"You are giving up"

Nurses Career Support

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

So I took this job in Med/Surge recently, after working a year of psych. While I enjoyed very much the atmosphere, my coworkers, and not feeling stressed about or really dreading going to work... I had to leave psych because for me, it was getting boring and unfullfilling. Decided to come back to a regional hospital, where I would have more options. I can return to psych if I like, I can try the ER, I can do different things. Right now I'm doing Med/Surge.

I've only been there less than three months. I went into this job with all four feet, determined to do a good job and make a difference. In just the past couple of weeks, my attitude towards this job has taken a major nose dive. This past Friday, I felt physically ill, just because I had to go back to that place, after four days off. The floor that I work on has the potential to get really horrible in a very short amount of time. The patients we care for are always TERRIBLY sick, and we can go up to eight patients at a time. We don't have enough aides, and they generally have at least ten patients to themselves, many of them total care... I personally don't think that is enough aides. It's obvious that most of the doctors there don't care what us nurses think. The patients there don't have much of a choice as to where to go (it's a fairly remote area) and they seem especially rude. We get tons of complaints and they get posted right where we can see them.... in the dang staff bathroom. The bathroom isn't even a nice place to "get away" for us, as we have a lot of memos and reminder letters and meeting notes and stuff posted in the bathroom. Our breakroom is very very small and messy and it's the only place that we have to take a break and kinda "get away", I mean it's really about the only place unless we go down to the cafeteria between 1:30 am and 3am when it is open, or go to the smoking area.

Plus, it's been in the past couple of weeks that night shift (us) has started to have to pass most of day shift's meds. We have a large 6am med pass. So we have two huge med passes to deal with on our shift, the 9pm med pass and then this 6am med pass.

I'm just very discouraged and unhappy and don't know what to do. I want to quit but what I hear from my husband is "You are giving up... you haven't even been there three months". I know that what I am experiencing is present in most hospitals, and I should be happy that it isn't worse.

Am I giving up if I start looking for something else now?

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Specializes in SICU.

Can you move to a different department within the hospital? This way you are not quitting but you are getting out of an area of nursing that is bringing you down. I see from your info that you have worked in oncology and pediatrics. Do they have those departments? Good luck in whatever you choice to do in order to make yourself happy. Life is too short to be ill over a job.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I can't transfer for over three more months. That's our hospital's policy; six months of probation.

I can kinda understand that. What kinda makes me mad is that they won't let me float to another unit until I've been off of my initial orientation for six months; that's probably at least FOUR months away. I would LOVE at this point to be able to check out other units to see if I might be happier there, but nope. Can't do it. I have not been on another unit to work at ALL. The other two hospitals that I've worked... well, in my experience I'm used to having worked ALL OVER those hospitals, and I did it in a short time after arriving there to work.

I'm just SO discouraged right now. I'm always behind on my meds, my patients are all so rude and apparently our hospital/unit as a whole just isn't doing a very good job as we get tons of complaints... lately I feel like I'm missing a lot of things I shouldn't be missing... the past two mornings that I've given report, the day shift nurses both days have made me feel like SUCH an idiot and made me feel like I'm missing so many important things and just not doing my job very well at all.

I think I'm just feeling like nothing that I can do can make much of a difference with any of these patients; nothing that I do can make them happy. I'm so tired of rude, disrespectful doctors. I'm stuck working in hospitals anymore because I can't AFFORD to work at the health department or a doctors office or anything like that; places that generally pay much lower.

My ultimate goal is to become a school nurse but again, can't afford that right now and with just an ADN, I probably wouldn't get hired doing that job anyway until I've been a nurse just a bit longer.

Oh well. I think I'm venting more than asking for advice but I think that the General Nursing Discussion forum as a whole is sick of hearing me vent about Med Surge from the LAST time that I was a Med Surge nurse.

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Well, it sounds like you hate med/surg. That sure doesn't make you unique.

Why stay? It's not like you get some prize for putting up with stuff you hate. And as far as I'm concerned, life's too short.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I hear you, there....

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Specializes in pedi, pedi psych,dd, school ,home health.

If you are becoming physically ill at the thought of going back to work after a few days off; then you need to listen to your body and yourself; and find something that makes you happy. Trust me I spent almost a year in a job where I was unappreciated and criticized daily; and only when my dentist looked at my teeth that were cracking from grinding that he said " get a mouth guard and a new job!!"

as fate has it i now have a great job with a great staff and kids i adore. ( In pedi psych)

start looking around... when you see something that ticks then look into it. even the thought that there is light at the end of the tunnel is a help some times. good luck. Mary

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I just want to let you know that you are not alone. I'm on my third job in less than 2 years and I am actively searching for another. I've only been at my job for 6 weeks and I hate it already. This time, I am done with nursing, at least for now. I will never return to staff nursing. I have been going through a really tough time because I feel like I have failed. I believe that I am a good nurse (my current manager has told me that I am one of the only employees that has ever made it through orientation without being extended), but I just don't enjoy it. I'm trying not to let it get to me, because I know that nursing just isn't for everyone. I don't have any answers, but I just wanted to let you know that my thoughts are with you.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

You couldn't pay me enough to go back to med/surg nursing. Two years ago, I walked away from a $30-an-hour job because it literally made me sick, both in body and in mind. Like Suesquatch said, life's too short to be miserable, and no one is going to reward you for staying with a job you hate. Get out while the getting's good, before you wreck your health and possibly even your career.

Good luck to you in exploring other options........surely there's something out there that's just right for you!

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If you got physically ill about going back to work after a four day hiatus, then this job is obviously getting to you. You either need to learn some coping strategies, or else start looking for something else. If it means taking a pay cut to work in a doctor's office then that is what you must do. Your health is more important than trying to stay with a job that makes you sick just by thinking about it.

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Specializes in Did the job hop, now in MS. Not Bad!!!!!.

Ok y'all,

I'm in this same position, except that I quit my new grad job yesterday morn and am panicked at not finding another. I was also physically ill from my job when just Friday night was peeing straight blood, spent 2 hours in the ER midshift and returned to finish it out, including doing all my total care and lifting w/ pts, then 2 days later, heaving b/c I had rxns to my abx.

Unfortunately, I don't have the blessings of experience and cannot take a job just anywhere since I still have many tasks to learn and skills, etc... Or do I?

I was pushed to learn so many procedures in such a dismally chaotic "orientation". I learned plenty, but so many more to come I'm sure.

How do I go about finding work that won't make me so sick when I am reading and hearing about needing medsurg experience????? I"m fresh off an Onc unit that was really more Renal and death than anything!

sigh,:o

HELP?:uhoh21:

Chloe

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[[[[chloe]]]]

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Specializes in Did the job hop, now in MS. Not Bad!!!!!.
[[[[chloe]]]]

Aw Sue, thanks hun. I am so scared. Also found out today that I'm now pooping occult blood too!!! (lab results from 15th, rec'd a phone call today)

I'm 39!!! Could I be just stressed? This job sucked the life right outta me. I wish I knew what to do now.

Chloe:uhoh21:

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