I've given this job 6 months and...I still hate it (vent)

Nurses New Nurse

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I’m a new grad I started in a subacute rehab facility fresh out of graduation. I always wanted to work in ICU or step-down, maybe moon light in acute psych. However, this was just not to be. I graduated and could only secure this job because of previously working there before. I’ve tried to tell myself I enjoy this job, but as time lags on I feel so dissatisfied with it. Most of the time I’m there I feel like a glorified CNA. I rarely if ever do a head to toe assessment. I feel like all I ever do is go in put people to bed, change some wound dressings, put someone in the shower, put pts on the commode, pass a pain medication…every now and then something critical happens like a high BP or a low BG, but that’s about as deep as it goes.

I want to really get out there and learn. I want to do assessments, and really track pt’s conditions when they are a little more acutely ill. However, my time in subacute makes me doubt my skills now. I want to get into a hospital program and learn about EKG’s, RRT, titrating drugs for BP, fluid balance, shock, codes, managing lines, ect. These skills happen rarely where I work. I want to put on my critical thinking cap, not just my physical skills gloves.

I’ve started applying to different positions in hospitals but I feel like I’m still getting hit with a brick wall. I really can’t see myself sticking around this job for more than a year without losing my sanity. I know the answer is to just keep applying. I’m thankful to have work in these rough economic times…but I tell you I’d change up jobs in a heartbeat rather than stay here.

I think I’m in the wrong specialty. Anyone else hit this wall during their nursing career? Thanks for reading this vent. Not all days are bad, some days i leave feeling like i've made a difference, but i just want something different. Something more challenging....

OP - I think you should hang in there for a few more months, because most prospective employers prefer at least a year of experience as a post grad, so it is easier to find a job.

Actually, it sounds to me as if you are assessing your patients when you assist with ADLs, and often during these moments pts will open up and talk about their problems - this is a time when I get to assess breathing, pain, skin, mobility, mental status, not to mention GI and GU, circulatory system etc. It's also a great time to establish a professional/therapeutic rapport.

Stethoscopes, monitors and machines provide valuable information, but working hands on with your patients and providing basic care will hone your diagnostic skills, because you will be able to recognize problems and detect status changes before an x ray or scan... or a monitor and be able to pre-empt complications by early intervention.

This is a valuable skill to take with you when you work in a more acute setting, which I am certain future employers will recognize.

Bottom line, technology can be boring - machines only make bleeping sounds (often for no reason), pts have a wealth of lifetime experiences to relate and by listening to their stories you are making a huge difference in their lives.

Yes I felt the same way I worked in a rehabilitation facility as well for 3months. I could not take it, the only good thing about it was the pay. But I figured the pay did not equate to me being knowledgable in skills/or being allowed to critically think. I kept applying to differ hospitals as well and was receivng no luck (we dont hire new grads). Eventually I applied to the fed. prison (last place I ever thought) and the expe is great. Just take in into consideration you will get to see things you wont even see in the hosp. But @ the end of the day regardless of what type of nursing your doing your making a difference. Good luck; follow your heart!

I want to really get out there and learn. I want to do assessments, and really track pt's conditions when they are a little more acutely ill. However, my time in subacute makes me doubt my skills now. I want to get into a hospital program and learn about EKG's, RRT, titrating drugs for BP, fluid balance, shock, codes, managing lines, ect. These skills happen rarely where I work. I want to put on my critical thinking cap, not just my physical skills gloves.

I've started applying to different positions in hospitals but I feel like I'm still getting hit with a brick wall. I really can't see myself sticking around this job for more than a year without losing my sanity. I know the answer is to just keep applying. I'm thankful to have work in these rough economic times...but I tell you I'd change up jobs in a heartbeat rather than stay here.

It is draining to go into a job you don't like day after day with no end in sight. Despite perhaps just not finding this work stimulating, does this job run you ragged and leave you wiped out? Are your co-workers and admininstrators good team members or more like adversaries? Is your workload reasonable? Does it allow you to provide quality nursing care? My point there is that it may be more than just the level of care that you're dissatisfied with in this position.

As you well know, there's a very tight job market right now. So if you can hang on, you've already got your solution: Just keep applying. You could also consider volunteering at a local hospital, becoming an active member in a nursing organization, or other nursing-related activites that could boost both your resume and, perhaps more importantly, networking opportunities.

