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Hi!

I am an RN with 8 years at my present job on an oncology floor in a teaching hospital.

The last two years a great deal has changed here. My favorite Docs are gone, so our onc census is down and we are being forced to take med/surg overflow from the rest of the hospital. Often, we have just as many med/surg patients as we do onc...sometimes more. This bothers me for many reasons but chiefly 1. I fear that we are exposing our neutropenic patients to heaven knows what, and 2. I don't mean to sound like a snob but if I had wanted to work med/surg then I would have applied to the med/surg floor. I am starting to resent the lack of support and working environment. I am starting to hate driving in here.

However, I work with a GREAT group of people, good friends really, I have plenty of seniority, and I have a great schedule that fits well with my family and outside life.

So, I am wondering- how do you know when it is time to leave a job? What were your considerations when deciding if it was time to move on? Would any of you be willing to share with me your thoughts before you changed jobs? What did you feel was most important?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your help with this!

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Specializes in Long Term Care.

I don't know. I have only had one job so far. I liked it when I first started. I still enjoy the residents and I like being able to help some of the LTC residents' families adjust to their new circumstances, helping the families and the residents cope with the loss associated with the loss of function through the disease process and aging. But lately, the LTC part has gone to the side infavor of re-hab patients from the hospital. This is bigger money, and our facility is in competition with another to see who can get the most rehab patients so that one facility or the other can get a new rehab gym with swimming pool. While these people are good people, and I generally like acute care, this is not what I signed on for more than a year ago. I don't really "do" anything for these residents except the occasional dressing change and assessment and they have no interest in having a conversation with me or getting to know any of the other residents b/c they plan to go home. I am happy for them, but this is not what I was looking for when I applied to work at this facility.

I am quietly looking for another position in LTC. This time I intend to more throughly research the companies that own the facility.

I would be grateful if anyone had any words of wisdom to offer on this topic too.

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Specializes in pedi, pedi psych,dd, school ,home health.

when i get up in the morning and dread going to work and read more want ads than school books, i know something is wrong. I also tend to start finding fault with little things that normally wouldnt phase me at work. sometimes a good opportunity presents itself and you have to just leap!

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:yeahthat: When I dread going in every, single day & am miserable the entire time I'm there, it's time to move on.

I don't think you are to that point yet! Best of luck whatever you decide.

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