I hate my job/career

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Nov 6, 2015

Find another job

margin261 · Nov 6, 2015

My advice is probably not going to be popular, but...quit. Life is too short to be miserable. I did m/s for a little over a year after I got out of RN school. I did learn a lot, but for the last 6 mos or so I was frustrated & angry all the time, dreaded going to work, had difficulty sleeping- just miserable.

Bedside 'nursing' isn't what it used to be & I hate it, both for the nurses and the patients. Put some thought into what you like about nursing and then follow your heart.

Maybe one day the PTB will realize the mistakes they're making & let us take care of pts in the hospitals again instead of being data collectors, but probably not in my lifetime.

Good luck!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 6, 2015

There are jobs other than the ones in the exalted acute care hospital. I'd explore non-hospital jobs if I were you.

While I've never loved any job I've ever had, I have learned to tolerate my current job in a state of neutrality by focusing on its positive aspects. Namely, I get plenty of downtime away from patients, which makes it worth it to me.

Good luck to you. Misery is not worth it.

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 6, 2015

I would agree with the people who say "quit" if you weren't at the 3-month mark. That is the exact time that research shows new grads get most discouraged and are most distressed by "reality shock." Some of your distress will probably ease with time (within the next 3-6 months) and if the job works for you in other ways, it might be worth giving it another few months to see what happens before you quit. If you quit now, you won't really have given it much of a chance -- and that will look bad to future possible employers.

Is there someone in your life you can talk to about your emotional distress? -- preferably someone who can help you strategize some possible improvements in your life? For example, is there an experienced nurse who can help you become a little more efficient in you work so that you don't have to stay late so often? From what you say, it sounds like even experienced nurses have trouble on your unit -- so they may be very sympathetic to your plight and be able to offer you some suggestions to help.

Is the job serving a long-term purpose for you? For example, is it providing you with experience you need to move on to some other position you want? If that's the case, you might feel better about it if you start making concrete plans for moving to that dream job. Seeing you goal coming closer might lift your spirits and make today's misery seem a little more tolerable.

If I were in your position, I would be thinking about what I might want to do next ... and making plans to get there. See this position as a stepping stone to get there and as an opportunity to get some valuable experience that will help you later. Chip away at the problems by locating resources that can help you and being flexible enough to realize that, while it isn't perfect, it is providing you with money and experience for the moment. It is temporary -- not forever. By the time you make a good plan for what you will do next, a couple of months may pass and you will have gotten more comfortable in your current position. That will take some of the pressure off and you can proceed to implement your plan to move on calmly -- choosing your next position without feeling pressured to take anything you can get to pay the bills. That just gets you another job you probably won't be happy with.

Whatever you do, don't just run away with no plans. In your position, as a new grad, you could end up unemployed with few desirable prospects. And the cycle of bad jobs and quick exits repeats itself.

sailornurse · Nov 6, 2015

Hey, it may not be you. It may be the way the assignments are made, the type of patients you are getting. I once worked on a telemetry unit that was horribly mismanaged. I had 15 years experience, including working telemetry at Bethesda Naval Hospital as a Navy nurse. The telemetry unit became the "bottleneck". We would get patients from: ER (demanding to bring pts NOW!), the ICU's (same thing bringing pt NOW!), The cath lab (Oh yeah, we had to recover the cath lab pts on Q 15 min vitals for 2 hours because the cath lab did not have a recovery area) the PACU, and any other unit that the docs wanted the pt monitored for what ever reason. That was the first time in my career I ever experienced the bullying from nurses & doctors! It got so bad one of the cardiologists called a meeting with admin, & all the managers from ER, ICU, PACU, Med-Surg with all the charges to talk about the situation he had witnessed on the telemetry unit. It did put a stop to the demands to bring patients NOW, stopped the other cardiologist that used to send direct admits needing lidocaine drip/magnesium drips/and one other drip I can't think of now, but it required finding 3 IV pumps for this new admit. He was told if patients needed all those meds they should go to ER to be stabilized/evaluated/labs, ekg etc. but no he can not have them just show up to the unit.

