New RN - Advice Needed

[gbchick04]

I graduated with my Associate's in Nursing in May 2015 and passed my NCLEX on June 20th! There is only one hospital in the city I live in and it is the place where 90% of our clinicals were. In the summer of 2014, as a nursing student, I was able to complete at 2 week internship in the Operating Room. Everyone was very nice, seemed to love their job, and I thought I could see myself working in that environment. It was also nice that the nurses have holidays and weekends off unless on call. (BONUS!) The following semester we had clinicals in the nursery, and L&D, which I loved both.

After graduation, the hospital had group interviews (with all 16 people in my class) and the different department heads. Before the interviews we were asked to give HR our preferences on what departments we would like to work in. From previous classes it was likely we would get our first choice, as there are many jobs available at our hospital. I initially wanted to pick the NICU first, as I felt drawn to that area the most, but heard from someone that works there, that there was a lot of drama in both NICU and L&D departments. As a new nurse, I did not want to be drawn into that kind of mess, so I put down my preferences in order of OR, NICU, then L&D.

I had good communication of the OR manager and one of the head nurses, and had complete confidence I would get hired in the OR. I did not hear from the NICU or L&D for second interviews. Thankfully, I got hired in the OR. A few days after I accepted the offer I heard that one of my classmates was offered the OR position before I was, even though it was her 4th choice of where she wanted to work. She declined the position. I feel that I only got the position because she declined it. I am still thankful I got the position, but I was uneasy about the job going into it because of this information I found out.

I started my job in the OR on July 20th. There is a training program starting September 14th for all OR nurses in our state. We have to travel to another city and stay for classes for a week each month through January. There are readings, papers, etc (essentially like another semester of school). When I started on July 20th was assigned to follow one of the senior nurses. I was given no further instruction about what I was supposed to do from my supervisor. To date I still haven't been given any type of employee manual (for OR specifics), any instruction on our email accounts, what to do if we have to call in sick, and all of those other things you are usually talked to about anywhere you are newly hired.

The second day of work, the nurse I was following pulled me aside and told me that both her and another senior nurse were leaving their positions at the hospital because of some crazy politics that were happening. Throughout the first 2 weeks of work I discovered that there is an insane amount of drama in the department, and no one is happy. There was a department meeting and all the nurses/scrub techs were pissed, yet nothing was done about thier concerns. This makes me extremely nervous as I was told they expect new hires to stay for 3 years. (Although I have yet to sign a contract).

From the first day I noticed I wasn't being trained to do anything different than when I was an intern. I just observed. Initially, I thought this may just be temporary, but since July 20th I have been trained to do much of nothing. I stand around for 12 hour shifts and observe. The nurse I was assigned to seemed scatterbrained, and I figured it was just because she was leaving the facility and had no interest in training a new person, so I started following other nurses. The only training I have received was from a traveling nurse whose last day is tomorrow.

The lack of training, plus the fear of being trapped in a position I may not like for 3 years has had me on a rollercoaster of emotions since day one. At times I feel that I want to leave and find another job ASAP, and at other times I feel that I should stick it out. Whatever I do I need to make a decision before September 14th.

Last week I spoke to my supervisor about the lack of training and she said observing right now is ok (although I don't feel the same). She also told me that since so many people are quitting or leaving (travelers), that starting Sept 1st I will have to be a float nurse. She asked me about knowing how to do different skills (that a float nurse has to do), which I said no to all of them because I haven't been trained. It freaks me out they want to put me in that position when I have had no training.

I know I will get a preceptor once the training classes start, but I am bored out of my mind standing around full time. The day after talking to my manager I was able to talk to the director of the department. (This director just started at the beginning of the month, and is trying to fix things in the department). I explained to her my lack of training and straight up told her I didn't want to be locked into something when I don't know if I will like it. She told me that I should just "jump in" and ask to do things. I don't feel that is my place. I don't feel that I should have to ask to be trained.

During the past few weeks, because of my rollercoaster of emotions, I have been looking into other positions, and one I came across is a school nurse. I ended up speaking with the head nurse of the school district. The positions had preferences for nurses with their BSN (not me) and 2 years of experience (not me again), so I was calling to ask if there was any chance they would accept new grads, which she told me they would. I ended up applying for the school nurse position at an elementary school and middle school. I figured there would be more qualified candidates than me, but this morning I received a call from the principal at the elementary school asking me to come in for an interview. I was very surprised, and have an interview set up for 3 hours from now.

My dilemma is that at this point, if I was offered the school nurse position, I don't know what I would choose. They are obviously very different positions. The pay is slightly less with school nurse, plus the summer off, so financially, sticking with the OR would be the right choice. But I also don't want to be stuck in the middle of a job with drama and lack of training, where everyone is not happy. Benefits are similar in the two positions. But on the other hand, I only was in clinicals as a school nurse for one day, so I don't completely know the scope of being a school nurse. Any advice is appreciated.

[vivrantthing]

Hey, I'm also a relatively new nurse - (soon to hit a year of hospital experience, my previous experience was a few months in a nursing home/rehab) so please take my advice with a grain of salt. I know how it is to feel lost and have no input so I thought I'd weigh in.

I've found that no matter where you work, there is a fair share of drama and conflict. No work place is perfect. The way I see it is that it boils down to what you're looking for. In the hospital, you'll learn much more than what you see as a school nurse - that's not to say that you won't learn from being a school nurse. However, as you mentioned yourself, they're different nursing environments and patient populations.

The three year contract is understandably worrisome. That's a long time to be tied to a place that you may not be in love with. Do you know what happens if you break your contract? Maybe more experienced nurses can weigh in on that, especially in terms of obtaining references for future jobs.

You're lucky to get an OR job as a new grad with an ADN. I can see why the beginning of your training consists of mainly observation. Perhaps you can find out how training usually progresses and when things get more hands on, because I also understand your hesitancy to just "jump in". However in the mean time, retain as much as you can and ask questions. Sometimes observing doesn't feel like much but there's so much to learn.

Keep your head up. And congratulations on becoming an RN and landing your first job!