I hate my job and I can't get out.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

So I have been an RN since March 2011. In Sept. 2011, I moved 1,600 miles to get a new grad job in a clinic ( that is all they would offer) . I got a sign on bonus and had to sign a one year contract. After about 7 months I asked if I could transfer to the hospital and my manager agreed. I interviewed for a rotating position on the surgical floor. I was excited to get the experience and finally feel like a real nurse. Well, now I'm in a nightmare. When I first started the ratios were 1:4 on days and 1:7 on nights. This hospital has problems keeping staff but I figured the ratios were not too bad and I could get some overtime. Well now 5 weeks in they changed everything. No more over time pay at all. The ratios are now 1:6 on days and 1:8 on nights. They even cut back on what we chart IV's and PCA's once a shift now instead of Q4. They didn't want nurses staying past their shift to chart. They are tightening up and now saying they are fully staffed which is a lie. They employ over 30 travel nurses right now. My orientation is up soon and I'm really worried. I don't see how I can safely take care of that many patients. The last day I worked I had 5 patients : #1 MVA with chest tube and spinal fractures, #2 fresh post op appy, # 3 was a patient with a trach , spinal fractures, and feeding tube ,# 4 and# 5 were patients detoxing off alcohol after MVA's . This week I'm supposed to take 6 patients and I feel overwhelmed.

Specializes in Pediatrics.
What do you mean by "social medicine"? If you are tying to say "Universal Healthcare" check out the waes of Canadian nurses. |We don't work for chump change and the vast majority in my province are unionized. It's only those working in doctors offices and a few clinics that are non-union and their employers pretty much match the union rate to keep staff.

One more thing, unions are a huge expense that we as nurses have to pay for. I want that money for myself. I believe that another way to interpret what you're seeing is that the doctors are able to pay the nurses the desired salaries without the unions and without having to bow to the union. Our management is approachable and look after our best interests. That is who we pay to be in charge.

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Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.
What do you mean by "social medicine"? If you are tying to say "Universal Healthcare" check out the waes of Canadian nurses. |We don't work for chump change and the vast majority in my province are unionized. It's only those working in doctors offices and a few clinics that are non-union and their employers pretty much match the union rate to keep staff.

How much do you get to take home?

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30 per cent bracket. $31/hour.

You really drink the Koolaid that Fox News dispenses?

There are opt out clauses for those don't want union membership. But remember who got you paid vacations and stay holidays,overtime pay, maternity leave (and yes we agree your nations is pathetic).

People in your country also die. We don't have to sell the farm to obtain life saving surgery.

Had a patient recently who didn't like the idea of a possible six month wait for surgery. Got a bank loan to head to country. Week before she was due head south (8th week on the waitlist) she came to the top of our list. The surgeon told us yesterday she's still getting calls from the USA demanding fees for services that she never had and she expects his office to fix it.

Believe what your politicians tell you.

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Unions hold employers in check, or at least are there to provide some support. At my work if you even mention the word union they'll fire you. I have always worked in pro employer states who take great advantage of this, and treat employees like trash. I WISH we had someone there to help stop the madness. My current employer just did away with a benefit. They gave us a 30 day notice. Now, if you have to be out for more than 7 days you now only get paid approx 30% of your pay..Those first 7 days they use out of your combined vacation/illness bank -so you won't get a vacation that year. This includes if you have surgery, illness, or pregnancy. So you better not get sick, injured or pregnant. Oh yeah and the 500 plus hours that your had earned previously to cover these periods of being out- Oh yeah FYI you aren't going to get paid for those. SORRY.. Sh+ttiest thing I have had an employer do to me so far.. :down: Don't think that a union would have allowed this.

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to the op, if you want to go back to your former area , can you start applying, then buy yourself out of the contract? i moved for a job as a new grad and the first few months were awful ! like the ones you described. nothing changed until managers had to work the floor and deAl with it the they couldnt justify all new grads, high ratios and general garbage

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Wow. No advice to offer. Just, how awful. I'll be thinking of you.

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Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.
30 per cent bracket. $31/hour.

You really drink the Koolaid that Fox News dispenses?

There are opt out clauses for those don't want union membership. But remember who got you paid vacations and stay holidays,overtime pay, maternity leave (and yes we agree your nations is pathetic).

People in your country also die. We don't have to sell the farm to obtain life saving surgery.

