New Nurse Needs Advice

agldragonRN · Mar 23, 2011

being a new nurse is very difficult especially if the environment is not supportive of new staff. can you transfer to a different department within the same hospital? usually you need that "golden" one year experience in order to move around. can you stick it out for 6 more months? i wish you luck and i hope you find your nursing niche.

R*Star*RN, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2011

It's unfortunate that you don't feel you have a lot of support at your current job. You said you are a float nurse, correct? I don't think that floating is the best place to start out as a new nurse. You need that camaraderie that you develop after being on a floor for a few months, to help you get through the "new nurse" period. I've also seen floaters get the worst assignments because the floor's core nurses took the same patients as yesterday. Plus you have to memorize where things are on all these different floors! Who has room in their brain for that when they are new-ish?

As you know there are so many things you can do as an RN! With a bachelor's degree there are even more opportunities out there like administration and public health. You could work in a clinic, or in home health. I know one nurse who works in a Dentist's office and does conscious sedation. You could be a school nurse, a camp nurse in the summer, a diabetes educator, or you could even teach CNA classes!

Have you thought about returning to school? Clinical nurse educator, Nurse Practitioner. Or you could even be a physician's assistant. You could help others become nurses.

The sky is the limit :) I hope I've helped you get started on brainstorming ideas to make your career what you'd love.

QMAN · Mar 23, 2011

Do you float to other floors? That's what I think of when I hear flex, which I wouldn't think would be a good fit for a new nurse. I say that b/c most of us, as new nurses, need a chance to hone in our skills a little. I'm still fairly new as well. I am going on my 3rd year now. I spent my first year in MICU and wasn't really happy. It was tough and some of the staff were pretty difficult as well. I finished my first year and then quit. I found a new job shortly thereafter and am really happy overall! Having a good team to work with makes a huge difference. So, the point of my story is that maybe you just need to try another area and definately one where you don't float (in case you do... which I really can't imagine)! Good luck!

Beedge · Mar 23, 2011

I do float. I float to about 5 diffrent floors. There isnt really any other jobs in the hospital I work at that would give me as many hours if I wasnt floating.

Beedge · Mar 23, 2011

I would really like to get into those other areas of nursing such as school nursing or diabetes education and such, can you offer any insight on how to get a job like them?

SNIXRN · Mar 23, 2011

Have you thought of nursing research? Also, I know that schools hire new nurses. You would probably have to look under government jobs. Good luck! :)

QMAN · Mar 23, 2011

Unfortunately, I think most areas of nursing, regardless of what it is, are going to want you to have some experience. I'm referring to specialty areas such as education or even a school nurse. Nursing has so many options. That is one of the biggest things I like about it. But without a few years of experience, I think it is going to be hard to get into a particular area. For instance, a school nurse. Parents and teachers alike are going to want a tenured nurse that has experience with not only sick kids but also emergencies. Especially with school age kids. Maybe 2-5 years experience would be a minimum requirement to get into a position like that. If that was your goal, I would look at getting on a pediatric floor and getting the experience you will need there.

As for diabetes education, you may check with your hospital and see if they have a nurse filling this role already and if so, see what they might recommend. Again, I would think they would want general nursing experience and of course a very broad understanding of the disease process, medications and treatments, etc. I have a feeling that many of these nurses have had additional roles as nurse educators on floors and ICU's. You could also start going to any inservice/educational classes available for this subject or any others as well.

OldNurseEducator · Mar 23, 2011

I may be wrong here (someone please correct me if I am) but in Ohio you don't need to be an RN to be a Diabetes Educator or a Lactation Consultant. You just need extra education and oodles of experience. I felt like you did as a new graduate RN and I remember days hating to go to work. The only nights I could sleep well were the nights before a day or weekend off. I would lie awake at night worrying about what the next day would bring. I could never understand how a new nurse could be so relaxed. I worked a Critical Care unit back in those days (1970's) and the LPN's seemes to know more than I did. They taught me a lot. I made lots of friends on other floors and finally moved to a different unit with a more supportive and helpful work group. I think floating actually makes your situation worse. I think I might look for a new job...looking always made me feel better. Good luck and take care of yourself...very important. I truly empathize. I am a nursing educator now and love my job. I miss patients, too. But it's not worth your sanity or self-esteem to feel like this. :nurse:

don2 · Mar 23, 2011

then nursing is not for you, you want an office job, you should have sticked with your old career, because, bedside nursing is the fundamental function of the nurse and will always be for the rest of your career, if the chance being promoted to be moved on at Nursing service Office then you should proved something first on the floor.

Altra, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2011

I came nursing from an administrative-type background as you did. The change is certainly a radical one.

However, it is not an insurmountable challenge, by any means.

I feel badly that you have started your nursing career as a float nurse. That's not the best choice, IMO, for a new grad ... and I have mixed thoughts at best about any hospital that would hire a new grad into a float position. Not only is the new grad under-supported and under-developed ... but the hospital and the nursing units lose some of the value of a float nurse -- a nurse with the experience and aptitude to blend in to any one of several units with minimal assistance.

Before leaving bedside nursing, can you identify a unit or floor that you like better than others, and see if you can get a full time position in that unit? I'm not saying that it will happen overnight ... but that would give you a more solid base with which to reevaluate a year or two after that if possibly bedside nursing is not for you.

Good luck to you. Let us know how this goes. Or PM me if needed.

navyguyhm3 · Mar 23, 2011

You have a BSN...I say apply to vocational schools that teach LVNs. That way, you have your own classroom and your own students. To keep up on your nursing skills, you can also be an LVN clinical instructor....talk with the HR dept of the hospital you work at and see about using your place of work as clinical rotation site. Imagine the respect you will probably get from your colleagues when you walk in with a group of future nurses....you as the teacher.