what did I get myself into

[new and confused]

I think I wanted to became a nurse because I had always cared for members of my family due to one illness or another growing up. I was always helping someone. I liked medicine and blood didnt bother me.

But 9 month into my first position on a tele/med surg step down and I am drowning in depression stress and wondering why and if it was the right reasons to go into nursing....I have been feeling stressed over the responsibility, lack of appreciation and constant downstaffing, yet when there are 2 of us were pushed passed ratio and budget budget budget, but still hiring more people!

I have a daughter who isnt handling the 12 hour shifts well between daycare and working one night shift, then a day shift, then back on night shift all in one week....All i do id dleep when im not there and when im there i wish i wasnt.....

Its not what nursing school made it out to be.....and everyone says you need a year before switching, but i made more money and steady at that as a server!

so my dilemma is did or does anyone else want to change careers after initally thinking they really wanted to go into nursing?

I have applied at a few office jobs, but still not sure what to do. Suppose to start my BSN in January, and now thinking i may not since im debating if this is even what I really want to do....

All good and bad welcome please!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

All of that said, your schedule needs work! There is no way your body is going to ever get used to mixed day and night shifts, you need to be on nights OR days. You need to speak to the NM and tell her that you need this. Your health will suffer, your family life will suffer, and your job will suffer if you don't do this.

While this may sound like good advice, there are a lot of nursing workplaces where there is no such thing as straight days or straight nights. Mine is one of those. We have only a handful of people whose schedule is all days or all nights and those who do have a doctor's note for accommodation - the rest of us rotate between the two. Our administration is very inflexible on this, so anyone who wants all days or all nights will trade away the shifts they don't like for ones they do. (Not the best solution, but it's really the only way.) So to recommend that a brand new nurse confront their nurse manager and inform him or her that s/he must give the new nurse a permanent shift might backfire. People who have done something like that have been "guided" into a position on another unit or forced to go PRN. Perhaps a better approach would be to meet with the manager and ask if the schedule could be adjusted so the flipping is minimized. Flipping is hard and you never "get used to it" but attracting negative attention over it isn't wise either.

[SoaringOwl]

All jobs have their down sides. I could drone on about my other career, and all the crud I had to deal with there. But when I get down, I think about how nursing is better than my old job: I have different patients all the time, so when I hate someone I don't have to deal with them for years; I get paid more; I only work 3 days a week; I work nights & weekends so the boss isn't up my behind all day; and I'm helping people.

My manager said it takes a whole year to become a good nurse. You're not there yet. Hang in a little longer, and if it's still awful, move to another hospital or department. ER, OR and PACU usually offer 8 hour shifts so you can be home with your little one more. I agree with the other posters who say not to do rotating shifts. That is asking for all sorts of trouble. Tell your manager to pick one or the other.

[~Shrek~]

I wish I had a 3 day per week schedule. I had to work 5 per week, and since I was new they put me on nights. When I was hired they told me "you will rotate between days, evenings, and nights in 2 week intervals." THAT WAS A LIE. They put me entirely on nights. 5 nights per week is extremely exhausting.

I had to quit without a job lined up, because my body and mind were exhausted. I was extremely depressed.

I am now applying to daytime jobs. If no one hires me, I am going back to school. I want nothing more than to be able to sleep at night and have 2-day weekends (instead of one day off here and there). If I can't find that in nursing, I am leaving. An office job sounds like heaven compared to my old job.

[scaredsilly, BSN, RN]

While this may sound like good advice, there are a lot of nursing workplaces where there is no such thing as straight days or straight nights. Mine is one of those. We have only a handful of people whose schedule is all days or all nights and those who do have a doctor's note for accommodation - the rest of us rotate between the two. Our administration is very inflexible on this, so anyone who wants all days or all nights will trade away the shifts they don't like for ones they do. (Not the best solution, but it's really the only way.) So to recommend that a brand new nurse confront their nurse manager and inform him or her that s/he must give the new nurse a permanent shift might backfire. People who have done something like that have been "guided" into a position on another unit or forced to go PRN. Perhaps a better approach would be to meet with the manager and ask if the schedule could be adjusted so the flipping is minimized. Flipping is hard and you never "get used to it" but attracting negative attention over it isn't wise either.

It must depend on location. Where I am there aren't rotating shifts. Most new grads start on nights because it is quieter and easier to learn and because those with seniority don't want to work nights. I should have researched, but I had no idea that there are places that expect nurses to do that to their bodies.

[~Shrek~]

It must depend on location. Where I am there aren't rotating shifts. Most new grads start on nights because it is quieter and easier to learn and because those with seniority don't want to work nights. I should have researched, but I had no idea that there are places that expect nurses to do that to their bodies.

Where I was working, several times a month I would have to switch around between nights, evenings,a and days. I was mostly on nights but they would throw in a few swing shifts each month and a lot of my coworkers had schedules which were "night . night . evening . evening . day . night . evening . day . day . night . evening . off . evening . off . day . night . night" And they would have 7-10 day long stretches without a day off.

[kaydensmom01]

It must depend on location. Where I am there aren't rotating shifts. Most new grads start on nights because it is quieter and easier to learn and because those with seniority don't want to work nights. I should have researched, but I had no idea that there are places that expect nurses to do that to their bodies.

All hospitals in my area only hire nurses for variable shifts. They will have you for nights one day, off the next day, and days for the next. So you get home from nights must stay awake all day so you can sleep for days that nights. I cannot believe that they all get away with this but it seems that they have no intention of changing this...

[scaredsilly, BSN, RN]

All hospitals in my area only hire nurses for variable shifts. They will have you for nights one day, off the next day, and days for the next. So you get home from nights must stay awake all day so you can sleep for days that nights. I cannot believe that they all get away with this but it seems that they have no intention of changing this...

WOW, I can't imagine doing that to my body! When I passed NCLEX while I was looking for a hospital job, I worked days as a tech 3 days a week, and took a private duty job 2 nights a week. After the first week, I thought I was dying. I cannot think of a single moment I felt fully awake. I am on nights now and feel great...I can't imagine ever going back to a rotating schedule.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Rotating schedules is a big part of the reason I have little to no interest in hospital nursing. I work in a SNF, I have a set schedule that never changes. The stress level can be high, but it is a different kind of stress from hospital nursing. For me it works and the trade off of having a schedule I like and a job I mostly like makes it worth making less money for me.

There are plenty of Nursing Jobs that are one shift only, some like clinics and school nursing are straight days and family friendly hours. OP, if you can take the hit to your wallet look into these fields.