HELP! Floor Nursing = NOT for me

nyteshade, BSN · Sep 19, 2009

Have you tried case management? Insurance companies? For the most part they are day jobs. Just my two cents.

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

Just so you are aware, most FNPs I know with less than 5 years of bedside experience have difficulty finding a job as an advanced practitioner.

If you don't like floor nursing, try a different specialty.

However, sometimes weekends and holidays are still a must.

ashley5RN · Sep 19, 2009

Hello.

I have been a nurse for 20 years and I have seen many women and men that could not handle being on floor. Try applying to Insurance Companies, and maybe doing case management? Since you are going to be an FNP, maybe even try school nursing? Summer's & Weekends off, not very stressful. Nursing has so many oppurtunities, there's bound to be one out there for you!

Good Luck! :nurse:

whipping girl in 07, RN · Sep 19, 2009

Working in a doctor's office is not going to help you become a FNP. ITA w/ Jo, without several years of bedside nursing experience, you will be at a distinct disadvantage both getting into a FNP program and getting a job afterwards.

You hate the floor you are working on...what do you hate about it? Your co-workers, the charge nurse, the nurse manager, the house supervisor, the shift, the general patient population, the physicians, the layout, the disorganization, etc? It may not be that you hate med-surg per se but rather something else that could change simply by transferring to a different unit or even working at a different hospital.

I worked surgical ICU (primarily, I also floated to other ICUs) before I got into my current specialty and I had a job that I initially LOVED...then several things happened. I changed from nights to days. We moved to a new bigger unit that was poorly designed. Because it had more beds we got more overflow of other types of ICU patients, which I didn't like as well as surgical patients. We went for over a year with an interim nurse manager who was also the NM for the other floor I'd applied to when I went to work there and I didn't really trust him. I just got a bad feeling about his management style in the interview. Then he became our NM permanently but still showed favor for his original unit when it came to staffing and such. He hired an assistant NM that I completely clashed with. A lot of my favorite co-workers left for other units, CRNA school, other hospitals, etc. The quality of the nurses they hired kept decreasing to the point where you seemed to only need a pulse and a license to work there. They took away our scrubs. They changed to computer charting. Then a computer medical record. They got to where they didn't want to work around my other job when it came to scheduling. The last straw was mandatory OT...it didn't matter how many or how few hours you were requisitioned for, you had to sign up for an extra 12 hours per pay period.

I absolutely LOVED that place when I started, detested it 5 1/2 years later when I left. I still like to take care of surgical ICU patients though, and I pick up the occasional PRN shift at my current hospital in SICU.

It wasn't SICU, it was the atmosphere. Does that make sense?

You have to do patient care to learn how to be a FNP. You won't get that working for an insurance company or case management. There are a lot of other nurses who also want good hours who've been at this much longer than you. Surely you knew when you got into nursing that odd hours were part of it.

kanzi monkey · Sep 19, 2009

Just so you are aware, most FNPs I know with less than 5 years of bedside experience have difficulty finding a job as an advanced practitioner.
If you don't like floor nursing, try a different specialty.
However, sometimes weekends and holidays are still a must.

This is not what I have seen. I did my NP clinical rotations with many direct entry NPs--some with a year or so of hospital experience, some with clinic setting or rehab experience, some with no experience. They were all quite qualified NPs--and I worked with them pretty extensively. They knew their stuff and knew advanced level patient care.

Another option you could consider--how about working part time in an acute care setting while doing school full-time? It's insane, yes. It's what I did. But you could make more money with fewer hours. AND, while I disagree that NPs need 5 or more years of bedside experience, I do think it can be a valuable learning experience.

I never wanted to be a bedside nurse either--it wasn't a role I could see myself in (I like community/longitudinal care). And I'm not a huge fan of working in a hospital--but I've gotten a lot out of the experience. I know you already have some bedside experience--perhaps in a different environment with less hours you may find it more to your liking. I can't speak for working as an RN in a clinic setting since I haven't done it personally. That also might be a good option, I imagine you could learn a lot. But you may need to work full-time to meet your financial needs.

Congrats on getting in to an FNP program! And Boston's great! (Expensive, but great!)

Good luck!