Meanwhile, as another posted noted, this experience is *NOT* useless. When you do land that higher acuity job that you want, the transition will likely *much* smoother than starting as an inexperienced new grad. You'll have seen hundreds of patients and their various combination of conditions and variability of symptomatology; that exposure is *priceless* in building and maintaining strong assessment and clinical judgement skills.

Keep on keeping on!

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

This is the beauty of human nature. We all have varied personalities and are seeking very different things, and I believe that this causes the world to go 'round.

I'm totally opposite of you. I feel very comfortable in the subacute setting because I enjoy predictability, the same routine, patients who are in stable condition, the completion of tasks, paperwork, and a pace that is steady but not too overwhelming. I freak out when one of my patients has an acute change in condition. I'm a laid-back, blase type-B personality who is not really looking for much action.

You seem like a type-A personality who would do well in a critical care unit. I sincerely hope that you find your niche because life is too short to be working in a specialty that you deeply dislike. Good luck to you!

Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

i think i’m in the wrong specialty. anyone else hit this wall during their nursing career? thanks for reading this vent. not all days are bad, some days i leave feeling like i've made a difference, but i just want something different. something more challenging....

yep!!! if it makes you feel better, i have never worked anywhere but a hospital setting and i have felt as you have felt working in two hospitals. do not assume that if you are working in a hospital you will get the type of patients you wish, because it is not true. when i graduated i landed my dream job in ccu and er-obs. however, it was brief! one of the floors closed and i had to work a med surg floor that was the worse in the hospital. the floor was sooooooooooo predictable i thought i was going to go insane. it was busy (as i am sure you are busy), but the patient conditions were not critical!! if the patient condition changed, i had to transfer the patient. in other words, i did not get to care for the type of patients i wanted. :crying2: to preserve my sanity, i applied and landed a job in an er away from my home because the er in my hospital was not going to take me (i was still a new grad). i thought my luck changed initally with my current job, but it did not.

when i started at my current job i was placed on the least difficult and the least critical patients and never once oriented on traumas! in fact, my orientation was joke! note, that only 1 or 2 other nurses were treated like me. the rest were oriented on critical patients and that had less work experience (popular local grads). i did not quit, despite my dissapointment. rather i did some of what another poster suggested... i started attending trainings on my own through nursing organizations. i also started to teach myself by walking in on traumas that were not my own and caring for patients without asking for permission.

i know that you do not have access to critical patients, but you have access to critical care knowledge through critical care courses offered by various organizations, such as the ana. by the way, hiring managers are active in the local ana chapters.

after i am finished with my bsn in december, i will spend another two months working with my current employer while applying to others. i also am signing up to take my cen and nrp. what is the use of acls, pals, tncc, nrp etc. without icu experience? well, it will help you to gain the knowledge you wish plus some of the certs you need for the icu. this should help to ease your mind as you wait to land a hospital job. it may also look good on your resume, which you should have on you at all times along with business cards; especially, when you attend your local ana meetings. gl and stay focused! remember, you are an icu nurse working in ltc at this time.

thank you all so much for the advice!

"bottom line, technology can be boring - machines only make bleeping sounds (often for no reason), pts have a wealth of lifetime experiences to relate and by listening to their stories you are making a huge difference in their lives."

i really appreciated that comment. it really brought a smile to my face. it's true that machines aren't perfect, and often do just bleep, i just want to learn how to use them. however, i like that you brought another way of making a difference i hadn't really thought of.

"eventually i applied to the fed. prison (last place i ever thought) and the expe is great. just take in into consideration you will get to see things you wont even see in the hosp."

here are so many different places to work i had never even thought of the prison system. wow! i'll definitely think on it!

"after i am finished with my bsn in december, i will spend another two months working with my current employer while applying to others. i also am signing up to take my cen and nrp. what is the use of acls, pals, tncc, nrp etc. without icu experience? well, it will help you to gain the knowledge you wish plus some of the certs you need for the icu. this should help to ease your mind as you wait to land a hospital job. it may also look good on your resume, which you should have on you at all times along with business cards; especially, when you attend your local ana meetings. gl and stay focused! remember, you are an icu nurse working in ltc at this time."

great advice! i had thought of joining a local nursing group, but i could never decided on what to join. i guess it sounds silly but i hadn't even thought of the ana. thank you!

thank you all for your comments and advice. you all have such a wealth of knowledge to share. i had worried that this experience would be worthless, but at this job it is correct i'm finally getting that 6th sense of when something is going wrong. it's not the greatest sense at all lol, but at least i know it's getting there. thank you all again!

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