New RN Grad- need job advice

FL_Nurse92 · Sep 1, 2015

I'd say any hospital job can be stressful at times no matter what unit you're on. I could see a nursing home being less stressful or even a school nurse if you want to give that a try but you will have your good and bad days no matter where you go.

Postpartum RN · Sep 1, 2015

A nursing home job will also be very stressful, keep that in mind. I was more stressed at my snf job that my acute care job (medsurg/tele).

In a snf you get anywhere from 20-40 pts, it's extremely stressful, pressure all around, staff and management not supportive.

I would suggest maybe try dialysis clinics, doctors offices, maybe insurance Companies, etc

CryssieD · Sep 1, 2015

Congratulations! Welcome to nursing--it's an awesome career full of awesome people!

About the anxiety: Is it specifically nursing-job-related, or do you have it in other situations? If it's an on-going problem, you might want to consider some behavioral therapy, meditation, and stress-reduction measures--anxiety can really affect your quality of life; I don't suffer from it too much but my sister does, and it really does impact her life in some negative ways.

As for anxiety about being a new nurse: Relax--that's normal! It's the newbies who aren't nervous who worry me. I think any area of nursing may cause some anxiety for you--the main thing here is, whatever field you choose, make sure they give you a good, solid orientation: getting thrown in at the deep end is a new-nurse nightmare. Find out right up front how much orientation they will give you and whether you'll be working with one preceptor or get bounced around--I found having my own preceptor extremely helpful because we got to know and trust each other, which made us both much more comfortable asking questions and giving/receiving criticism.

I don't know enough about you to suggest a particular field--look back at nursing school and remember what areas you found most interesting and comfortable for you. In general, my personal opinion is that new grads should avoid ICU and ER, just because they haven't got the experience that brings the nursing judgment and keen assessment skills so vital to practice in these areas--but that's just me. I know others disagree.

Good luck!

mangosoccer11 · Sep 2, 2015

Thank you NurseMischa for your reply. I agree with you that with any job, there will be good days and bad days. I was thinking about working at a nursing home until a nursing friend said "No way!! That would be way too stressful, and you'd be running all over the place." But then again, I can see how it wouldn't be stressful because at least, you get to know the patients pretty well and know what to expect...

mangosoccer11 · Sep 2, 2015

Hi Postpartum RN, thank you for your reply. My nursing friend works at a nursing home now and says that its not too stressful because she says that she gets to know the patients pretty well... But then, at the same time, she tells me that she is always sweating because she is always running around and she never gets to sit down..

I'm hoping Medsurg wont be so bad.... I talked to another nurse the other day and said to her "I just wish that there was an RN job that wasn't so stressful." She laughed and said, "You chose the wrong profession."

Thank you for your advice, I really appreciate it.. I need all the help I can get!

mangosoccer11 · Sep 2, 2015

Hi CryssieD, thank you for your response. I think my anxiety stems from both nursing-job-related (because I'm a new grad) and also, have an on-going problem with anxiety. You're right, I should try some meditation classes in my area... People keep on telling me to do that, I really should.

My nursing friend who started at a nursing home, received one week of orientation. My other friend who works at a TCU also had one week of orientation. Now that you mention it, I will look for jobs that have a long orientation. It's really hard too because my program didn't offer a preceptorship.

Would you recommend me working at a nursing home or a hospital? I dont have my BSN yet, my instructors engrained into our head that we would have no chance at finding a hospital job.

Thank you again.