Im a new RN who graduated in may. I've been working for 2 months on a med surg floor at a highly respected hospital in my state. However, I do not feel that I am cut out for this line of work, at least hospital-bedside nursing.
I work the night shift, 7p-7a, which is extremely draining. My commute is about 45 minutes each way. I am now off of orientation and feel completely overwhelmed and terrified. I do ask for help when I need it, but I still feel so lonely and scared at work. I constantly have a lump in my throat like I am going to cry. I have spent countless nights crying before I leave the house or in my car on my way to work.
Not only do I hate working nights, both because of the stress it has on my body but also because I hate not being on the same schedule as my family and friends, but I also am starting to lose my motivation and passion for this line of work after only 2 months. I also am extremely upset that I have to spend time away from my family on holidays and weekends to work. I am scheduled to work on thanksgiving this year and have been dreading it ever since I found out. I feel like I am more cut out for a job that is monday-friday, day time hours, with holidays and weekends off.
The staff on my floor is constantly miserable and talking about how they cant wait to leave. Everyone hates it there and complains about how terrible the management is as well. I don't really know what I got myself into.
Whenever I have tried to talk to someone about how this job is effecting me, they tell me to stick it out because of the pay and benefits. Nobody seems to understand how horribly the night shift is effecting me and they make it sounds like its not a big deal. When I interviewed for the position, my manager told me she wanted a 2 year commitment from me, but nothing was ever written on paper. I was told that people leave after a year, but even if I stay a year, I don't know which sector of nursing I want to end up in. I just need advice. I know that eventually I want a less demanding job that is closer driving distance and will allow me to have weekends and holidays off to spend time with the people I love.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Im a new RN who graduated in may. I've been working for 2 months on a med surg floor at a highly respected hospital in my state. However, I do not feel that I am cut out for this line of work, at least hospital-bedside nursing.
I work the night shift, 7p-7a, which is extremely draining. My commute is about 45 minutes each way. I am now off of orientation and feel completely overwhelmed and terrified. I do ask for help when I need it, but I still feel so lonely and scared at work. I constantly have a lump in my throat like I am going to cry. I have spent countless nights crying before I leave the house or in my car on my way to work.
Not only do I hate working nights, both because of the stress it has on my body but also because I hate not being on the same schedule as my family and friends, but I also am starting to lose my motivation and passion for this line of work after only 2 months. I also am extremely upset that I have to spend time away from my family on holidays and weekends to work. I am scheduled to work on thanksgiving this year and have been dreading it ever since I found out. I feel like I am more cut out for a job that is monday-friday, day time hours, with holidays and weekends off.
The staff on my floor is constantly miserable and talking about how they cant wait to leave. Everyone hates it there and complains about how terrible the management is as well. I don't really know what I got myself into.
Whenever I have tried to talk to someone about how this job is effecting me, they tell me to stick it out because of the pay and benefits. Nobody seems to understand how horribly the night shift is effecting me and they make it sounds like its not a big deal. When I interviewed for the position, my manager told me she wanted a 2 year commitment from me, but nothing was ever written on paper. I was told that people leave after a year, but even if I stay a year, I don't know which sector of nursing I want to end up in. I just need advice. I know that eventually I want a less demanding job that is closer driving distance and will allow me to have weekends and holidays off to spend time with the people I love.
WOW -- sounds like what we used to call "reality shock" -- the adjustment from being a student to being a nurse. I think most of us were completely overwhelmed, stressed out, anxious and even depressed. I know I used to cry all the way to work, cry all the way home and on a few memorable occasions, cried at work. I was miserable about being on the opposite shift from my husband, and I had no family other than him and no friends in the area. Friends were a two hour drive to the north, family two hours to the south.
Did you not understand before you took the job that nights, weekends and holidays were a possibility? Did you not know how far the job was from home when you took it? Or when you found the home, did you misunderstand how far it was from your job?
I think the folks who are advising you to stick it out are correct. Your first nursing job will suck -- it seems that everyone's first nursing job sucks, even some of those lucky few who got their "dream job." It takes about a year to get comfortable and about two years to become competent. Somewhere about that one year mark, you'll find that things are starting to "click" for you and that you actually LIKE your job. Quitting isn't usually the answer. The grass is usually not greener, and you just have to start over someplace else where the rules are different, they store things in really strange places and you don't know anyone.
A 45 minute commute doesn't sound that awful to me, but I've had commutes up to an hour.
Working nights can be difficult, but the night differential is usually pretty good. And there is the opportunity to learn so much on night shift. You have the time to sit down with your patient's chart and read the physician's notes to find out what they're thinking, to look at the labs and compare them to the normal values, to look up the medications you're giving and understand why this patient is getting this medication at this dose. Day shift doesn't have enough time for that -- and someone is always jogging your elbow, asking for "warmer ice".
