How many new nurses are seriously thinking about quiting?

MedSurgeNewbie · Mar 14, 2007

As a newbie myself, I think part of the problem is what you are taught in school is so different than life on the floor. I think a residency for first year RN's would be so great! I cant imagine how you could get it done but that would be really helpful. I have thought about leaving, but I work with great people who have helped me tons, fianlly feel like I am coming up for air

smileysenior · Mar 14, 2007

I have been a nurse for almost 9 months and I hate it! Dont get me wrong I am not a bad nurse or mean to patients........the workload and the conditions are unbelievable......it isnt like in school. Had I known it would be like this, I wouldve done something else. I do not want to do bedside nursing. I am trying to stick it out until my year is up and then I want to find a non hospital nursing job even if there is a pay cut. I have been miserable and refuse to spend 10 years in this profession just to be more miserable. I am looking for a job at this very moment......hoping I can stick it out til June.

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 14, 2007

I hear a lot of people enter the nursing field without a clear idea of what it involves and without a strong awareness of what they can or want to do with their lives. They are attracted to the "helping people" aspect and downplay the hard work and stress of the job -- even in those work environments that are reasonable.

Also, I see a lot of new nurses deciding that they hate nursing and/or want to leave the profession after only trying 1 job -- or one type of job. They have a bad experience in their first job and jump to the conclusion that the entire profession is bad. Certainly there are some places to work that are simply horrible, and I would not recommend that someone continue working in a place like that. But it is simply wrong to assume that the entire profession is horrible just because your first experience is negative.

The transition from student to competent professional is a difficult one that usually takes 1 to 2 years. Some people are unprepared for that rocky, uphill part of their career path and run away from the profession rather than work through the challenges. For some of those people, leaving the profession is probably the right decision. However, some of those people would find that they can overcome some of those challenges if would only stay in the profession and address the problems (either by working through the challenges of their current workplace or by finding a workplace that suits them better.)

We talk a lot about these issues in the extern program that I run. I try to teach the externs how to make good career decisions and thrive within the profession of nursing. Interestingly, of the externs who choose to work at my hospital after graduation, 100% of them are successful in their transition to competent professional and 100% of them have stayed in their first job for at least 2 years. I think we are doing something right here.

CountryGirl1 · Mar 14, 2007

As a relatively new nurse (1.5 years), I think that nursing schools, at least the one I attended, do not provide a realistic view of how nursing is. In clinicals, we had one or two patients tops with a lot of faculty supervision. When I graduated, I did med surgical nursing for all of 3 months and left for psych/developmental disability nursing (love it!) in a small facility. It seemed that in school mainly med/surgical is emphasized as the only option of nursing, all other areas are minimized. I think that it takes a while to find a niche before giving up on nursing in general. I wish that nursing schools would stress what one really has to go through doing hospital floor nursing. Maybe that's why they don't. No one in there right mind would do the job! It is truly tough. Not for me. Mad props to nurses who can do that. I was truly miserable. My nursing program emphasized care plans and many other practices that I rarely utilize in real life. No mention of short staffing, too many admissions at once, no time for lunch/bathroom breaks. No wonder so many of my professors had not stepped on a med/surg floor in the past 5 to 10 years. They were smart!!!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

I can offer up what my co-workers (that were fellow classmates) have told me: the understaffing is just too great, and the acuity of the patients combined with said understaffing leads to chronic stress....that leads new nurses to run from the field. Some of my fellow recent grads are on their second and third jobs, and only graduated in May! Me, I am going at it from another angle: I, too, feel the pressure of understaffing and high acuity (have posted about it often) but I feel if I can tough it out for long enough, I will have learned enough to make me a better judge of a new facility. And a better nurse, having stayed with one facility long enough to really get the most out of it. Hard enough learning about new medical procedures and intricate surgeries without constantly changing employers!

I know alot of my classmates will change jobs many times over the next couple of years, and many of them will also leave nursing entirely, which is a huge shame since getting through our school was SOOO challenging.

To answer your question, I am NOT seriously considering quitting. I think about it from time to time, fleetingly.....I sometimes consider going to part-time, but then realize that only reduces my exposure to the stresses, but does not reduce the stresses themselves. And it does nothing to improve my on-the-job education by reducing time there either.

I'm no martyr, but I'm no quick-quitter, either!

