I don't know if I should be a nurse

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Hi. I am a new grad RN. I don't know if I should be a nurse.

1. I really really REALLY despise night shifts. I hate staying up all night. I hate being exhausted all the time and feeling sick all the time. I followed all the tips and tricks for doing nights and I still hate it to no end.

2. I hate the hospital. I hate how chaotic it is. I hate how sick everyone is and how I have to be responsible for them. I hate how gossipy and catty coworkers are to each other. I hate how management dumps work onto staff that makes our lives harder.

3. I don't have enough compassion. I want people to be safe and comfortable but I am not a sentimental person who enjoys being exhausted just to be a hero. And rude/ abusive patients irritate me. I am trying my best to help you, just be decent to me and that's that. I don't care if you say please/thank you but at least don't yell at me for minor things.

4. I hate how competitive the job market is. I have no desire to live a bajillion miles from my friends and family in an area I am unfamiliar with and vulnerable in just to work nights and be underpaid and get yelled at by patients and have catty coworkers. I am 4'11 and very petite and living somewhere rural all alone scares me.

I don't know if I should have become a nurse. I am tough but not that tough. I was a very sentimental and idealistic person when I started school but now that I have graduated and started working...I don't think so anymore. I don't have the usual newgrad woes of "Oh I don't think I am good enough at the tasks!".

I just think I hate nursing. I want nothing more than to work regular hours, be able to sleep at night, and to be able to live somewhere pleasant and safe with decent schools around me--ideally close to home. I don't have the patience to endure a few years of suffering before switching to a clinic job or going on for a higher degree.

I have learned that there are people who somehow managed to find careers that make a difference in peoples' lives, make a decent living, and work regular hours without going through nursing or the medical field.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Gosh, I'm so sorry you are having such a rough time. Some suggestions

1. Exhaustion clouds everything. You have got to get enough sleep and if you can, you need to consider a job change.

2. Hospitals nowadays are chaotic. The pts are very ill. Do you feel you got an adequate orientation? Can you discuss this with your educator?

3. The cattiness is unfortunately present too in high stress jobs. Ignore it the best you can.

4. You are a new nurse. Give yourself a break. It takes awhile, sometimes years to feel comfortable with your job. Does your hospital or unit have mentors? A more experienced nurse who can help you wade thru the chaos?

best wishes. I'm sorry you are going thru this. It does get easier.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Gosh, I'm so sorry you are having such a rough time. Some suggestions

1. Exhaustion clouds everything. You have got to get enough sleep and if you can, you need to consider a job change.

2. Hospitals nowadays are chaotic. The pts are very ill. Do you feel you got an adequate orientation? Can you discuss this with your educator?

3. The cattiness is unfortunately present too in high stress jobs. Ignore it the best you can.

4. You are a new nurse. Give yourself a break. It takes awhile, sometimes years to feel comfortable with your job. Does your hospital or unit have mentors? A more experienced nurse who can help you wade thru the chaos?

best wishes. I'm sorry you are going thru this. It does get easier.

Agree.

Nursing is a business, and you must treat as such for the well being for your health; nursing can be stressful, but with success can be very enjoyable, and that means being based in reality, looking at the positives and going from there.

It is a steep learning curve; learning how to deal with personalities of you peers as well as pts in their most vulnerable gutter-bound sickness is an art in itself-remember therapeutic communication in Mental health class? use those techniques and assess who needs than and apply that to those who need it.

Use a brain sheet-get organized! It will help you focus and keep on task. There are plenty of great examples here-just use the search option to get a few and tweak to your practice.

Also-being short has nothing to do with anything; straighten up that spine and look people straight on the eye; I'm short and no one, and I do mean no one, ever took advantage or made me feel less or passive; assertiveness is the key...if you have to practice, PRACTICE...being able to advocate is KEY in this business.

Learn to decompress; skype and try to visit your family and friends if possible; try to find local interests, I know it may be hard in a rural area, but try to connect with others in you area; sometimes social media is a great way to find others in the are that are experiencing the same thing.

Lastly, being in a undesirable area happens to many nurses, including myself, who BTDT and have went on to develop an wonderful niche. Gain your experience, then move on back home or to another desirable destination...it gets better. :yes:

Best wishes.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Try to find an outpatient job on your days off. I have found applying even if I do not fit all the criteria works eventually.

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Specializes in public health.

If you can afford to quit your job, I'd say try something different first before you quit nursing period. Try a doctor's office, flu clinic, something more predictable and have nice schedule.

