Lost...

[kaygbean]

Hello everyone. It's come to the point where I need advice from fellow nurses and not just my mom/boyfriend :/

I graduated from nursing school in May 2014...so in a couple months it will already be a year since graduation.

When I graduated and passed the NCLEX, I applied at a variety of places. Mostly hospitals and rehab facilities. The only interview I ever got was with a short term rehab facility. I got the job in September 2014 and have worked there since.

At first it was overwhelming. I had about three days of orientation and since then the most amount of patients I have had was 23. All for myself.

Recently things have gotten very bad at work. We are short staffed and are becoming even more short staffed. I am still a new nurse and it seems like my boss/everyone else expects me to know it all. I have worked so hard there only to be treated poorly and very overworked at this point. I am working over 40 hours a week and I am exhausted physically and also (mostly) mentally.

I have gotten to the point where I dread work. I didn't used to mind going. But I worry and my anxiety has sky rocketed. I have started hating being a nurse and I am afraid constantly of losing my license over something stupid. I worked too hard in nursing school for that.

I have been applying everywhere I can but have heard nothing. I don't want to work where I am for another whole month when the new schedule comes out but I also know that I am a grown up now and I want to have another job because I give my current my two weeks notice. My parents say they will support me (god love them) in the mean time but I feel like I need to stay strong and do this the right way.

But I don't know where to go from here. I am so lost and I don't want to hate my life like I do now.

Help?

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

The jobs I ended up dreading were jobs I left, usually after suffering through more than I needed to because "I am not a quitter "

Pffft on that. A thoroughly 'bad' job isn't your fault, nor do you 'owe' anyone there, except perhaps the patients. There is no right or wrong, not in the long run. If you would think less of yourself to take your parent's offer, then don't do it. But there is no LAW against putting in your notice whenever you want to, with a new job in the wings or not.

I've made decisions other's wouldn't make and survived. I haven't been the most utterly cautious and 'do it the RIGHT way' based on some over-inflated superego voice in my head.

It's just really SOMETHING if you dread going to your job. Life is too short for trying to score an A+ in some vague notion of what is RIGHT. It may be right, but is it right for you, in this situation, at this time in your life? Does it add to or prolong your misery? Then how could that be right? Besides, after the stress of the current job, it might do you good to have a brief 'break'. Work stress is insidious and sneaks up on you before you know it. We wonder why abused women don't leave their abusive husbands, but noooooo, we can't leave the job where we're understaffed, unsafe, run ragged and mistreated by management.

Make yourself the important factor. You'll be a nurse for a good long time.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Go to a professional and have them give you pointers on your resume and cover letter. Actively search the websites of local facilities for their job openings. Meanwhile, if you have the opportunity to take ACLS, PALS, NALS...any certifications which would make you more marketable, take them.

If there is not a full time opening, you could see about per diem. Meanwhile, learn all you can from your current position. If you can (and do) organize a large number of patients, use that as a good thing moving forward. If there is a specialty that you are interested in, that can work in your favor "after obtaining a good foundation in nursing skills with a large, varied patient load, I am motivated to work in ______________, and would like to receive a certification in the same. Currently, I have ACLS_____________(whatever else you have.) Some blurb about "patient centered care" and the facility mission statement.

Perhaps the best thing your parents can do is allow you to stock away money for the time that you would not be employed. However, if you actively pursue polishing your resume and cover letter, hopefully that will not be for long.

Currently, if there are things you are not sure of, know where to find the information and who to go to. "Bless you for having such confidence in my abilities, however, I am unclear on the procedure. Where is an acceptable place to find that information?"

Chin up, keep your eye on the prize...and know who it is that is your go-to if there's a patient safety risk--either your charge, a supervisor on call--and GET malpractice insurance, today.

Best wishes!

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Moved to AN's First Year After Nursing Licensure forum. Please read the many threads here for advice in making your decision.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

You are young enough and have enough support to bail on this place. Just do it professionally. Give proper notice and truly work through your last day.

Then, make looking for work your full-time job. Tons of threads here with great tips so follow them all. Something will come of that if you truly treat it like your only job is to do all the work to find a better job.

[caliotter3]

I think you should have taken a minimum of a one week vacation and told the employer it was for "job stress", if they gave you a hard time. Then I think you should have stuck with the job while looking for another. Now your notice is given, so, short of rescinding your notice, you will be without a job shortly. You seem to be aware of your situation. Good luck.