How long should I stay at my job?

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Hey guys,

I'm a new grad nurse and this is my first job ever at a behavioral health hospital. I always wanted to go into psych and had no interest in med-surg or anything like that. I don't really want to stay at this facility for long though because I don't like how things are done. Things are all over the place, it's understaffed, and everything's paper, including the MAR. What would be the minimum amount of time that I should stay at this facility where it wouldn't look terrible if I resigned? 6 months? or 1 year?

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I personally wouldn't be even thinking about it yet. Get comfortable and know your stuff so you have great things to share on your resume and in interviews. I would think at least 9 months??

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Sounds like you are in a for profit facility. Sounds like you are quite observant.

I have been there, done that, as agency.

If you feel the need to resign... do it ASAP. Unless you feel you can "safely" make the one year mark.

If you quit early in, just be open in future interviews ( use the not a good fit HR buzzword). Other facilities know the reputation of your current employer.

Best if luck, let us know how it's going.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Reality check - Behavioral Health is not included in the HITECH incentive payments for EHR adoption..... ergo, they are not participating because they cannot recoup the cost of implementation. They are likely to stay paper-based unless they are offered the same incentives as other sectors of health care. Here is a link with more information.

Look before you decide to leap. Not many Behavioral Health organizations have all those bells and whistles you're looking for.

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