Hello everyone, I am a new grad. I've been working on the med surg floor for about a month now. & I realize that I do not like it at all. I am very stressed out. I suffer with a hx of anxiety and bouts of depression before going into nursing school. I used to have full blown panic attacks. & I sense them about to start again. I love nursing, I love taking care of people.. But not like this.. (the hospital i work at is the largest in my city ((Chicago)) the hecticness of the hospital is not the right environment for me. I know that every RN is not meant to work in a hospital. And I'm starting to see that I am one of them. So I was just wondering from any nurses out there who did not go into the hospital setting where should I work? I have my BSN and my RN license of course. I'm willing to go back to school if I need to get my masters in order to find a job. Any suggestions would be great. I remember my clinical professor told me that she went into public health right out of nursing school. And never worked in the hospital.
I just want to say I really do take my hat off to any nurses that work in the hospital acute setting. That is not an easy job at all! And I've seen from first hand you guys rock and deserve more credit than you get;)
I'm not looking for the easy way out, I know nursing is hard in whatever Avenue I decide to take. Im starting to think things like I hate nursing or why did I go to nursing school in the first place. And I don't want to be that person where I build up animosity in my heart because i actually do love taking care of people.
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
There is always acute rehab, subacute rehab, long term care, psychiatric inpatients long term acute care. Subacute psychiatric
Regarding school nursing don't only check board of nursing regulations but also your state department of education requirements. In my state there are specific requirements even for a substitute school nurse. Every state is different. Many require BSN + school nurse certification. Others require a pulse, CPR card and a nursing license (RN or LPN)
Specializes in Med/surg,orthopedics,emergency room,.
Thank you!!!! I honestly didn't mean to sound hateful! All I was saying was trying to say was what kind of expectations or rather maybe I should have said was your aspirations as far as your career was concerned. I wasn't trying to be mean, and I'm sorry it was taken that way.
That is AMAZING! Congratulations you have made through all the daily coffee drinking, 24- hours studying, exhausting 12- hour shift clinical work and insane schedule. Welcome to life after RN school, where you have can breath and take your time drinking your coffee appreciating how wonderful and peaceful sunrise can be.
I didn't take the post as mean. Or hostile. The truth is nowadays, with many markets over saturated with new nurses, the plum jobs with plum hours will go to those with experience. That's not being mean to say so. Its reality.
Im the OP and she was being insulting and patronizing. Moving on
I didn't take the post as mean. Or hostile. The truth is nowadays, with many markets over saturated with new nurses, the plum jobs with plum hours will go to those with experience. That's not being mean to say so. Its reality.
Yes and you also can have tact when talking to a fellow nurse. Her questions were condescending and unnecessary. She probably talks like that to new grads on the job.
Yes and you also can have tact when talking to a fellow nurse. Her questions were condescending and unnecessary. She probably talks like that to new grads on the job.
Here we go again. Newbies not getting wanted answers and giving the "I bet your this way at work" answer.
I just want to personally thank everyone who actually contributed to answering my question. You all have been a great support and I've learned a lot on this board. I know the options I have now. And I'm very lucky to actually live in a big city, where I have a few more options. I have started my search. Put in several applications. And it seems like I will have good results.
For any future new grads that come across this message thread, I just want to encourage you if you are not successful at the hospital that does not make you a bad nurse or not fit for the nursing profession. It just means that you will find a rewarding career somewhere else! I've read so many threads on here about new nurses who despise working on a med surg floor and cry every day before going to work and have fallen into a depression. This is soooo not healthy, (think about your quality of life)... if it gets to the point where you really cannot take it and its affecting your life, I highly encourage you to look elsewhere. (You may feel like you are disappointing ppl ((as I did)) but you are the ones who have to go through those 12 hr shifts...not them) ... I guess what Im saying is that one year med/surg experience it's not worth your mental and physical health!
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
If I could offer a little POV on the new-grands-need-a-year-in-med/surg thing... There are some very important things that a person learns and develops while working in this sort of environment that can be applied to every other job the nurse will ever have. Things like organization, prioritization, time management, rapid assessment and team work. That's not to say those things can't be obtained in another environment, but if you can manage the workload in med/surg you should be able to handle anything. Nurses who work med/surg for their whole careers deserve respect - it's not an easy place to work and most people hate it.
The comment about hating the job one has and crying before every shift isn't unique to med/surg. I love the work I do but I often feel nauseated and anxious before my shifts... after 18 years of it. Many factors go into that and workload is only a tiny part of it. It's easy to say that if you don't enjoy what you're doing, do something else. But it isn't easy to find another job for most of us, and so we do what we do and wait for things to change.
Finally, one must remember that posting one's woes on a public website will invariably attract some responses that don't support one's point of view on the subject, but that doesn't automatically make those comments mean-spirited, nasty, abusive or rude. The truth is often difficult to hear; responding in what one perceives as a similar vein is usually not productive. If a comment is viewed as a personal attack, unnecessarily harsh or downright mean, don't engage with the poster... REPORT THE POST and let the admin team handle it. Take the high road.
If I could offer a little POV on the new-grands-need-a-year-in-med/surg thing... There are some very important things that a person learns and develops while working in this sort of environment that can be applied to every other job the nurse will ever have. Things like organization, prioritization, time management, rapid assessment and team work. That's not to say those things can't be obtained in another environment, but if you can manage the workload in med/surg you should be able to handle anything. Nurses who work med/surg for their whole careers deserve respect - it's not an easy place to work and most people hate it.
The comment about hating the job one has and crying before every shift isn't unique to med/surg. I love the work I do but I often feel nauseated and anxious before my shifts... after 18 years of it. Many factors go into that and workload is only a tiny part of it. It's easy to say that if you don't enjoy what you're doing, do something else. But it isn't easy to find another job for most of us, and so we do what we do and wait for things to change.
Finally, one must remember that posting one's woes on a public website will invariably attract some responses that don't support one's point of view on the subject, but that doesn't automatically make those comments mean-spirited, nasty, abusive or rude. The truth is often difficult to hear; responding in what one perceives as a similar vein is usually not productive. If a comment is viewed as a personal attack, unnecessarily harsh or downright mean, don't engage with the poster... REPORT THE POST and let the admin team handle it. Take the high road.
Her questions were rude. Secondly no its not easy to tell someone to do something else. Like I said before if a job is getting to the point where it is effecting ones well being, one should obviously look elsewhere. No research has proven that working med Surg its a given you will be awesome in your specialty of choice. Most nurses I've talked to, said that felt less like a nurse when they were in med Surg than anywhere else.
Ultimately the choice is up to the individual, whether they stay in med surg or not. I'm just saying that they do not have to be miserable and hate their job.
Also feeling nauseated and anxious after 18 years before shifts might work for you, but maybe not everyone wants to feel that way.
Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.
I think you should stick it out and deal with the anxiety that comes up in healthy ways. It's very scary to start as a new grad, but if you can complete at least 1 year in a hospital there will be much more opportunities that become available to you.
JustBeachyNurse, LPN
13,957 Posts
There is always acute rehab, subacute rehab, long term care, psychiatric inpatients long term acute care. Subacute psychiatric
Regarding school nursing don't only check board of nursing regulations but also your state department of education requirements. In my state there are specific requirements even for a substitute school nurse. Every state is different. Many require BSN + school nurse certification. Others require a pulse, CPR card and a nursing license (RN or LPN)