Please help me - dread going to work

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Hi all,

im having a lot of trouble. I started a job as a new graduate in a well known busy hospital in their neuro icu about 4 months ago and I hate it. I excelled in nursing school and actually liked it. I feel extremely depressed on a regular basis as I feel I was disillusioned to how hard nursing actually is. I am constantly busy during my shift and the learning curve is insane my schedule stinks and I absolutely dread going to work knowing how busy and unpredictable my shift is going to be. I truly don't know where to go at this point I am struggling to make it to my 1 year mark, even after time when I feel more comfortable with my skills I still don't see this as something I am going to like. I come home at night and have nightmares about work and my anxiety is killing me. I feel so lost and I feel like I wasted years attaining a degree for a career I feel so disconnected with. Any advice please? I feel like I want to get into psych and work with eating disorder or addiction patients or get into forensic nursing and go back to school so I can work with patients who I can at least talk to . My stable post op patients are actually my favorite ones. Thanks for any and all advice!

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Ultimately only you can decide if this job is a good fit or not. Just know that all the anxiety, dread, and depression you're describing is unfortunately pretty common among new grad RNs, especially for those in high acuity areas like the ICU. What helped me through that phase was finding a couple of mentors at work I could really trust and seek guidance from, staying in touch with nursing school friends as they went through similar experiences, and connecting with other new grad RNs on my unit going through the same thing. In the meantime, my suggestion is to pace yourself and give yourself permission to feel the way you do because nursing IS hard, but gets easier with experience and healthy coping mechanisms. Good luck.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Oh my, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard or read those same sentiments from a new nurse, I probably could retire now. It's a terrible shame that nursing, a career I love, is losing people like yourself because you aren't given the straight goods from the beginning. Nursing schools aren't providing much of the real world to their students, who graduate into that real world and they're not prepared at all. When you add in the total lack of accuracy in popular media portrayals of nurses and nursing it's like disillusionment is the least of it. Then, jobs are hard to come by, so grads are forced to take the first offer they get, whether it's going to be their niche or not. (Neuro ICU? You're not kidding about the learning curve.) It's a bit of a recipe for disaster. But you've already identified other fields within the nursing scope of practice that might feel like a better fit for you. Neither of your other choices are any easier than what you're doing now, but could give you the connectedness and job satisfaction you're craving. It isn't a given that we all need to fit into the same mold. I advise you to start looking into shifting gears, with the knowledge that it might take some time to get where you're going. Best wishes! Don't give up.

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I feel the same way and idk what to do about it. I wish I could offer advise but please update on how it goes!

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It ok to feel stressed, starting a job is very stressful. Take time to care for yourself when your not at work ie. exercise, doing things you love, spending time with others. Talking to my friends or family help me a lot but find what works for you. Some jobs however are not good if you are put in unsafe situations. I left working at a nursing home which was my first job and i don't regret it. I felt like you did after that job and i realized I already hated nursing because of a poor job experience!!! A few months later I found work in a psychiatric inpatient facility and love it. But I have been working hard to learn as much as i can during training and asking questions so that i feel less stressed when I come to work. I feel like thats the most important thing when you start a new job. It will get easier, but if its just not a good fit for you then it is just not! And thats ok :)

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What kind of psych facility? I've thought about psych a lot not because I think it will be "easier" but I feel like I will not dread work thinking about managing multiple drips, vents, labs, access issues, tube feeds, turns, baths, cleanups etc. I don't know if I want general psych but more specialized. Let me know !

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After working as an RN for several years, in several different positions and not finding a "fit", I decided to pursue an MSN in psychiatric nursing and a post Master's certificate as a Psych NP. Then I worked at a state forensic facility for 13 years, leaving last year for greener pastures. It was absolutely the best thing for me.

I didn't like bedside nursing and 10 more years of doing it wasn't going to help.I remember that awful feeling of dread about work and I am so glad I pushed forward.

In the meantime, try to get some experience and look at your options.

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Thanks so much for your reply. Could you tell me a bit about the job description in your time at the forensic facility? What did you do in the meantime while going to school? I appreciate your response as this is something I'm definitelt interested in

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I think you should give yourself 18 months to two years for the dust to settle, before you start getting serious about looking for a new nursing area. If you could finagle a shadow day here and there without your immediate supervisors finding out, good. Otherwise, casually, look at job openings in the meantime. Get a feel for what your next move might be without committing yourself so early in the game. Good luck.

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I have been a nurse about two years. I have worked on med-surg and OR so far. I don't like either one. Actually when I was in a nursing school, I already realized that nursing was not for me. When I decided to apply to a nursing school, I had no idea what it would be like to be a nurse. I was young and ignorant. I haven't quit nursing yet just to make a living.

I finally got back to school to get non-nursing master's degree. I go to school part time and work on 0.5 FTE now. Not only going back to school is exciting to me, but also thinking I don't have to do this job forever makes me feel so good.

I would recommend you to be part time if your job is too stressful. In that way, you don't have to be working all the time and you have more time to take care of yourself. Your manager can give you that option or you can afford though.

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Psychiatric NP's in forensic settings generally have most, or all of the duties of a psychiatrist. I managed a case load of 20 or 25 "mentally ill" men, I use quotes because they weren't all mentally ill. I was responsible for their entire care, they were not fist diagnosed by a physician. My favorite part, by far, was going to court as an expert witness to obtain court orders to force mentally ill inmates to take anti-psychotic medications, then watching some dramatic recoveries.

The job was actually not that intense much of the time as some of the patients were there for years.

To prepare for this, I worked for 4 years in a Community mental Health Center, going home every night to research the cases I had seen that day. NP school can not possibly prepare you, my opinion.

The clinic didn't pay much but it was amazing experience.

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Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Facility that is not a medical facility so we don't do IVS, or take patients that have foelys, etc. anything that requires medical attention in that sense or unstable patients (medically).

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