6 months in and not sure if this is what I should be doing

[shalu93]

Hi all,

I graduated from nursing school in 2017 and started working on the hospital floor for a speciality a few months later. I do like what I do but at the same time I feel like maybe I'm not cut out for this field. I hate that I leave work every day feeling like my care wasn't to it's utmost potential or my charting isn't everything it could be and feeling live I've been stretched thin for 12 hours. I love taking care of people but I feel like I'm just touching the surface for my patients because I have 100 different things to be doing at the same time.

I also had to move 3 hours away from friends and family for this job, which isn't a big deal, but just sleeping and working when I'm in the new city really eats at me too.

Are having these kind of doubts normal? Also what are other fields one could do with a BSN (and a BA in public health policy) that isn't the hospital or a long term facility?

[llg, PhD, RN]

What you describe sounds perfectly normal to me. You're in a tough situation, still adjusting to a new career, not having a lot of social support nearby, etc. You say you "like what you do." That is super important -- and tells me that you are cut out to do that type of work. You're just going through a rough patch along the road to settling into your profession.

I recommend giving it a little longer in your current job. Try to make some friends where you now work and live to give you some healthy social interaction and support. As you approach the 1-year mark, you'll be in a better position to find a job in a location that suits you better -- assuming you still feel the way you do. But who knows? If you make a few friends and settle into your current living situation, you might find yourself much happier in a couple of months.