I've been a med surg RN for nearly 40 yrs and have recently started a new position in an outpatient eye surgery center. While my former job was extremely stressful, I felt completely competent, was the "go to" person for everyone and the time flowed very quickly. The 12 hr shifts were become exhausting however and I'd been looking for a job with less stress that would carry me into retirement (in 3 years.)- no holidays, weekends and closed Fridays.
Day one was yesterday and I felt like a fish out of water- all paper charting, and although a fast pace I felt like time dragged because I'm not used to the work flow..... or Staff or facility. I'm just curious how long it's taken for such a role change to become comfortable- I'm an anxious person to begin with who dislikes change so this new job is causing some major dread and remorse for leaving my comfort zone.
For those people who've made a job change after a few decades - how long did it take to adapt and feel like "one of the team" and not the "new girl"?
