New Nurse - Losing motivation for nursing

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I'm a new nurse. I have been working in long term care since I graduated and although it's been a great experience, I'm still having trouble getting a full time position and have been working casual at 3 different facilities (not at the same time, 2 at once, and now currently just working at one facility). However I'm not getting a lot of hours where I'm working and I have been applying to other jobs for months with no success. I'm starting to lose my passion for nursing, even though I know I love it. I'm even considering going back to school for something else entirely but I'm not sure if that is the answer, and I don't really have the money either. How do I prevent myself from losing my motivation for nursing? What do I need to do to find a decent job in nursing?

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Dear Losing Motivation,

It's too soon to decide if nursing is not for you after less than a year and with no full time position. Maybe you are discouraged in job-seeking more than more than losing your passion for nursing.

What have you done so far to land a different position, and what did your classmates do? Did any of them obtain full-time employment, and where are they working?

Is your resume pristine and are you networking and learning interviewing skills? Are you able and willing to relocate if necessary to gain a more desirable position?

You are right, it would be very expensive to give up now. The same energies you would put into pursuing more education can be put into job searching.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

[RNJV]

Try to stick it out at least a year. When I first graduated as an RN it was very very difficult to get a hospital position unless you had already worked there as a PCT or had family/friends in the hospital that could help you secure a position.

I also started out in a rehab/LTC facility and generally for the area that I was living in at the time for hospitals to even really consider your application they wanted you to have at least a year of experience under your belt. I stuck out my year and change and we ended up moving but I applied to several area hospitals and I finally got callbacks.

Just hang in there and maybe have someone take a look at your resume to see how it can be spruced up to be appealing to HR at a hospital.

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

Most nurses are miserable their first year - it's just the way it is when you're so stressed out from inexperience. Don't give up so soon.

[kfostercma]

I am an AD RN and managed to find a 0.8 FTE job in long term care right away, but working in my favor is my gender. I have been frustrated trying to find something more specialized, hospitals in the Minneapolis, St Paul area where I live are unwilling to consider a nurse who hasn't completed a BSN, and I have yet to even land an interview at a clinic. 2 years is long enough for me to know I don't want to spend my career in LTC.

[Tcquilter]

I'm curious what your degree is. If you have your ADN, I would recommend you start working on your BSN. A lot of hospitals, especially Magnet hospitals, prefer to hire at the BSN level. Many hospitals now require new hires to complete their BSN within 3-5 years of hire, or be terminated. Having your BSN or be in school for it would probably help you get into a hospital setting much faster. I'd also be getting hours in at a skilled nursing facility so you have IV experience as well. You are technically still doing med-surg nursing, but some HR people still think LTC facility experience is glorified baby sitting for elderly. They don't grasp that your patients are on multiple meds, have multiple health problems, may have just come from a hospital after an illness, or come from surgery for rehab. Your patients get sick in your facility and you obviously have the skills to recognize that they may have a UTI, pneumonia, or are going into CHF, having an MI, or a stroke. Keep your chin up! Learn all you can, try to assume charge positions so you can get some leadership skills to add to your resume, and maybe sit with a professional to boost up your resume a bit. And go for that degree! It will open a lot more doors in your career than you can imagine! I pool poohed the idea for 13 years, then went back and did it. It made me a much better nurse because it changed the way I did critical thinking, enhanced my leadership, and gave me a different perspective on my career that I didn't have before.