New nurse miserable at new job

[Kringe38]

Hi, there. This is a common story, I guess, but here goes.

I got a job at a nursing home and have only been there a few days. I had a few days of orientation, then one day when I was on my own and it was awful. They have been super nice and given me more help to orient me because I just felt I was drowning. How nice they have been to me makes me feel even more guilty because I just hate it. I haven't learned all the residents yet, I keep being switched back and forth between two different halls, and each 2-hall assignment includes approximately 20 patients. I just graduated last month!

There are so many things to do, so many things to keep track of. I can't seem to get the hang of when to call the doc, when to do this, when to do that.

I desperately need a job and don't have much in the way of other prospects right now, but all I want to do is quit so I can end this pervasive depression, anxiety, and fear. If I did quit, do you think my name would be mud in the whole town? Or what do you think I should do? So afraid I will make a huge boo-boo and hurt someone and also lose my license, which would end all possibility of a nursing job for me anyway. Freaked out.

[Kringe38]

I am still struggling. I even tried to quit but they want to keep me and gave me another week of training. It's just still so miserable and now I feel even more guilty if I quit after I said I'd keep trying and they have invested this much time in training me and trying to help me feel more comfortable. It would be better for me down the road if I could keep going with this and get at least a few months of experience, but the thought is positively nauseating. Tonight will be the fourth night of a 4-day stretch, then I'll have 1 day off and then another 4-day stretch, at which time I will be on my own. Scared, want to quit, feel like a scuzzball if I do quit, miserable and feeling at-risk if I stay, etc.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

You very well might struggle for a while, but every day will get better. Give it time. Also, in this economy, quitting may not be the best option. Start sending out resumes then, but don't just quit.

[elprup, BSN, RN]

Whatever you decide, do not feel like a scuzzball. Nobody will watch out for your health, wellbeing and license except for you. Yea, they are very nice because they want you to stay at a job that nobody else can handle.....this is what I am finding at my current job....very discouraging....boy am I sounding jaded or what?