HealthyRN · Mar 14, 2007

Most of what Llg stated rings completely true for me. I decided to become a nurse without any idea of what nursing actually involves. I had never volunteered in health care and I had only stepped into a hospital maybe once. I wanted a career that had a "helping" aspect and propaganda of nursing being a career that is in high demand with a decent salary did influence my decision. I was only 18 years old and not mature enough to think about the reasons behind the nursing shortage.

I have seriously considered leaving nursing many times in the past year, but currently I am going to stick it out. I recently received acceptance to an FNP program, so I will be staying in nursing for now. I only hope that working conditions are better for FNPs, but if I find that they are not, I will move on to a different career. Life is just too short to stay in a career in which you are unhappy. At least nursing has taught me some valuable life lessons.

tamari07 · Mar 14, 2007

I have been a nurse for close to a year now on a neuroscience floor of a fair-sized community hosptial. I do have to say that this is the best "floor nurse" job you could ask for. But it is still SO stressful. Everyday when I go to work, I still question if I want to be a nurse. I quit my first nursing job after two months because the patient load was insane. I'm fairly satisfied where I'm at now, but I'm already looking for a non-hospital job. I have back problems as it is so the hospital environment has been really bad on my back. Plus I have to drive an hour to work... I'm already looking for something closer to home.

To be honest, I think the the whole Med-surg, hospital enviornment is extremely stressful, especially for a new grad. I sort of looked at working in a hosptial mandatory experience as a new grad before I could move else where. I've come to the conclusion I hate hospital work and I"m looking for a more clinic/office type position (for the sake of my sanity and my back).

Before giving up on the whole career of nursing, I've realized that there are a million other things to do beside hospital nursing. Some folks are cut out for that type of position, and more power to you! But others aren't. I've come to the conclusion that this position is not what I want to do for very long and plan to be outta the hospital by April or May.

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Mar 15, 2007

I've been a nurse for almost 2 years, and finally am starting to feel comfortable. However, I will be leaving my current floor soon, due to new financial goals of our hospital which force us to take on more patients than we can handle. The manager is totally heartless, and drags people into her office to chew them out about all kinds of petty nonsense. I will probably leave bedside nursing.

However, I am giving it one more chance--I am going to try working the float pool of a large teaching hospital. At least I can check out different floors, get a variety of experiences, and hopefully avoid the politics. My other option is to get a WOCN and become a wound care nurse.

Juggling a million acute patients just isn't worth it.

Odiebutgoodie

VivaRN · Mar 16, 2007

I thought very seriously about quitting my first 2 weeks on the job. It was a "get me out of here!!!!" reaction to the reality of hospital work (which many of you have already described). My nursing school had a class on "ethics", which was really a class about nursing culture. It did a lot to help me understand the sociocultural roots of nursing and why certain attitudes/working conditions persist. If anyone's interested I recommend "From Silence to Voice" and "Nursing Against the Odds" by Suzanne Gordon. For some reason it's easier to cope with things when you can understand it within the larger context. It also helps to know someone's paying attention (and writing about it!) out there.

My "quitting" thoughts subsided once I found good people to go to when I had a problem. Those first few months were so hard. I didn't know who was a good resource and some nurses talked about me behind my back when I had a question. Some of them even lied or spread rumors to make me look incompetent. It was all I could do to come back to work and start a new day. But hey, I made it through... and the longer I lasted, the more they accepted me. I agree that it would be a good study to see why people leave the profession. With all the money they put into recruitment bonuses... you think someone would be interested in RETENTION! Especially with a nursing shortage. Right????

nursing804 · Mar 16, 2007

I heard that med surge is where new nurses should start. I am interested in psyche and would hate to be like many of these nurses I hear hating the med surge, I believe psyche to be a specialty, so do i have to do something like nursing home or med surge before I would be able to move onto psyche???

nursing804 · Mar 16, 2007

I was speaking with another RN student and telling her how the field is so broad. This is so true and I know what one goes through in nursing school just to get across stage. I would hate to see anybody go through that and then quit. I would advise all nurses, to go back to what you thought nursing was going to be like when you made your decision and try to come as close to that a spossible, there are many different fields, catering to many different personalities and demands. For those unhappy with the patient load, which is EXTREMELY high on the med surge wing- maybe consider an office or something like PACU. I have had a few surgeries and I must admit, the PACU seemed pretty laid back. Of course, you have a HUGE responsibility, but your numbers are very low and the time is slow paced. I would ask all nurses to consider their options and all of the fields- we need you!!!!!

Please dont give up-