester as an FNP student. I've done well (all A's so far), but I am dropping out after this semester. I just do not want to be a direct care provider. It was hard to let go of what used to be a dream, but it just isn't for me.

This facility requires a minimum of a year before a trasfer, so I don't know if it's possible. I have started the process of looking into it though. I am seeking help through human resources recruitment and retention so maybe someone can help me find another position. It's just so hard for me to let go and admit that I don't want to be a nurse! Or at least not a nurse providing direct care. I know that there are other positions for nurses, which I did try a non-clinical position at one point. For my second job, I was a community educator. I enjoyed the community education, but not the other things that went along with the job (service sales, travel, etc.).

If I do leave, I will give a notice because it is the right thing to do. Thanks for the support.

[marie-francoise]

Don't knock yourself too hard for not wanting to be a nurse! At least you're being honest with yourself and trying to explore things you find more appealing. Nothing bad about being honest with yourself.

I have an MPH, and think the degree applies to many jobs. You can be specific about it, and study, say, biostats/epidemiology, or more broad-based, and study health promotion-disease prevention. (Watch out for the latter track, though - sometimes the health promotion-disease prevention track can get too fluffy & theoretical, depending on which school you go to. If I had to do it over again, I'd choose the biostats/epidemiology track. Or maybe health services administration... Anyway, there are a variety of MPH tracks.)

If you want some comfort in knowing you are not alone in being a nurse who has come to the conclusion that he/she does not want to be a nurse after all, visit the www.aboutmyjob.com site and type in "nurse" or "nursing". Although I certainly don't think that site reflects all nurses, I think it does reflect why there is a nursing shortage.

I'm afraid that when I get out of nursing school, I, too, will find nursing working conditions and the (now amplifed) stresses of patient care and the (now endless) charting requirements intolerable. I'm trying to be honest with myself as well about that.

Direct patient care is not for everyone (and that may be an understatement). I know some doctors who changed their specialty to pathology in med school since they did not like the patient contact they had to go through during their third year of med school.

So, you are not alone. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[2008BSNGRAD]

to RNurse143 ..

what a great reply ... i quit after second week of orientation. you have given great advice. thanks !!

[Anitenurse]

Give a 2-week notice, & stick it out. My employer (a large, well-known university hospital) will not rehire anyone who did not give adequate notice (a 4-week notice is expected) when they left a position. Basically, you're blacklisted if you leave without notice. Also, when you look back, you'll feel better about yourself for doing the right thing.

Maybe this will make you feel better: I have left 4 nursing jobs after working from between 6 weeks to 1 year in these facilities (a community hospital with patient loads of 11 - 13 patients & nasty docs; 2 nursing homes with patient loads of 40 - 50 residents; & a military hospital where the inmates {my lazy coworkers} were running the asylum). They were hellish jobs, & my relief was incredible when I walked out those employers' doors for the last time!

Congratulations on finding a career that suits you better. Don't beat yourself up -- there is no way I could work a medicine or med/surg floor again. It's brutal!

[rph3664]

Haven't quit a job after a few weeks but certainly have felt like I wanted to. I usually stick things out until they fire me.

I have done that more than once. I do not recommend it.

[JoycMarr]

before throwing in your hat, why don't you try something outside of the hospital setting? There are lots of options

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I know what the OP is talking about. I've been at my current job for a grand total of three months and hate every single minute I have to be there. I put my 30-day notice in on Oct. 1st and am literally counting the days until I can shake the dust of that place from my feet........I'd give almost anything to get out of working these last 2 weeks, but having given my word that I'd stay through the 31st, I don't see any honorable way out of it.

This is the soonest I've ever quit a position---I left my first nursing position after 3 1/2 months, but have stayed at every other job for at least a year---but having been a nurse for over a decade, I know it's not nursing itself that I dislike, but this particular job. The OP hasn't been a nurse long enough, or tried enough diffferent types of nursing, to know yet if there is a niche for her in this profession. I'd hate to see her waste her education when there are so many different types of nursing jobs, many of which don't involve direct care or working in a hospital. If that's all there was to nursing, I'd have left a long time ago!!

But thankfully, this field is just chock-full of opportunities.........sometimes one just has to look around for a while and be open to the possibilities.

[MochaRN424, ASN]

I quit a position within the same facility I am still employed at... that was 12 yrs ago, only job I couldn't stand, but hung in the 2 wks, the nurse manager was great, she didn't want me to leave, but it was complicated ( bullying by the MD's) noooo way, anyway, if youwant to leave on good terms and keep the door open, you really have to suck it up and do your time, if you mentally and emotionally absolutely can't do it, leave but dont use that job as a reference,,BTW, MY state was so bad I had to reach out to my MD I wasa mess, anxiety,panic and insomnia. She gave me some antianxiety meds to get me thru the end and it really helped,Idont use that job as a reference even though Icould, my performance was fine, I just feel 2 months is too short , and I just assume to forget the whole thing

Thank you so much for this response. I am currently feeling this same way. I have a total of 1 year and 3 months experience. I want to leave my current position because I have been bascially thrown out onto the floor. When I ask for assitance in obtaining education in say starting IVs because at my last facility they had an IV team...this and other requests have fallen on deaf ears. I want to leave but hopefully stay at the same insitution.

[benitarae]

I was at my first nursing job for 6 months, gave notice and worked for another organization for 15 years when I wanted to do something different, gave notice to them and then quit the new job after 12 days of being made fun of, yelled at....by my preceptor no less. I then went back to my previous job and stayed for 1 year, was fired after 2 1/2 years (documentation error, no one was harmed and everything was ordered correctly, ect....) Accepted another job that I knew I shouldn't (listen to those little bells going off inside your head) and quit without notice after 11 shifts because I was afraid for my license to even stay another 2 weeks. Now I am back pounding virtual pavement. I do not list either job I quit without notice on my resume. However, unemployment says that I should not have quit "just because you did not agree with thier policies and procedures". If that were only it! (a revolving door for staff sort of place). I did write the facility a resignation listing all the things that were happening there and what I had done to try to correct them (my meager sudggestions were denied by the administrator-personally, I think she did not want too much documentation so the facility wouln't take the fall should a law suit arise) So I am fighting a loosing battle, it's the government. But the stress of worrying about my license is no longer there.

After working there for 6 weeks, you are probably still on probation. Can you talk to a boss there? Explain the situation and if he/she wants a 2 week notice, stick it out just 2 more weeks? Please let me know how this ends up.

[CaliforniaRNnow]

I am thinking about quitting after a week of orientation (apparently I should already be done with orientation after 3-5 days...)

[see thread]

[jojonavy]

I'm quiting my job after 2 months and started questioning myself if I want to be a nurse. Gonna start a new grad program soon so hopefully that will set me up to succeed.

Like another poster said, at my current job I'm really scared for my license because of the sheer work load. If you think 4 to 5 patients is tough try working at one of these so-called sub-acute rehab facilities where the patients are much more acute then nursing homes but still have the same staffing.

[3mlsyringe]

I'm a new grad.....second career RN...with non nursing supervisor work history....took the only job offer I got which is part time night shift at LTC facility. I had a total of 9 1/2 days of orientation! I asked for more time but was told that no one wants to orient on night shift. At night, I'm the RN in charge of over 60 people! I'm overwhelmed and ready to throw in the towel!