So....after all the blood, sweat, and tears of nursing school and the NCLEX, I felt like I had finally won the war only to realize I had drastically underestimated the enemy and that I had only won half the battle. This first year of nursing has proven to be the hardest and most grueling time of my life, more so than even nursing school. Why did no one bother to prepare me for that? A little warning would have been great. Anyway, I landed a job on Med/surg at the hospital I completed clinicals at thinking I knew what to expect. I've been there for 3 months and just now got off orientation and I still hate it.
(an actual picture of me waiting for it to get better)
I still don't feel prepared to take on patients alone without the guidance of a preceptor but they are determined to throw me to the wolves in order to solve their severe understaffing problem. I feel like i'm walking on egg shells every day and I can tell the other nurses get annoyed at me when I ask questions, make mistakes (happens frequently i'm afraid) or beg them to interpret the doctors terrible handwriting for me. (Is there some unspoken rule amongst doctors that all orders must be scripted in unsightly and half assed cursive?)
It doesn't help that I've had three preceptors all of who had different ways of doing things and then when I do something one preceptor showed me, the other one berates me for doing it that way which ultimately leaves me confused and angry. My current preceptor's stand point is it's either her way or the high way and I struggle with this as I was always taught that we all have our own set routines and that when I find mine, things will get easier. Thing is, every time I find one that works for me, my preceptor scolds me in that condescending way of hers until I'm forced to set a routine similar to hers. In other words, all of this adds up to one big giant **** storm of annoying. I hate my job, i'm stressed out every single day, and I feel like the hospital I work at is ****.
which leads me to my next point. I'm considering putting in a 2 week notice and leaving all together to go to another better hospital further down the road. I have two really good friends who work there whom I finished the hell of nursing school with, both of which have just finished orientation there and rave about how great it is. They tell me that the recruiter told them that there are two spots available on their floor for nights and I'm seriously considering applying. Thing is, I'm not sure if that's a wise decision or not. I'm a new grad and it doesn't exactly look great in an interview when I have to explain that my previous work environment sucked (I have never understood why interviews want you to be honest but lie with excuses to cover up negative honesty. It's like saying "we want you to be honest.....but we also want you to pretend that nothing negative has ever happened to you in your previous work environment because we both know that's ********."
It's also not exactly becoming when they see that I'm looking for another job only days after orientation ended. I would also feel really bad about having to turn in a 2 week notice and let my team down and everyone else counting on the hospital to finally being properly staffed. I would really love to just call in a say, "yeah...i'm not doing this **** anymore" but logic tells me that wouldn't look great to future employers so i'm considering a 2 week notice. That means suffering under the scrutiny and judgmental resentful gazes of my coworkers for two whole weeks until i'm finally free to leave.
Has anyone had similar problems? Would turning in a resignation now just out of orientation put a red stamp on my resume forever? and what are some good things to say during an interview about why I left my previous employer? How do you even begin to sugar coat that?
I'm just really confused and lost right now. I went two years through nursing school feeling like everything would all be better and worth it when I graduated and made it to the field but now I feel like i'm only even staying in this profession so all that work and money I invested into it doesn't go to waste. I feel like my only option is to switch to another more organized hospital that will hopefully change my way of thinking. should I stick the year out or should I try my luck with the hospital with better offers?
Thank you so much for the wonderful advice. All of you have really helped me explore my options before making a decision. As my friend is good friends with the recruiter and has already told her that i'm very interested in the position she has to offer, I've decided that i'm going to do some research, talk to her about the position and then apply if I like the offer. After reading all of your advice, I've decided it would be in my best interest to wait until it's confirmed that I have a position before turning in a 2 week notice. As my mother has always taught me to never burn my bridges, i'll try my best to be diplomatic about leaving but i'm afraid resentment at the severe understaffing problem might make any diplomatic efforts futile. With any luck, my coworkers will be understanding. Thank you again for all of your encouragement! I probably never would have made it through nursing school without this site to be honest.
I have to say I do find it sad that nursing as a profession has come to suck this bad. How many other new grads have we coached about the consequences of job-hopping vs staying in a place that makes them physically ill? In what other professions do newcomers regularly face this dilemma?
We all expected to work hard and deal with stress. But nursing workloads and working conditions have gotten beyond ridiculous. Who is going to look after us in our dotage if everyone runs away screaming?
I don't know what the answer is. I'm just glad I was a new grad back then and not now. Rant over.
I can't "like" this comment enough. It's truly a sickness, one that I fortunately did not get much of, since I tend to consider myself thick skinned. I don't think the NETY thing is true at all, I think some people are just very meek. But I see new grads leaving not because of that, either. The amount of patient/family satisfaction checklists that we have for my facility would make even an experienced nurse think twice about working here. Rounding sheets that you sign that says you checked on the room every hour; medication communication boards letting patients know when they are due (and when you are late...); etc. This utopia of nursing that clearly does not exist is not only driving new hires away, but also experienced ones.
Borntobenurse?
50 Posts
didn't quote, so reply doesn't make sense
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