It was a horrible situation. I remember coming in, getting off the elevator for 3-11 shift and the charge nurse said, "you are gonna wish you called in/stayed home" to which I replied in front of anyone around, "Really, you are the charge nurse and this is how you greet me?, How about, "Hey it's been crazy day, so glad to see you! (which would have put a positive spin on the situation vs. her negativity). This was the same charge nurse that would assign room numbers, not looking at pt dx, so you would get 4 cath lab recoveries, send them home then get hit with 2 or 3 admits later. It was typical to be greeted with similar comments. What prompted the cardiologist to get so involved? I walked off the elevator & the unit clerk yelled at me something like, " Well it's about time, cath lab needs to give you report!", This cardiologist got up, walked over to her and said, " She just got here, her shift doesn't start for 15 minutes, she still has her coat/purse on & you are yelling at her?" He had the day charge nurse paged to the nurses station, He picked up the phone and called the nursing supervisor up to the floor, that was what led to the Big Meeting.

So, you may be involved in one of these "Tornado Nursing" situations where things are out of control. Where is the charge nurse in this? Unit Manager? Yeah, they used to blame us saying we were poor at time/task management, No not when the entire shift stays 2 hours late charting, it was typical to not even start charting until after you gave report to 11-7 shift.

Cut you losses, find another job. Unlikely things will change, even with high turn over rates. Your post brought back all these memories, almost had a panic attack:yes:

It took time but things were better for a while but then we got another manager a few years later and it started to deteriorate, ended up leaving after 5 years but it left a bitter taste.

I also remember ratios used to be 6 patients for telemetry, I worked another tele unit afterwards and that was the norm.

NurseStorm, BSN, RN · Nov 6, 2015

Start applying for new positions. While you wait, try to change your outlook that each day you have completed you have gained more experience and knowledge that could help you towards your next position.

Iknowwha2du · Nov 6, 2015

Just because you are new and experienced doesn't mean you have to take all of the attitude that comes from other nurses, meaning pick and choose your battles but stand up for yourself. Explain that you are learning etc., but you don't deserve to be talked to this or that way. Let go of things when you are off because you will need your clear mind to go back to work. I know it is easier said then done but you can do it. Go for a walk or meditate, use guided meditation if you don't know how to do it. I just went and go my nails done today because I go to work tomorrow and at-least I can look at my nails when I get sick of the drama at work. Know that you can't do it all and that you aren't perfect. Even the nurses giving you a hard time make mistakes and aren't perfect even if they act like they aren't. Pat yourself on the back everyday at work no matter what is going on.

Iknowwha2du · Nov 6, 2015

You should have started out in a LTC facility like I did where you have 25-30 patients and your slated to be off at 11 pm because you came in at 3. You work 8 hour days but never leave until 3-4 am in the morning. I do have something to compare my current hospital job to. I can't say my current place of work comes even close to my past job. Seriously where will go from here that will pay you decently other than a nursing home?, however you will loose your mind in a LTC facility. Get a year of experience first before you give up. Nursing as whole is not an easy field.

Iknowwha2du · Nov 6, 2015

I am not sure how most of you got better jobs away from the bedside without hospital experience? When I was unemployed and looking a lot of the non-bedside jobs wanted acute care experience. If you make more money not working in the hospital then you found a gem of a job. I am not stressed when I cash my check and pay my bills. I may be a little stressed at work, but in life you have to pick an choose what you will let get to you the most. There is a time and season for everything. Right now it may not be the best move to leave the hospital. Jobs are hard to come by and even harder when you don't have experience.

MJPN2012 · Nov 6, 2015

Thank you guys. I have felt the same way. I think part of my distress is that I don't want to leave my first job so soon. I wanted this experience and I'm not the type of person to quit easily, knowing that it could affect me getting other jobs. But I have applied. Now I'm scared of the next place being the same, but at least I know what questions to ask the interviewer about the work environment. I think I would feel better if other nurses liked our job but there are only a couple, and they manage to get a decent schedule and workload usually. Like someone said, I feel like life is too short to feel like this. You guys have made me feel less crazy and thank you for that. I honestly feel like I'm a good nurse. I mean, as bad as this job is, I'm sticking with it until I find a way out because I don't give up. I think that management has many issues there. And I would talk to my charge if she wasn't feeling the same way as I am. I wonder sometimes if she's even more miserable than me and I don't want to put my thoughts onto her on top of everything. All I can do right now is see what happens with other jobs. If a better hospital wants to hire me then it would be a life saver. I think you guys have given me some options and some hope :)

MJPN2012 · Nov 6, 2015

I would also like to say that everyone is different. Even though you guys don't know me, I don't want to be judged for what I feel. I realize that nursing is a tough field. I know, from reading other posts, that first jobs can be absolutely miserable. But we're all different and I've learned from you guys actually, which I think is a goal of this forum. What if this job doesn't ever get better? It could and that would be great, but there is also a decent chance that it won't. So I'm going to look for other places while I remain employed and see what happens. It's worth a shot to have a decent life again.