Job hopper? advice?

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Hey, I'm always lurking here so decided to post my dilemma to see what you guys think. Sorry it's so long.

I have been a nurse altogether for a year now. My first job I had to move to another state because finding work in my home state as a new grad nurse is almost impossible. I started on a busy med-surg floor with 5-6 patients per nurse but I absolutely hated the job! I hated my unit and also hated the new city I was living in. I was soon offered a position in a hospital in my home state and decided to take it so I can move back home, so after 7 months I left my first job. I am now working in a very busy med-surg/oncology unit with 8 to 10 patients per nurse and have been there now for 5 months and once again I absolutely hate my job. I now have realized that I hate med-surg and/or bed-side nursing. This is not for me. I thought with the first job I was just home sick and if I came back I'd be ok but now that I am working in a hospital near home, I've realized that I cannot work in med-surg. I'm so overwhelmed at work, constantly crying, I literally begin to feel sick on the days I know I have to work, I just can't deal anymore. I want to go into clinic nursing, I feel I will be more comfortable in this setting however I'm afraid of pursuing this because I'm afraid I'll look like a "job-hopper" since I've only spent a matter of months at 2 jobs within the past year. What do you guys think? Should I stick it out with my current job so it doesn't look like I bounce from job to job or should I go ahead and try applying for some clinics anyway where I'm sure I'll be happier?

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Specializes in Ambulatory Surgery, PACU,SICU.

I guess you can always apply. You might have to explain something about your work history, perhaps you can talk about the scheduling difficulities or something else neutral.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Start looking for something else & keep your job until you find something else. People in the industry know why nurses are leaving the Med-surg environment in droves, you just need to say, if asked, that it is not for you and you need a different environment that will allow you to perform at 100%. You may have a few "job hopper" interviews but someone, somewhere, will be happy to help you work in the capacity the Lord is leading you towards.

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Thanks for the replies! I'm going to start looking but definitely keeping my job until something comes up.

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