2nd RN job, big move, feeling frustrated

[CLC172]

I was very blessed, right out of nursing school, I worked in a very specialized pediatric unit in a "prestigious" pediatric hospital in a large city. It was tough at first, I had a hard time adjusting the first couple of months to the fast pace and high-acuity patients, but I settled into the night shift nicely and I really enjoyed my job. Unfortunately, my husband left my daughter and me 6 mos into working there. My parents and sister live in another state, so I decided to try to move closer to them for more support. I eventually found a job at another children's hospital near them, and I moved there, after a total of 11 1/2 mos of nursing experience. I would be oriented to days first and then my normal shift would be nights. Well, when I started, things were great, I got along well with my preceptor, and my progress was documented with nothing negative. Then I started with a new preceptor and I thought things were going well. She would ask me how I thought it was going and I would tell her my thoughts, mostly good. She never said anything negative to me in the two weeks we were working together. Then, yesterday, I sat down with the director of the floor, who told me that my preceptor had all sorts of negative things to say about me, and that now I will have to extend my orientation on days 2 more weeks. First of all, I'm upset that my preceptor never said any words of constructive criticism to me and I had to hear it for the first time from my director. Second, this is humiliating, as now I can't imagine what all my co-workers, both day and night, think of me because it's going to be obvious my time on orientation was extended. Third, now I'm feeling terribly inadequate as a nurse, like maybe all this time I wasn't doing as well as I thought I was. I didn't even want to move. I didn't want to get divorced. This has been a rough year for me. Work has been my escape from my personal life, which has been so difficult lately. And now I feel terrible going there. I don't know how to handle all of this....

[LVNinCali]

First of all, I am sorry you are going through all of this. It must be rough to move to a different state only to leave a job you really liked. Secondly, your preceptor should have given you positive criticism on your performance instead of acting like you were doing okay only to to tell the DON you weren't.

The only thing I can tell you is that I do applaud & commend you for doing what is right for your daughter. You decided to make a sacrifice and move to get support from your family after the divorce and I feel you made the right decision.

Now, you just got to pull through & stay strong for you and your daughter and get through this time together. With time, you get experience with your job and things will eventually get easier and better for you both.

Hang in there, the clouds will pass. I'm rooting for you. :redbeathe