Kabin · Sep 19, 2009

I've heard, more than once, that FNP ain't no rose garden. Lots of burnout potential there after investing much time and money.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

Well, first I do think you need more time in hands on nursing to be a good NP, and I really think that auditing charts/cases for insurance companies isn't quite as good at prepping you for your future goals.

Second, you have to deal witn the fact, that currently, there is no shortage of nurses, therefore any job is at a premium, and those with the most experience are the most likely to be hired. And for a lot of older nurses with more experience, they seek those jobs away from the bedside. And please review new nurse posting with regard to Massachusetts ESPECIALLY Boston. It is very difficult to get ANY job there, and it is expensive to boot. You may find it difficult to get a job without those issues that you are having problems with.

I currently know several very good new grads from good schools that were unable to find employment in the very hospitals that they were working in. Though, I do hear for experienced nurses there the job market has improved a bit.

Having said that, examine your situation. Analyze what is so distressing about your current job and whta would improve it/make it tolerable. I do not know your location, but will tell you that floor nursing in some areas can be awful because poor ratios, poor management/morale, and inadequate support for nurses, while in other areas it actually will be good. My personal experience as a resident and as a traveler, my home area of Florida - most of the hospitals have hideous ratios, lack of nursing support and management the focuses on cost and on "customer service" to the detriment of good health care in many areas. While they are a few good facilities, there are many that are very poor environments. Also, again, my personal feelings, by far, Boston and areas with many highly rated teaching hospitals generally (not always) have better ratios, more support and better management/morale.

And that makes all the difference. If you are on a floor, where no one gets to eat because the work load is too heavy, there is not enough transport,stock does not get filled, you do not have the phone numbers to get stuff done, there are a lot of petty scripting, your manager is an autocrat that rules with an iron fist, and has no common sense, human resources back the MDs even if they are wrong, pharmacy takes forever.....it leads to stress, poor health and horizontal violence.

Change those things and it will be a good environment. You find the same floor in different facility can make a big difference.

Another caveat: many managers will feel (appropriate or not, fair or not) that less than 1 year on a floor as a new grad is not a good test, or demonstration of experience. The better facilities are going to question, "Why less than a year?", "It takes more than a year to adapt to nursing as a new grad/to adapt to the people on the unit/to adapt to the specialty". Or some may think you a job hopper - not good in this economy. Unless there is a MAJOR reason, for leaving (license threatening issues, extremely poor practice), some will really question this move. You need to be prepared for that question to come up. You can say that you are moving for school, but most will wonder why you didn't just move before getting any job.

silentRN · Sep 19, 2009

I suggest working in the icu where you only get 1-2 patients or in a clinical disission unit. I hated floor nursing too, but ever since I transfered to an icu I actaully like my job. Plus, I actually get to use my brain.

geminikb · Sep 19, 2009

I am working on my masters for NP. I currently work in Urgent Care, and I love it. It's not quite as stressful as floor nursing, but there's still a lot of variety, and I still get to use a wide array of my nursing skills. The urgent care department where I work functions as the code team for the entire clinic complex where I work, so we are all ACLS certified, which I think it valuable knowledge and experience. I really like it.

allnurses Guide · Sep 19, 2009

Hi,

I appreciate your honesty in telling us that floor nursing isn't for you. If you're coming to Boston, you might want to check out some of the community health centers. I think they all might be eligible for National Health Service Scholar /Loan Forgiveness programs which could help offset your loans for NP school. I work at one as an NP, but there are also RN positions for the various departments.

BTW, I am a recent Direct Entry NP grad (from Boston) who had no trouble getting an FNP job with NO RN experience. I, too, was not thrilled with my exposures to hospital nursing, plus there were no RN jobs around for newly licensed nurses (and I looked..I wanted to work part time while I finished my NP). RN experience certainly would have been valuable, but I didn't take that path and neither I nor my patients seem to have suffered for it.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk more.

scrubcircrn · Sep 19, 2009

Im totally with you on not liking floor nursing. I think thats why I waited so many years to go to school to become a nurse, I didnt realize what else is out there. I work in surgery and love it. Its days with occasional call hours. I basically am taking care of 1 patient at a time and giving them my full attention. Hope you find your niche.