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.
amzyRN - not everyone can deal with the anxiety that comes up in healthy ways, and I don't agree with you that it's a good idea for everyone to "stick it out." I just don't think we can make a statement like that and have it fit all nurses.
I work med/surg right now. I sought it out because I only had 9mo. of OR experience, and I wanted to go back for my NP. I felt like I should have an idea of what adult/geriatric patients were dealing with. I. Hate. It. I love my coworkers, the teamwork, and there are times I feel like I've done a damned good job, but when a patient of mine begins to crash, or I get hit or spat on by a combative, confused patient - I realize all over again that this is not my sweet spot. I realized 2 months in that this was not going to be my thing. And I began to plot my exit. The things I took into account were: how short staffed the night shift was at the time, how flaky I'd look with such a short length of time on the job on my resume, getting more experience so I could really get a feel for what might be "my thing." I'm interviewing right now for a community health position. It totally fits my way of looking at nursing - I think hospitals do an ineffective job of treating patients effectively across the board. And I think the best way to address this issue is to keep people out of the hospital, by educating them, providing them quality care at home, supporting their caretakers, and locating services to keep them in their home environments. Had I left at 2 months, I wouldn't have been so sure of myself, and so sure of the path *I* wanted to take to contribute to our profession. Now, at 6 months, I'm ready to leave, provided I get the job offer. If not, there's another lined up right after it! (THANK GOD!)
And I was really moved by the nurse with 18 years experience who said she sometimes still felt anxious and nauseous before her shifts. I'm really glad to know that's normal! Thank you for sharing that with us!
LTC is just as stressful, and not much training. Hospitals have the best training for new grads. You have to stay in your current position for at least a year for it to look okay on your resume to other employers. Diabetes Educator, research, etc etc - all require at LEAST one year nursing experience. Maybe you can get a transfer within your hospital to a less busy unit? Don't know what that would be really. ...OB sometimes can be a little easier because often times they don't need many medications etc, just vigilant monitoring. It sounds like you get easily stressed though, and mentions of things like "panic attacks" etc make me wonder if nursing is the best fit - since it requires strength, stamina, ability to handle the job under intense stress etc. IN any event, you will have to find a way to handle the stress for at least a year at this point. Counseling, meditation, relaxation techniques, motivational activities - you have to give it all a try. Hang in there!
I would stay away from dialysis nursing since patients destat more often then people think. Home health can be stressful with the case load for a new grad in a big city. I was a research assistant during nursing school so I would definitely check your school for opportunities and they should give you some priority. It's also a good way to try research before paying for more education.
I know you'll probably need more experience before they would switch you, but what about a Critical Care, 1:1 situation? Or a ICU 2:1, etc. You'll have to do a lot of stuff on one or two patients, but you won't have to worry about anyone else....
It sounds like you get easily stressed though, and mentions of things like "panic attacks" etc make me wonder if nursing is the best fit - since it requires strength, stamina, ability to handle the job under intense stress etc.
I dont get easily stressed at all. Thanks for your two cents though! I'll make sure to buy me something nice with it
Getting good information from a forum like this is tricky sometimes. No matter how carefully you word your question, there always seems to be some people who will make assumptions about you and give unwanted advice rather than trying to answer the original question. My friend told me the story of her dad, who was the slowest moving nursing student in his class and thought of quitting, but was told by the teacher, "Don't worry, there is a place in nursing for you." And it was true! He became a great ICU nurse focusing on just one or two patients at a time. Good luck!
I do not see Chronic Dialysis treatments out of hospital as a choice to work not "bed side" inpatient. Your could be trained in Davita , Fresenius or other huge dialysis companies in your state. Example in CA Satellite Healthcare . I believe that Acute care dialysis experience will benefit for better understanding and it is easier to be certified .
Other option is home care dialysis and CAPD dialysis. For success in all dialysis careers you need to be "handy" ,good in mathematics, autonomic and experienced in patient education. The salary is grate, the job is stable, the staff usually loves his job and the quality of the staff checked and trained all the time. There are so many options to grow in Dialysis after some experience as RN, you could be trained by the company for other roles: Case manager, Clinical AV coordinator, Staff educator, Quality control specialist,research , infection control, other played roles to educate LPN/TECH's and may others.
