New Grad Unhappy

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

So I was really unhappy with days. I hate days and I don't sleep well on day shift so I didn't do as well as I should have. I wasn't found of the person orienting me but he was good. I guess he had a history of making people cry but hadn't done so in a few years (which I found out after I switched to nights).

I am better on nights but I just don't feel like I want to work in my unit anymore. I think part of it is the dynamics. The hospital at this point has a lot of nurses feeling like they are out for themselves through practices that they are doing. It's everywhere, ER, ICU, the floors, etc such as making people take on more and more patients or pulling the super users who are supposed to be helping with our transition to a new charting system.

Then there are just some nasty people that I work with in terms of personality. One girl in particular I fear I may something bad to her one day because she is just so nasty and mean to people. The other day she chewed a girl out. Yes, she needed to be talked to but not chewed out like she did.Yesterday I almost made a comment like "oh, the turn will take you away from playing on your cellphone" because she was whining about the person orienting me being on lunch when I needed to turn a patient.

I am going to try and stick it out a year and then start searching for a new job. However, I am already looking at alternatives outside of nursing like the fire department is putting on a civil service. It would pay 4,000 less than what I make a year now and then 2nd year it's the same, and then the 3rd year it's 10,000 more. This is before overtime. Not found of day shifts, but I could manage.

I was so upset on days that I started the process to transfer my license to another state. I am thinking about applying there for an ER or OB job. Maybe I just don't like ICU. I do want to end up as a midwifery and either FNP or women's health NP.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Welcome to nursing. Everyone...and I do mean pretty much EVERYONE...feels this way when they start out. Look in the Career section on this site under First Year. You will find many many many threads of advice and tons of people to share stories and commiserate.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Well, an ER is offering me an interview opportunity and I am going to talk to them. I am just unhappy with the current situation. If I do not get hired there, I am going to talk to employee assistance about the counseling options they have.

[SierraBravo]

EAP is an excellent choice for your given situation. You might also consider speaking with your nurse manager and possibly HR.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Part of the issue is that I don't know how to really address it with my nurse manager. I feel like I don't know how to put it fully into words why I am unhappy. Some days it's because of the coworkers, sometimes it's because I feel like I don't like the relationship of nurses and physicians on the floor.

[Mysteriousdarkness]

Sounds like you're just stuck in a bad work environment. You're clearly very stressed and anxious about certain people and the way things are done in your particular area. Don't let this destroy your whole idea of nursing- just because this one ward/ area is terrible for you doesn't mean there isn't a thousand other areas of nursing where you'd find happiness, friendship, support, and go to work feeling like you can trust your fellow employees and your fellow staff including doctors respect nurses opinions.

be awar that nursing, like many industries, can be very mean and you will always find one or two people in any area that are just burnt out, stressed, mean*- whatever. Some people have their own mental issues going on and are coping in ways that aren't healthy- maybe by lashing out and bullying others. It's a stressful world.

but it doesn't have to be- there are plenty of nursing jobs and you'll find one where you feel like part of the team, you'll make friends and find support, you'll find happiness in your work.

I would suggest that in the meantime you could perhaps try agency/ float nursing- not being stuck in the same area it's same people might remove you from the politics and drama of certain people, and might help you find the area of nursing you really like- it'll certainly pay the bills while you think long term.

i also needed to see a Counsellor because I struggle with a lot of anxiety if people are mean to me, or work is stressful and there's new changes going on, or there's simply too much work. It really damages my mental health- and a counsellor helps me talk through what's bothering me and find strategies and coping mechanisms to be able to deal with stress.

For me it's a matter of finding that balance- any job has it's challenges and stressful parts but it's about how much stress is too much and how much is just a normal part of working life- Ill learn coping skills to deal with normal stress but fit he stress is simply just insane and unmanageable, well there's always another job out there!,

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Well, I am in the running for two jobs at the moment. I am not sure about the first one because it's been three weeks but the HR department there keeps tight reigns on who they hire and only works on the hiring process one day a week. The other one is more rushed to hire a bunch of people due to expansion. I am feeling a lot better about the possibility of getting out of this hospital for the time being. It sucks that the scrubs at one facility are a completely different color and the other scrubs are pick your own patterns so my scrubs wouldn't go to a complete waste.

I think another issue is that my preceptors and my personality conflicted. I didn't like one out of two preceptors I have (yes, I am trying to work with two preceptors at the same time instead of having one for x amount of weeks and then another one for x amount of weeks). One preceptor I am fine with and the other one I feel like just threw me under the bus which I suppose is fine since I plan on leaving there anyway. She suddenly had a bunch of complaints about me to the manager which she never bothered to bring up because she is constantly running to clock out to get home.

I did apply to about 100 positions today in hopes of somewhere someone will call me. I am applying up to two hours away in hopes of getting somewhere else.

[katnurs]

I currently work as a float nurse. I float to different med surg/tele units in my hospital. All the units ive been on, have been asking me to stay permanently on that unit. I always get asked which unit is my favorite. But youre right. each unit has its ups and downs. Im still deciding whether I should stick to floating or just stay on one unit.

One advantage is definitely staying away from politics of one unit. Some nurses talk about how mean some of the nurses on their units are and I always say," but theyre nice to me."

Disadvantage is sometimes we end up with the worst patients because we dont belong to the unit. But then i get used to the craziness and always getting the first admits. The worst patients just become normal.

[TheVitalRN, MSN, RN, CNM]

If you are interested in maternal child health at all and being in the community, I can recommend the Nurse Family Partnership. Check it put online. Good luck! (It will probably be a lot less $$ than the hospital but is very rewarding and will give you good experience for FNP or WHNP).

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

You hate day shift..

Not "fond" (?) of your preceptor..

don't like the dynamics of the unit on nights.

And.. somebody was mean to you.

YOU have a job,something many new grads do not.

Appears, this is all about YOU. Have you considered taking care of patients anywhere in this scenario?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Playground dynamics.

You're not there to make friends and hang with your BFF. Best approach is "shields up" - focus on YOU and caring for your PATIENTS. In the meantime, engage in some self reflection to figure out why you're choosing to be unhappy and miserable. That's a choice.

We're all humans. Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

Yeah, you have something I am currently busting my butt for to have a shot at once I graduate and get my license - a job, plus you apparently have no trouble finding other jobs. What's your secret?

Work place dynamics are always tough -- take it from me, I've worked retail for 12 years and I am usually the tough one. Why am I like that? I'm the old pro testing the newbie, seeing if they're engaged with their work and trustworthy, making sure they won't cause me any problems. I come off aloof and difficult to please, sometimes a bit mean. But, when a person rises to the challenge, they end up doing extremely well and we're cool -- solid team mates -- my best associates are the ones that show me what they've got. You don't get to hang right off the bat, you know? If you think you can go somewhere and immediately be comfortable, you're dreaming. You have to earn respect and trust. I imagine in nursing this is a process that requires even more time, especially if you don't start out so great (as a new grad, I full expect there to be some stress and some serious bumps in the road, especially if I happen to have a more than challenging start). You have to earn your place. You do that by knowing your stuff and doing what you need to do, keeping your head above the nonsense gossiping and playground games. I fully expect to have my mettle tested by tough preceptors who truly care about nursing and know their stuff inside and out. In fact, I am more than ready to embrace it.

However, it sounds like the current culture in your workplace ain't the business. You can either choose to lead by example of how the culture should change (i.e. having good rapport with the docs and other nurses) or bow out and put your time to better use elsewhere, wasted scrubs be damned (besides, I'm sure there will always be a use for your old scrubs).