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Gosh, I'm so sorry you are having such a rough time. Some suggestions

1. Exhaustion clouds everything. You have got to get enough sleep and if you can, you need to consider a job change.

2. Hospitals nowadays are chaotic. The pts are very ill. Do you feel you got an adequate orientation? Can you discuss this with your educator?

3. The cattiness is unfortunately present too in high stress jobs. Ignore it the best you can.

4. You are a new nurse. Give yourself a break. It takes awhile, sometimes years to feel comfortable with your job. Does your hospital or unit have mentors? A more experienced nurse who can help you wade thru the chaos?

best wishes. I'm sorry you are going thru this. It does get easier.

Thank you! Aww :)

My unit doesn't have a unit educator. I get enough sleep but I am very tired because I still have things to do in the day like meetings, etc. for work. I think I got more than enough education. Ironically, my coworkers tell me I am doing very well and one even said I am excelling. I should be proud/grateful but I am not which may mean this is not for me. Everyone gossips a lot about each other and people have come to me asking me questions saying "so and so said XYZ about you" and it's like one true thing and several random untrue things. And if I ask certain people questions they make comments like "you should know this by now" or yell at me. I don't take it personally but it irritates me.

I have some more experienced nurses who I talk to but they all say things like "this place is awful" and "if you can go back to school now, do it" LOL

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Try to find an outpatient job on your days off. I have found applying even if I do not fit all the criteria works eventually.

I applied to several outpatient jobs. In my hometown I have heard nothing from anyone because I only have a few months of experience and I am from a competitive area. However a few rural places 500-600 miles from home have called me. I don't know how I feel about relocating for non acute care experience and how hard it will be to come home after a year or two.

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Hello humbl,

Be thankful you have job and try to find the positive things about your position. Do you like any of your coworkers? Do you gain satisfaction out of seeing your patients improve? Reflect on why you went to nursing school in the first place. If you have passion for nursing, maybe you just haven't found your niche. I agree that you might want to seek employment in another institution or area of nursing. Take time to think about your decision to continue practicing as a registered nurse, but if you find you truly hate your job something should change. Good luck to you. To be blunt, as an unemployed new grad, I don't think it is fair for you to reserve an unwanted position while there are so many of us that would be grateful for your position.

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Hello humbl,

Be thankful you have job and try to find the positive things about your position. Do you like any of your coworkers? Do you gain satisfaction out of seeing your patients improve? Reflect on why you went to nursing school in the first place. If you have passion for nursing, maybe you just haven't found your niche. I agree that you might want to seek employment in another institution or area of nursing. Take time to think about your decision to continue practicing as a registered nurse, but if you find you truly hate your job something should change. Good luck to you. To be blunt, as an unemployed new grad, I don't think it is fair for you to reserve an unwanted position while there are so many of us that would be grateful for your position.

To be blunt, if you have been out of school for over 8 months and cannot find a job at all then it is your own doing. Believe me, there are a ton of jobs out there, regardless of what allnurses will tell you. They are all in the rural, weird places out in the boondocks.

Go apply to the rural prisons, rural clinics, very rural hospitals, and rural departments of public health 500+ miles from home. Don't want those? Then don't complain, because they are hiring new grads with wide open arms, believe me.

I earned my job fair and square and I earn any job I get fair and square. Just because I am unhappy doesn't mean I don't work hard and do my best at what I do.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Wow - a little harsh - especially considering how PPs have been so empathetic to your situation. This type of hyper-critical response does not reflect well on the poster.

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Wow - a little harsh - especially considering how PPs have been so empathetic to your situation. This type of hyper-critical response does not reflect well on the poster.

Sorry...I hear a lot of harsh criticism on here in a regular basis and I get very defensive on the Internet. I understand that she/he is having a hard time finding a job but if she applied to rural obscure places like I did she/he would be gainfully employed.

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To be blunt, if you have been out of school for over 8 months and cannot find a job at all then it is your own doing. Believe me, there are a ton of jobs out there, regardless of what allnurses will tell you. They are all in the rural, weird places out in the boondocks.

Go apply to the rural prisons, rural clinics, very rural hospitals, and rural departments of public health 500+ miles from home. Don't want those? Then don't complain, because they are hiring new grads with wide open arms, believe me.

I earned my job fair and square and I earn any job I get fair and square. Just because I am unhappy doesn't mean I don't work hard and do my best at what I do.

You want support then you post something like this? Are you kidding us?

Frankly, your issues, while valid, are childish triviality compared to the real stresses of being an experienced nurse. You still don't even know what you don't know.

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