Have you tried a public health center? its usually lower pay but you do get to do nursing stuff thats not like LTC and lower stress than hospital and help the community since most of the patients are low income, new expectant mothers and people with STD's etc. . in addition you work regular shift 8-5. I know some do ask for 1 year experience but most of them are staffed with nurses close to retirement so things will open in that area soon.
Being a new grad nurse is one of the most difficult experiences you will go through in your life. Every nurse that made it out alive will forget exactly what it was like to be new. I have been a nurse for 10 months now and I can promise you it does get better. I left my hospital job after three months due to a family trauma that left me no choice. Like you, I experienced severe anxiety, depression and insomnia. When I would ask older, more seasoned nurses if what I was feeling was "normal" they would all smile and reassure me that, "yes, all of this is to be expected", however, they had no idea the other, deeper family trouble I was having. I decided one day after not sleeping for 30 hours, to call a psychologist and set up an appt. it was the best decision I ever made for myself personally and professionally. She helped me make the decision to talk to my boss, explain my situation and resign. I took a month off to deal with what I needed to deal with and applied for another job. As a new grad, I knew the fast pace and intensity of the hospital would not be good for me so I instead applied for home health positions. I got an interview and a job offer with two weeks (in my area, home health nurses are needed desperately). Before I accepted, I shadowed one of the nurses for a couple of day just to see what it would be like (which I would recommend doing for ANY nursing job you take from here on out) and decided to accept. That was 6 months ago and it was the best decision I've ever made. There are other options for nurses, even new grads! I am proof. I went from a visit nurse to a case manager very quickly and I've found I enjoy case management. Home health is stressful too, don't get me wrong, I am drained by the end of my day but it is not the same kind of stress as the hospital. The cant-eat-cant-pee-cant-think-rush-rush-rush mentality is a thing of the past. Somaybe home health is a good start, especially if you want to eventually end up as a care manager or an "office nurse" which is what I applied for last month and just interviewed for today. It is a telephonic case management position for a large insurance company. Essentially everything I'm doing now except I am interacting with patients over the phone. They know that I don't have much experience but because I do have field case management experience, my skills are valuable. If that sounds like something you would be interested in I would say get into home health :) Best of luck to you!
herrismith
13 Posts
amzyRN - not everyone can deal with the anxiety that comes up in healthy ways, and I don't agree with you that it's a good idea for everyone to "stick it out." I just don't think we can make a statement like that and have it fit all nurses.
I work med/surg right now. I sought it out because I only had 9mo. of OR experience, and I wanted to go back for my NP. I felt like I should have an idea of what adult/geriatric patients were dealing with. I. Hate. It. I love my coworkers, the teamwork, and there are times I feel like I've done a damned good job, but when a patient of mine begins to crash, or I get hit or spat on by a combative, confused patient - I realize all over again that this is not my sweet spot. I realized 2 months in that this was not going to be my thing. And I began to plot my exit. The things I took into account were: how short staffed the night shift was at the time, how flaky I'd look with such a short length of time on the job on my resume, getting more experience so I could really get a feel for what might be "my thing." I'm interviewing right now for a community health position. It totally fits my way of looking at nursing - I think hospitals do an ineffective job of treating patients effectively across the board. And I think the best way to address this issue is to keep people out of the hospital, by educating them, providing them quality care at home, supporting their caretakers, and locating services to keep them in their home environments. Had I left at 2 months, I wouldn't have been so sure of myself, and so sure of the path *I* wanted to take to contribute to our profession. Now, at 6 months, I'm ready to leave, provided I get the job offer. If not, there's another lined up right after it! (THANK GOD!)
And I was really moved by the nurse with 18 years experience who said she sometimes still felt anxious and nauseous before her shifts. I'm really glad to know that's normal! Thank you for sharing that with us!