For those of us who graduated in May (or thereabout) how is the first few months of nursing? How are you feeling and where are you working? Thoughts?
I'm working in a PICU at a teaching hospital and I LOVE it! I learn something new everyday and my co-workers are the bomb! I feel supported and there is always someone if I need help/have questions.
There have been some days where I feel very overwhelmed and want to throw in the towel but most days I really enjoy it. I'm thankfully that I work on a very supportive unit to new grad ICU nurses. I had a 10 week orientation and that was adequate I thought....so far so good on my own.
Yesterday was funny for me, I have to share. Everyone had told me that new residents don't know anything but I never really believed it. Well yesterday was the first of the month and the new residents/interns came. The resident who was assigned to one of my patients (we usually have 1-2 patients per nurse) told me it was his first day and he didn't know what he was doing. So *I* the new NURSE had to show him the ropes....she him how our vents worked, etc. He then got assigned to pull back my patients PICC line to 5cm and I had to show him step-by-step how to do that and then I dressed it. ME a NEW nurse?! LOL He was so thankful and kept shaking my hand and telling me how thankful he was.....lol. Hopefully down the road he will remember the nurses who helped him when he didn't know what he was doing :)
Wow, sure wish I could've gone to the happy hospital yall all seem to work at.... I swear, I'm not a negative person by nature, but just by reading the entries here, it makes realize just how much I've given up learning because just trying to make it through the day exhausts me. Long story short: graduated in May, passed in June, hired in July to tele-med/surg, 6 wks orientation, bipolar psycho preceptor, placed on all kinds of committees when I'm still trying to learn the floor, and now, with 6 months under my belt, considering quitting the hospital and maybe nursing because every day is absolutely H E double hockey sticks.... I am a hard worker, and I don't mind working hard. But I feel burnt out already. Long gone is the " wow how cool is that " factor I used to get when learning or seeing something cool.....
I am wondering just what the heck I have done to my life....
I love my patients...but big management is gettin' to me
P.S. I work 5- 8 hour days a week,, one day off in the middle of the week, every other weekend, 0645- (supposed to be 1515- yeah right)... is it just day shift maybe????
I would say the end of November is when I was finally like OH OKAY, I can do this. I think. Before that it was hell. Thought about doing a different major, etc. I work on a busy tele/med floor and I have heard from many that it is a difficult floor to start out on. Why didn't I figure that out before? I have learned a lot and I have come a long way, I think . I started in August and I think now I am somewhat comfortable ... a 7 on a scale of 1-10. That's good enough to not have a breakdown every other day and be comfortable at home. I was just telling another new grad (she just got out of orientation) that it DOES get a little better, even at 5 months. 4 months ago I never would have thought that I would be telling someone that it would get better. :heartbeat
wow, sure wish i could've gone to the happy hospital yall all seem to work at.... i swear, i'm not a negative person by nature, but just by reading the entries here, it makes realize just how much i've given up learning because just trying to make it through the day exhausts me. long story short: graduated in may, passed in june, hired in july to tele-med/surg, 6 wks orientation, bipolar psycho preceptor, placed on all kinds of committees when i'm still trying to learn the floor, and now, with 6 months under my belt, considering quitting the hospital and maybe nursing because every day is absolutely h e double hockey sticks.... i am a hard worker, and i don't mind working hard. but i feel burnt out already. long gone is the " wow how cool is that " factor i used to get when learning or seeing something cool.....
i am wondering just what the heck i have done to my life....
i love my patients...but big management is gettin' to me
you shouldnt quit nursing but you should think about going to another area to work (maybe in the hospital or outside like a doctors office, community health etc.) 6 wks orientation isnt much at all by the way (i had 12). if you dread going to work everyday then it really is time for a change. a nurse should have some good days in between to make that balance. just try another field of nursing because youve worked to hard to get to where you are now.
thanks for the pep talk...I sure do need those lately....you know, even though today I had 3 d/cs, 1 transfer, and 3 admits (one hit at 1400, one at 1405 and one at 1415), was so busy I couldn't see straight and barely had time to pee, it was still a pretty good day....I think it's the whole big boss thing.....it just seems like mgmt is looking for reasons to pick on new grads....aren't we short handed enough?? meanwhile, the nurses that have been there a hundred years get by with doing less and less.....i'm just not sucking enough butt, I guess...
Things aren't going well. I was let go from my job 4 weeks into orientation. I've been looking for another job ever since.
Today I was told I wasn't going to be offered an interview for a job because my school wasn't NLN accredited. It has a national accreditation and is approved by my state, but apparently that isn't good enough. Nor was the fact that I am already licensed and I am eligible for licensure in that state. Their loss. I do have a few phone interviews coming up though, so hopefully things will start to look up.
