HELP PLEASE! New grad nurse about to quit new Nurse job before orientation is over.
]Thank you for taking the time to read this as I could really use some sound advice. I am a recent Nursing school graduate. I graduated in May 2014. with my BSN I have been a medical assistant for 5 years working for a variety of clinics and doctors' off ices.
I landed a new grad job on a Med surg in a hospital. One that I did not even apply for. This particular hospital is one that I was trying to get in for the past year as a patient care tech while in nursing school to no avail. I researched through the website and found that they are a level 2 trauma center in my area ( My ultimate goal is to be a trauma nurse) and seemed to have a good new grad program. I applied to a tech job a few months before graduating nursing school. (I really wanted the experience of being a tech in the hospital first.
I received a call and landed an interview one month prior to graduation. Interview went well but HR said being that I was graduating so soon it would make no sense to be a tech. I was offered in interview on the spot to a different unit for an RN position. That also went well and I was offered a new grad nurse job that day on the spot. I was excited and grateful especially because I have heard horror stories of new grads waiting several months to land a job, but in the back of my head a little hesitant because it was Med-surg. I am a smart girl. I've been in health care a while now. Although I am a new nurse by goal was to apply to all ER's that accepted New grads into a internship or residency program. feel that because I was basically handed this job )which I was very grateful for I didn't have the opportunity to apply myself to the areas I know I could succeed in.
When I started I was excited and ready after the week of "hospital orientation" new grads were supposed to meet their preceptors. The 5 other new grads who started with me met there's immediately. Mine was on vacation for about 4 days. So I had to shadow other nurses which was fine. A grew of them were very nice and helpful. I met my preceptor and instantly I could tell she did not want to precept, she was not interested in really teaching. She always seemed flustered and in a bad mood every morning. I would see the other new grads interacting more with their mentors and mine would do her own thing and give me patients to take for the day and tell me to get her If I had questions. This is not how I learn.
Some mornings she would complain about the patient assignment and that she had to "orient someone" right in front of me. This made me feel very awkward. she went on vacation for another week in the middle. This went on for a while. The day I mustered up some courage to talk to the charge nurse I found out that the charge nurse actually noticed what was going on. She apologies that I had to deal with that nurse and she switched me to night shift with a different preceptor.
New preceptor is nice I feel I have seen a lot and learned a lot. However am not enjoying my job. I feel like all I am doing is medicating patients. Med surg nursing I do not feel is for me. There are other things safety wise that I am not happy about on my unit. The policies are not always followed. NO one actually "witnesses" for a waste they just type in their code. It is busy 6:1 ratio my orientation is almost over about 2 weeks to go. I am busy but not actually spending time with my pts or doing anything critical to help them either. I feel like Im only running around to give meds on time that's it. With the lack of training and being almost on my own I feel that there is a big safety risk.
I want to be the best nurse I can be and make a bigger difference for my patients. I honestly can't imagine working here for an entire year. I want to quit but am I required to list this job on a resume or talk about it during an interview? I know I signed a contract saying I will have to "repay" the hospital for the training. which I will. I've only been working as a nurse for 2 months. I want to protect my pts and my license. The policies and procedures are all over the place. This place is not for me. I would never quit without having a another job secured but I would like some real advise here.
After I accepted the job I found out how short orientation was and I was not thrilled but I had a job and was in no place to turn it down. Question is how do I go about quitting should I talk to charge nurse first? Am I legally required to list this on an application? I know that this will probably burn a bridge with this hospital. But honestly I want to find a facility that has a better orientation experience and in an area where I feel most comfortable. Ironically that is the ER. Med-surg is not for me I am dredging going back to work.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
hey! i'm new here. i looked up "how long new job" in the key-words and it led me straight to this. this is EXACTLY to a T what i'm going through. since it's been 2 years, what did you wind up doing? i'm suffering at my new job. i'm on my 2nd month and i've gone through 5 preceptors! i have 5 more weeks of orientation. i need advice!
We can't give you advice because we don't know what you're doing wrong. Five preceptors in two months is not a record, but it approaches one.
hey! i'm new here. i looked up "how long new job" in the key-words and it led me straight to this. this is EXACTLY to a T what i'm going through. since it's been 2 years, what did you wind up doing? i'm suffering at my new job. i'm on my 2nd month and i've gone through 5 preceptors! i have 5 more weeks of orientation. i need advice!
You will get better response starting a new thread instead of using one that is 2 years old.
i wanted to hear an update for the original poster as to what she did. i'm learning 50 new things a day at my job before i can get things learned from the day before down correctly. i still can't figure out how to prioritize. it seems like every preceptor i had had a different way of doing things. from what i see on other forums, the main sentiment is "stick it out," at least for a year.
I wish I could have found this post before I quit my ED position...and thats after 12 years of nursing experience! All of it in LTC, however. After 4 weeks of orientation, I decided it wasn't for me. But the commenters on this post raise such valid points!
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
We can't give you advice because we don't know what you're doing wrong. Five preceptors in two months is not a record, but it approaches one.