Is it time to give up the dream

[AesthesiaSeeker]

Hey y'all (sorry from TX can't help it), I've got to ask for advice.

Long story short I love nursing. I loved nursing school, I loved clinicals, I loved being with my patients and I loved the path I was on. I got into an awesome new grad ICU program and was over the moon.

Oh and I also have Asperger's/HFA which may come into play later.

And then it all went to crap.

ICU new grad program went 'bye bye' when my HR rep sent the email about the final meeting to the wrong email address (I was in the ICU program, the different department heads wanted to meet everyone and determine who they wanted on their floor or not). I called, sent emails, everything I could do to figure out what was going on - I couldn't get through to anyone. it wasn't until the HR rep checked his outbox that he apologized for the 'inconvenience' I think was his word.

So I went to a tele floor, the only thing I could find and thought it was something I could do; I hated it. And I wasn't good at it. So that floor sent me to the hospital's SNF - which was even worse.

I could type out the whole long story about what exactly happened but it was the deadly trifecta - wrong place, wrong time and wrong circumstances - (I both acknowledge and accept that I had a role in this AND I took responsibility for my part) but that's tedious and too detail-oriented for what I'm looking for advice on. I've talked about it in previous posts before and if you're interested about the story it's there, I just don't want to waste anybody's time with it.

I ended up getting fired from that first nursing job, after only 9 months of experience. Nine months means I'm not a 'new/recent/new grad' BUT I'm also not an 'experienced' nurse which where I live experienced = at least one year of experience.

I lost my apartment, my friends that are 8 hours away, moved back in with my strict as crap parents who literally are still grounding me at age 26 - essentially my freedom. I'm working at McDonald's just to keep some money rolling in.

I want to be an ICU nurse. I loved the environment, I loved the floor, and they loved me too. That ICU I applied to was the one that was going to give me my job.

Realistically...do I even stand a chance at ever getting an ICU job or is my head just in the clouds?

Not looking for sympathy or someone to magically say 'always follow your dreams', just want to know if floor nursing will ever be an option for me again or whether I should use my nursing degree for something else.

[gottagetmyrn]

I am not the best person for advice, but my 2 cents? Own what happened. Kudos to you for at least working at McDonald's and not completely giving up on life...but seriously. You are a nurse. You may have to put in your due time and work anywhere that will be willing to hire you. That means you have to be consistently putting in applications everywhere and not giving up bc you had some bad experiences. No one is going to want to hire you coming from McDonalds. And while I respect that you had to do what you had to do, please don't just throw in the towel so easily. Keep trying. Really think about all of the ways you need to improve yourself, brush up that resume and get back out there. You may have a hard time getting that icu job, but who knows if you might land something else that you liked in the mean time. Just keep trying. And if after you have done all you could and still aren't happy, then maybe you can consider if it's right for you to seek another profession. But you worked hard for that degree and you don't need to give up quite so easily. Just my thoughts! Good luck to you!!!