Glad to read how well everyone else's year is going.
I graduated in May, passed my boards July 28, and finally found a job. It's everything I didn't want (16 hours a week, local, LTC), but I intend to make the most of it, and learn as much as I can. I start Monday.
I have gone on a couple of interviews and potentially have a job lined up on an infant pulmonary/med-surg unit for the end of Jan/beginning of Feb pending budget cut review. I also just interviewed for my dream job in the NICU and am waiting to hear back. It went very well but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I should know one way or the other by the end of the week. I've been working per diem for a few months in pedi psych which I do like (mostly because of my amazing coworkers) but it's not where I see myself as a full-time employee. The job market is really bad out here so all the new grads are just sitting tight waiting. There are some students who graduated two years ago that still do not have jobs and several that just obtained theirs.
I am definitely one of those new grads sitting and waiting... although I was offered a telemetry position I'm unsure of... do you think it's fishy that I was hired on the spot without even seeing the unit or meeting the nurse manager?
do you think it's fishy that I was hired on the spot without even seeing the unit or meeting the nurse manager?
in a word. yes. i would ask to meet with the NM and take a tour before going any further. telemetry floors can be notorious for understaffing and overworking their nurses.
Passed boards in July 2008 and have been working on a telemtry unit since June. I like my co-workers, my manager, and I like the patients, but I'm not so sure I like my job. I couldn't stand my job the first 6 months! I had a 10 week orientation but I was constantly working 1 to 2 hours over every day I went to work after I was on my own. We are suppose to have a 4 to 1 pt to RN ratio on days but often times it would be 5 or sometimes 6. I don't know all the procedures, rules, and other tid bits of info that would allow me to work more effecentily. And even if I could find all the procedures to read I wouldn't do it when I'm off work because I'm so gosh darn tired and slightly depressed therefore totally unmotivated. I finally switched to nights two weeks ago because I really couldn't handle running around like a chicken with my head cut off and going home waiting to see how long it would take for someone to call me and tell me what I did wrong that day. Going to nights has helped me enjoy nursing more, but the depression I have from not being able to spend time with family, friends, or improving my health has only increased. What are you going to do? I'm swimming in debt from school and living off my loans during school, I don't feel like I can afford to do anything but sit at home. My family lives in a different state, my friends are in school or work dayshifts so it is hard for us to get together. I spend a lot of time alone now and I'm fatter than ever. I'm 5'4" and 200lbs. My clothes don't fit unless I wear stuff with streachy waist bands and I don't really have any spare money to spend on clothes.
I feel like if I had not gone to school I would have been able to maintain my weight better. (I weighed what I weigh now 10yrs ago. I lost it and kept it off for 4 yrs before I started nursing school.) I wouldn't be 67,000 dollars in the hole and could possibly pay my bills on time. I would probably have a 8 hour work day, which would be awsome because 12 hour days wipe me out. And while I do like nursing better on nightshifts, I hate the nightshift schedule. I'm 27 yrs old and by now I would have thought I'd be getting married and having some kids. But I didn't have the time to have a social life during school becasue I was working 24hrs a week and going to school full time (not to mention I didn't have any money and nursing school really isn't the best place to meet guys) and now I don't feel like I have the opportunity to meet guys because I work nights, bars are not really where I want to meet my future husband, and again the medical field is chaulked full of women so there are not that many single men to meet at work. Plus the fact that I feel fat and unattractive.
What do you do? Can't quit because I would owe the hospital money (not to mention I still have to pay my bills), can't move to a different floor because there are no other openings, can't change shifts because I can't stand days. I like nursing. I like caring for and teaching people, but I really wish I could do that and work reasonable hours, have a reasonable work load, and be able to spend at least one day a week with my friends.
sparketteinok
136 Posts
Wow, sure wish I could've gone to the happy hospital yall all seem to work at.... I swear, I'm not a negative person by nature, but just by reading the entries here, it makes realize just how much I've given up learning because just trying to make it through the day exhausts me. Long story short: graduated in May, passed in June, hired in July to tele-med/surg, 6 wks orientation, bipolar psycho preceptor, placed on all kinds of committees when I'm still trying to learn the floor, and now, with 6 months under my belt, considering quitting the hospital and maybe nursing because every day is absolutely H E double hockey sticks.... I am a hard worker, and I don't mind working hard. But I feel burnt out already. Long gone is the " wow how cool is that " factor I used to get when learning or seeing something cool.....
I am wondering just what the heck I have done to my life....
I love my patients...but big management is gettin' to me