Had a patient recently who didn't like the idea of a possible six month wait for surgery. Got a bank loan to head to country. Week before she was due head south (8th week on the waitlist) she came to the top of our list. The surgeon told us yesterday she's still getting calls from the USA demanding fees for services that she never had and she expects his office to fix it.

Believe what your politicians tell you.

All I asked was how much you pay in taxes; I was just curious.

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My union actually twarted the sale of my facility to a shady company. When the facility was then sold to a different company with a better reputation, the union protected our contract and prevented layoffs of senior nurses only to be replaced with younger, cheaper nurses. Without the union we would have gotten a much worse deal on PTO, annual percentage increases, health insurance, job security, etc. Our union dues are a few dollars per pay check. I often wonder if the people who do all the union bashing have ever actually been in a union, because everything they claim simply isn't true (tyranny, expensive dues, etc).

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Specializes in Cardiac/Neuro Stepdown.

Tyvin: Canadian's pay MUCH more in taxes, income tax, sales, property etc. I moved down south a number of years ago, tired of being taxed to death.

Fiona59: Ignore Ms. Sensibility shes got problems of her own making to deal with, i dont think she'll be vouching for society anytime soon.

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I have learned the hard way, through experience, that it is a mistake to move between one job to the next related to common issues in nursing: unreasonable ratios, not enough clinical support, etc. The common problems found in all nursing jobs will not change from job to job.

Instead of leaving your current job, verbalize your concerns to your preceptor and, if need be, your nurse manager. They may have good advice, and support, to give you. I can pretty much tell you that the grass is not greener on the other side. There is no such thing as the perfect nursing job. Make the most out of the job that you currently have, doing the best you can with time management and patient care. In your daily tasks, always put safety first. Slow down when passing your meds, know why you are giving them and if they are still appropriate to the patient's condition. Do nursing procedures right the first time. Round on your patients the best that you can, checking in with your NAs to ensure that they have seen nothing out of the ordinary. Hospital nursing on the floor is really a team effort. No one really accomplishes anything on their own.

With the stress of your work environment, give praise to the nurses and nurse assistants around you who help make the day go a bit better, who really make a difference in patient care. Ultimately, take care of eachother. Of the jobs that I have had, the one thing that I value most is the camraderie and support of my nursing peers. Work becomes like a second home. Your fellow nurses are your family.

When you need to vent, do so with a nursing buddy (a close friend). Have a life outside of work.

I hope that this helps. Give your current job more time. There is alot of change going on for you at work. Make the best out of what you have to work with. That is all that you can do.

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

Those ratios sound like what I had as a new grad. I don't think things are all that different. Sounds like you had a 6 week orientation, which again, seems pretty typical and fair. I don't think this sounds like an unusual or unsafe situation at all. I seriously doubt you are going to find drastically different circumstances elsewhere. I think what you have are normal jitters. Relax and take it one day at a time.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
30 per cent bracket. $31/hour.

You really drink the Koolaid that Fox News dispenses?

There are opt out clauses for those don't want union membership. But remember who got you paid vacations and stay holidays,overtime pay, maternity leave (and yes we agree your nations is pathetic).

People in your country also die. We don't have to sell the farm to obtain life saving surgery.

Had a patient recently who didn't like the idea of a possible six month wait for surgery. Got a bank loan to head to country. Week before she was due head south (8th week on the waitlist) she came to the top of our list. The surgeon told us yesterday she's still getting calls from the USA demanding fees for services that she never had and she expects his office to fix it.

Believe what your politicians tell you.

I make more than that. I know those who have worked a long time make a lot more than that. Does your hospital have a benefits department? Ours does and they are hired to work on our behalf for all the things you mentioned above without union dues. It is about 2 people that service hundreds. Everyone from the top to the bottom gets those benefits. How horrible if you felt you didn't have the money for the dues and were disallowed benefits as a result. That is a lack of freedom. We don't like that. We like to choose where we put our money.

The fact that the Canadian even felt compelled to go to the USA to get care speaks volumes about how they felt about being on a waiting list for six months. Most people in that situation do not want to be on a waiting list. I have never felt that I wasn't getting good care here or that I wasn't getting it in a timely manner. We don't have that here. You need surgery, you get it. The problem isn't the medical care here. It's your system that doesn't work and the fact that this poor person took out a loan to get help. The burden is on you, not the USA. People sign contracts who are private pay, which is why they get letters for those things. I have no idea if the person got any care at all, but if they did, they have to pay.

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