How long did it take you to get used to a new job?

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Hi.

Just a little context: I recently switched from ICU to outpatient clinic (I'm working in a Radiation Oncology center) and my goodness, I miss ICU. I felt like I needed a break and needed to try something different but I'm really missing my home, even though I knew it was time to do something else.

How did you know what was the right nursing field for you and how long did it take you to decide whether or not a job was for you/ get used to a new job?

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Specializes in Primary Care, LTC, Private Duty.

It depends on the company culture and self-reflection as to why you miss your old position. Sometimes you grow into your new spot, sometimes you end up really kicking yourself for leaving (speaking from experience). It all depends on what's causing you to miss your old job.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Yeah, that. I've been at my current job for almost three years now, and am truly truly starting to feel like it's time to move on to something different, at least for a while. My goodness, I know I'll miss this place though.

So, I feel for ya, in a way!

As far as the "right" nursing field... in sixteen years, there really has never been ONE "right nursing field" for me. I've tried several different things. Right now I'm simply working on a small Med/Surge unit and I loved it for quite a long time, but a lot of things have changed, I'm not loving it quite as much, I'm feeling quite burned out. Time to move on, possibly, to something or somewhere different. Could see myself coming back here, if they would ever have me, after a bit of a break.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

ICU to clinic would be a massive culture shock. They could not be more different. I would think after six months you would know if this was going to work for you long term-ish (a few years).

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I changed jobs in Dec 2017 and lasted till May 2018. For me, I hated the learning curve. I LIKE being the expert. So, I realized that the change in the end wasn't really what I wanted and back to nephrology I went.

IMHO - its an individual adjustment period. How much learning new material is needed, meeting new co-workers, management, etc.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

You miss your friends and maybe you miss what I used to call Dancing with the Angel of Death which is common in the ICU.

But you left for a reason, right?

Learning curves about how the procedures work in the new setting are 6 months to a year. Allow your adrenaline to come back into balance (after I left the ICU it was about four months before I stopped waking up in the middle of the night thinking that I'd missed something or dreaming about a patient coding).

Be present at the new place a year before you write it off. After that - you're a trained-up nurse with a good work history and all should be well! Best of luck!

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

I think one of the things we miss about our old jobs is the feeling of competence. I changed specialties a few times and I always hated the first six months or so of feeling completely stupid.

Once I hit my stride, I started feeling good about being good at more than one thing. One of the greatest sources of satisfaction as I look back is that I was able to adapt to different situations and earn respect in each one.

If after six months or so you find yourself hating every minute and clock-watching, then that isn't the place for you and time to figure out what to do next. Good luck!

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