There are several useful threads on AN about how to adjust to the night shift, to rotating shifts, etc.
Thanksgiving can be celebrated on Friday or Saturday or Sunday -- or even on December 5, if that's the next time your family can get together. Besides, there's usually an awesome potluck at work.
My advice is to start reframing things. Instead of wallowing in misery, find something to LIKE about your job. Focus on the positives: how much you're learning, your paycheck or benefits, missing that awful cranberry salad that Aunt Enid always brings to Thanksgiving dinner. It will get better. Honest.
Specializes in Quality Control,Long Term Care, Psych, UM, CM.
There are jobs that are Mon-Fri, no weekends/holidays and regular business hours. I happen to work in one. If you are willing to get away from the hospitals/direct patient care, there are a lot of settings you can work in. I work in an insurance company. You can also work in hospice or home health...many of them are regular hours.
I don't think you should be in the hospital an entire year before leaving or just suck it up, especially if that's not what you want to do. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have the same hours as your friends/family. Some people are cut out for that, others not so much. This is what makes nursing so unique....there's usually something for everyone. You just have to find the area of nursing you love. When I worked in the hospital, I was miserable. I never cried but I was so stressed and did not want to be a nurse anymore. I lasted all of 3 months before getting out of that setting forever.
Do what makes you happy. Don't stay in a place doing work that makes you miserable. But I will say since you've only been there for 2 months, stay until you hit 6 months then start looking elsewhere. You do want to have some experience before trying other places. Then when you interview, just tell them it wasn't right for you. I've done that and the interviewer can respect that usually.
Specializes in Quality Control,Long Term Care, Psych, UM, CM.
There are jobs that are Mon-Fri, no weekends/holidays and regular business hours. I happen to work in one. If you are willing to get away from the hospitals/direct patient care, there are a lot of settings you can work in. I work in an insurance company. You can also work in hospice or home health...many of them are regular hours.
I don't think you should be in the hospital an entire year before leaving or just suck it up, especially if that's not what you want to do. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have the same hours as your friends/family. Some people are cut out for that, others not so much. This is what makes nursing so unique....there's usually something for everyone. You just have to find the area of nursing you love. When I worked in the hospital, I was miserable. I never cried but I was so stressed and did not want to be a nurse anymore. I lasted all of 3 months before getting out of that setting forever.
Do what makes you happy. Don't stay in a place doing work that makes you miserable. But I will say since you've only been there for 2 months, stay until you hit 6 months then start looking elsewhere. You do want to have some experience before trying other places. Then when you interview, just tell them it wasn't right for you. I've done that and the interviewer can respect that usually.
I really love working Thanksgiving also. We usually celebrate it at home a week before or after. It is great because the grocery store isn't a mad house when the shopping needs to get done. The holiday is for spending time with family and friends, not necessarily about the specific date on the calendar.
Oh love, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I think I'd probably be in similar shoes as you (being a new grad RN) if I hadn't worked as a CNA in the hospital for 2 years during my ADN.
First things first: try to figure out what precisely is causing you to cry before and after and sometimes during every shift. Is it the work environment? Is it the sacrifices you have to make (holidays/weekends/time with family) now suddenly starting to set in? Is it being on your own and being responsible for people's lives for 12+ hours? The sadness you're experiencing may be the normal reality shock we new grads go through, or it may be something more.
I totally feel you in that working nights can really suck. I'm okay getting through a night shift (as long as I have Red Bull!!) but they really mess with those glorious days/nights off. And when you're working nights during the holidays it's like you miss SO MUCH because you sleep all day on Thanksgiving (missing family time) so you can work that night and then sleep all day Friday recovering! I get it, I really do. But you CAN overcome it. Try the typical night shift formula of blackout curtains/shades on your windows, "do not disturb" on your phone, sleepy meds, whatever works for you so that you can be decently rested for your shift.
Some have suggested trying to celebrate the holiday on a different day, and thousands successfully do that every year because of exact cases like these. My loved ones and I do this when we must. Working holidays can be tough... on my old unit as a CNA, holidays were done by seniority, and lots of the staff had been there for forever. So guess who worked Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve last year? And if I had stayed there this year, I'd have been on Black Friday, Christmas Eve, and New Years Day this year because that same people always got the holidays off because they had literally been there for their entire nursing careers. My current unit as an RN has a rotating schedule, where every 3rd year you'll have all of the Christmas & New Years season off. Maybe suggesting something like this rotating schedule to management if your unit doesn't have it? (Sometimes that's a very hard thing to change though.) For your next position, if holidays are required, my advice would be to try to help someone else out. Perhaps in return they'll help you in some way, or good karma will come back to you. When I work Christmas one day, I'll probably offer to stay late for an RN that has kids since I don't have any yet.
