Hospital BROKE ME

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Hello all ... I new here and need some support :bluecry1:

I started my 1st rn job in june on an arrhythmia step down floor. After 3 weeks I hated it . We had no manager no educator my preceptor had only been a nurse for like a YEAR ! Everything was going wrong everyday .

Heres a little bit of the back story . I'm a very ambitious 25 year old who has worked on a Med-surg floor for 2 years and in an ICU for 4 years . Nursing is my life I had wonderful nurses and doctors who have taught me so much . I was the very first ICU tech( cna) to ever be put in our ICU so the nurses were not so sure what to do with me . So I followed nurses with there meds . worked codes , learned ICU meds and drips, Help MD's put TLC in and seen more produces them most experienced rn's ( small hospitals do everything at the bedside) After 4 years of assesing and helping care for vented and nonvented ICU pts all my nurses told me to go get the experience a BIG INNER CITY hospital will give you. So on June 2008 I left the nest to learn to fly ...

First I was told that I wouldn't be hired into an ICU because I had an ADN not a BSN. Kinda ****** me off:banghead: So in orientation I had to sit next to some 21 year old who graduated from a university tell me how shes working in the CCU. I said oh yeah why did u pick there ? Her exact words" It sounded cool ":banghead: OMG I have worked my butt off to get an ICU JOB and so BSN would thinks ICU is cool gets the job over me .

Second my floor is so boring .. all it is , is syncope and s/p icd placement. I feel like I have lost all my skills since I have done nothing for 5 mths.

Im so sad ... I love nursing so why is it so hard for things to work out for me ? I;m quiting this hospital and going back to my small hospital were the new manager told me that I still need a year experience to work in the ICU because " AS A NEW NURSE I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT " I told her all about my experince since shes new and doesn't know me and she still said " BEING A CNA U DON'T UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF AN ICU NURSE "

So now I'm going to work on Med-surg floor and have 7 PTS and hopefully not be too broken to transfer back into the ICU after a year

4 years of school and lots of debt was supposed to = DREAMS COMING TRUE NOT MISERY AND TEARS :crying2:

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*sigh*

Go home. And tough it out on med/surg. You'll excel, and they can eat their words.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I am with the above poster. Go back and do your year on med-surg and apply in a year and I bet you will find that you will have little trouble adjusting to your role as an ICU nurse and you will really shine after all your previous experience.

Maybe in time, the hospital will drop the BSN requirement.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

or if your heart is really set on ICU now find a hospital that will hire you. If you are near a decent size city chances are that someone will be happy to have you in their ICU. Good luck.

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Specializes in LTC, Med-Surg, IMCU/Tele, HH/CM.

Bigger hospitals aren't always better. . . .

I suppose that there's the unspoken rule that *all* nurses need thier 1 year of Med/Surg. I was told this many, many, many times. . .and here I am in Surg.

Just keep your head up high and don't loose sight of your dreams! You have worked hard and every second was a valuable experiance, even the *boring* parts. You will achieve your goals if you stay motivated!

Good luck :)

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All good suggestions. Also, have you explored getting the BSN through a bridge program or something? That seems to be the only thing holding you back, and you are so young -- maybe the time invested would open up those doors to you?

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oh yah I'm def. going to get my BSN I just couldn't afford it at the time :(

But its in my big plan :)

Thanks for all the support guys ..

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Bigger hospitals aren't always better. .

I wouldn't trade my 130 bed community hospital for the world. Go back home and do your time and then go to the ICU.

Dreams really do come true. It just takes longer for some.

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I am a graduate of a ADN program and I've worked on a med/surg floor for about 2 months. I end orientation this week. I am up to 7 patients and I have to say that I didn't think I could manage. I now understand what every prof I had, every nurse that gave me advice was talking about when they say "get med/surg experience before going into a specialty." I am learning so much and I always wanted to be in CCU. I work on a pulmonary/medical floor and I see everything! When I go to CCU I will be very experienced! And handling 7 patients will prepare me for anything in the future! So happy!:yeah:

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Psych.

I do think that there are some hospitals that would hire you into the ICU, but you may not have any in your area.

As someone who has worked in hospitals for 8 years before nursing school, I do have to agree with your manager. Working as a tech/CNA is not the same as having the responsibility as an RN. It will make the transition easier, though.

If your goal is to get into the ICU, I would stay in tele. It's closer to what you will be seeing, and - if the tele floor is like most - you'll be running your butt off so much that you will never get bored.

CrazyPremed

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Specializes in ER, Med/Surg.

I was an ASN with no "nursing" experience hired into an 8 bed ICU in a small hospital. So it does happen. Try the outskirts of the big city.

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