6 months

[ThanksForAllTheFish!]

New grad Aug '08. Started internship in the ICU in Sept '08. Currently working nights (have requested transfer to days). I have been on my own since the end of January. Next week will be the 6mth mark for me. The truth is I am sick of bedside nursing and the place I'm working at. Don't get me wrong there are some good things and people (and some bad) where I work, but it feels like I'm trying to put a square peg in a round hole. My previous degree and job was in research and I am looking into going back into it as a nurse. I not a "quitter" and I've always been work well with others but it feels like (and I have been told) ever since I started working there that I am getting a reputation that I rather don't like. I am aware that it can take a good while before one feels comfortable being a nurse and the ICU can be a difficult place to start. But I've always known that long-term I would not be a bedside nurse, I just didn't realize how much I would dislike it. I keep telling myself that if I can stick it out for at least a year, it will look much better. But then again, why should I feel so unhappy all the time and I don't know if I can make it one more week much less 6 more months.

The questions I want to ask are: Has anyone left bedside nursing to move to another type of nursing after only 6 months? If so, what happened? Did you regret it? Did it create more obstacles than was worth it?

Thanks for any info and the opportunity to vent.

[emilysmom,RN]

I was talking to a nurse that graduated 1yr before me. She said many of her classmates including her changed jobs at the 6month mark. A friend of mine quit bedside nursing, it took her over a month to find a part time job as a sub school nurse but still is not working there till end of March then yes she will be out of a job once school ends. She is a 2nd career nurse like me but she was not able to handle full time nites and refused to work weekends. That is why she wants to be a school nurse especially since she was a school teacher in her first career. I have asked to decrease my hours to 3nites a week and a couple other of my classmates have decreased there hours too. I am not sure but at the 6month mark many want to change jobs or at least change something. As far as finding a new job in the economy it might be hard. I am not sure if hosp will consider you a new grad still. Many want at least 1yr exp. Even though I am not happy I will stick it out at least for a year then try to transfer. Good luck

[KalipsoRed]

I have a friend who was a second degree nurse who left the bedside after 6 months. It is the fact that she had been in sales before that she could leave. She got a job with a drug company selling drugs. I think after 6 months you can start looking. Don't leave until you find something. I also think if you had not been a second degree nurse you would have to stay at the bedside at least a year...and from the job postings I've seen a lot of people want a nurse with at least two years experience.

[ANH_RN]

I am contemplating the same thing only after 7 months on the job. I applied for the wound center (not the same type of nursing that I have been in, busy med-surg-tele-oncology) for days and I really REALLY want that job. This was an interesting question and I hope more people respond.

[flyakite80]

I am also about to hit the 6-month mark and things are only going to get more complicated, since after 6 months you can be pulled and you have to take charge. Talk about adding more chaos... I'd like to do something else but I wouldn't leave unless I had another position lined up. And this is one of the many reasons I chose nursing, for the flexibility and the wide variety of positions you can have as a nurse. I am thinking I'll stick it out until the one-year mark (after all, the first 6 months did fly by) and then look at my options.

[Chewie_123]

I just hit my 6 month mark. I've got an application in to the perioperative program at my hospital. If that doesn't work out, I'll stick with my position until the one year mark. That seems to be point where alot of other avenues open up for new nurses.