New L&D Nurse, Did I make a mistake?

[MsNurse1997]

Hi! I’m a newer nurse (graduated in May 2020), I worked on a stepdown unit for 9 months and just recently started a new job at a completely different hospital in L&D, which is my dream job! Unfortunately, it’s definitely not what I thought it would be. 
 

First big red flag was after I had already accepted the job and was in hospital orientation. There are 12 of us in L&D orientation....12! I tried desperately to find a L&D job right out of school and no one was hiring and now all of a sudden this one unit has 12 open L&D positions? They have apparently had a lot of turnover within the past 6 months - 1 year. The environment is also very cliquey, which I do not do well with. I feel like I can’t ask questions or ask for help. This unit also makes me extremely anxious. I’m not typically an anxious person, I worked on a very high acuity step down unit and also worked as a tech in the ED for 3 years. 
 

I am just wondering if I made a mistake leaving my old job. I had AMAZING co-workers, management could have been better but they were reasonable. Staffing was just a huge issue and L&D like I said is my dream. I have been on orientation for a little over a month and things aren’t getting any better, it seems to be getting worse. What do you experienced L&D nurses think? Does this unit sound it has a lot of problems or am I just over analyzing it? I love the patient care in L&D, I just don’t know if this is the right L&D unit for me. 

[MsNurse1997]

I should I guess also mention the type of unit it is. It’s solely L&D. We have a separate mom/baby unit and us L&D nurses also cover the antepartum unit (which isn’t always open). It’s a high risk so we get all the high risk pregnancies from the entire hospital system, and this system has 9 major hospitals. My orientation is 12 weeks long which I definitely don’t feel is enough time for this unit. 

[brume, BSN]

I'm sorry you're going through this.  I recently listened to a podcast episode about negative unit culture that might be really helpful to you (it's also on spotify and probably apple podcasts) https://www.freshrn.com/dealing-with-a-negative-unit-culture-nurse-bullies-and-confrontation-show-notes/

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

It's too soon to tell. 

[IOU]

I too graduated in May 2020 and begin my L&D job in a few weeks. Are you by any chance located in NY?

[sukari79, ASN, RN]

It seems like the culture of the unit. Not L&D itself. I've worked at various types of hospitals (as a travel nurse) and the staff make all the difference in the experience. Try to see if you actually like the type of care you are giving to your patients. Ask questions anyway, how else will you learn.