Those Monday through Friday 8-5 jobs aren't always amazing. Some can be very boring, and they often have less pay. You may not get as much of a variety of experience as an RN as you would in the hospital, which is something to consider if you're one day wanting to go to grad school. They do get to close during inclement weather though, so that's pretty nice (I live where we shut down the state when snow is forecasted, so I find that a very tempting thing).
You're welcome to reach out to me any time. It can help to talk to other new grads :)
That's what I've started thinking. I know i have to stick this job out for a year but I really don't plan on staying past that point and would love something that is not direct nursing care.
Oh love, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I think I'd probably be in similar shoes as you (being a new grad RN) if I hadn't worked as a CNA in the hospital for 2 years during my ADN.
First things first: try to figure out what precisely is causing you to cry before and after and sometimes during every shift. Is it the work environment? Is it the sacrifices you have to make (holidays/weekends/time with family) now suddenly starting to set in? Is it being on your own and being responsible for people's lives for 12+ hours? The sadness you're experiencing may be the normal reality shock we new grads go through, or it may be something more.
I totally feel you in that working nights can really suck. I'm okay getting through a night shift (as long as I have Red Bull!!) but they really mess with those glorious days/nights off. And when you're working nights during the holidays it's like you miss SO MUCH because you sleep all day on Thanksgiving (missing family time) so you can work that night and then sleep all day Friday recovering! I get it, I really do. But you CAN overcome it. Try the typical night shift formula of blackout curtains/shades on your windows, "do not disturb" on your phone, sleepy meds, whatever works for you so that you can be decently rested for your shift.
Some have suggested trying to celebrate the holiday on a different day, and thousands successfully do that every year because of exact cases like these. My loved ones and I do this when we must. Working holidays can be tough... on my old unit as a CNA, holidays were done by seniority, and lots of the staff had been there for forever. So guess who worked Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve last year? And if I had stayed there this year, I'd have been on Black Friday, Christmas Eve, and New Years Day this year because that same people always got the holidays off because they had literally been there for their entire nursing careers. My current unit as an RN has a rotating schedule, where every 3rd year you'll have all of the Christmas & New Years season off. Maybe suggesting something like this rotating schedule to management if your unit doesn't have it? (Sometimes that's a very hard thing to change though.) For your next position, if holidays are required, my advice would be to try to help someone else out. Perhaps in return they'll help you in some way, or good karma will come back to you. When I work Christmas one day, I'll probably offer to stay late for an RN that has kids since I don't have any yet.
Those Monday through Friday 8-5 jobs aren't always amazing. Some can be very boring, and they often have less pay. You may not get as much of a variety of experience as an RN as you would in the hospital, which is something to consider if you're one day wanting to go to grad school. They do get to close during inclement weather though, so that's pretty nice (I live where we shut down the state when snow is forecasted, so I find that a very tempting thing).
You're welcome to reach out to me any time. It can help to talk to other new grads :)
Thank you so much for understanding! And I do have to say although im only shy of being at this position for 3 months, I already cannot see myself lasting more than a year in the hospital setting. I don't even feel that the unit is the problem anymore, I really don't enjoy the long hours and hospital setting. I know that 9-5 nursing jobs might not pay well and might not be as interesting, but I feel like I would benefit from that type of environment more.
How do you like working in insurance? Do you think having 1 year RN experience is enough to transition into that position? I have been researching what to do after this year of bedside nursing is up because I definitely want out after that.
I totally get your misery. Maybe look into an insurance company - a lot of those jobs are work at home and def M-F. good luck - I feel your pain.
Thank you so much for understanding! And I do have to say although im only shy of being at this position for 3 months, I already cannot see myself lasting more than a year in the hospital setting. I don't even feel that the unit is the problem anymore, I really don't enjoy the long hours and hospital setting. I know that 9-5 nursing jobs might not pay well and might not be as interesting, but I feel like I would benefit from that type of environment more.
I hear you. Some may freak out at you: "You mean you didn't know you were gonna be in direct patient care?!" But it's so different when you transition from student to nurse. If you already know you won't last more than a year in that setting, then definitely look elsewhere. If you CAN stick out your year, I would try to do so because you are definitely more marketable with a year experience, but if you find that you can't, address your 'why' in a positive way in future interviews. I hope you find the right place for you!
monkey205
66 Posts
I totally get your misery. Maybe look into an insurance company - a lot of those jobs are work at home and def M-F. good luck - I feel your pain.