PennNurse

Before becoming an RN, and all throughout nursing school I was a computer technition for 8 years. I worked in a male dominated field,* where 90% of the 8 years resulted in me being the only female hired at that time. I am now at my first job after nursing school and work with mostly females on a med-surg floor. I am not trying to be sexist in any way shape or form, but there are vast differences between working with a group of females and a group of males. The mob mentality is one of the differences. When one of the women start complaining about something, all of the other ones join in and make it a good 10 minute complain fest. Honestly, thats fine, but they seem to complain over trivial things. Like someone leaving a paper in the printer (no personal pt info on it) or forgetting to turn a light off. Just things that I would normally rectify and move on with my day. I literally stand like a deer in headlights when this happens because I can't think of anything to add to the conversation. Now, a lot of these women have been working there for 2+ years, so maybe when I am at that point I will be doing the saaaaame exact thing. There is a chance they have been dealing with these things for a while and are just fed up. And I am in no means saying that men can't do these things as well, I just never experienced it in my work place for 8 years. This is just one of the differences. There are also nice ones. I am always fed when I go to work hahahaha. They bring in tons of food and everyone shares it, and I don't have to initiate a card or flowers when something tragic happens with a coworker anymore. Anyone have anything to add to this topic. Anything that can help me adjust without feeling like an idiot. Or anyone who has experienced this as well?

Excellent advice! The thought of my unit changing makes me sad after reading this hahaha. Honestly, I hate making unneeded changes. Don't fix something that isn't broke. I wanted impartial advice from nurses who have seen more then I have. All of my friends and nursing school friends think I am nuts for staying, but I am 100% not going anywhere after reading everyones comments on here. Thanks for the input!

Honestly, I was so nervous as well! Especially with the reputation the hospital has. I think I am going to stay, worse comes to worse I can try to go there in the future. I also don't want to screw the place I am working after they invested all the time and money orienting me. I hope you love your new job! I think there would be something wrong if we weren't a tad nervous haha

Thank you! I worked in retail for 9 years before getting my RN, knowing the entire time that I really wanted to be a nurse but couldn't at the time. I appreciate the fact that I am doing what I always dreamed of doing. The money is nice considering where I came from haha, so I am not motivated by that as much as what kind of patients I will get, what I will learn, what skills I will use, what skills I will lose, ect. I am worried that I will eventually see the big picture and regret not taking the chance .

I honestly love it. My patient's make my day and if I can make them feel just a little better then they did before I went into the room, I consider that an achievement.

Hello! I just graduated with my RN in December. I recieved my first job offer 2 days after graduation and accepted immediately, knowing that I was super lucky to have a job offer so soon. The unit I am on is considered a 72 hour observation unit that is technically outpatient. We get patients from the ER who are on the edge of a full admit, and overflow if the hospital is full. I see EVERY different kind of patient you can think of. Stroke, cardiac, renal, surgery, you name it. Its a fast paced unit with 5 patients at one time, but you could end up having 10 different ones with discharges and admissions. I honestly could not love my unit more. All the nurses are awesome and really care about their patient's and its just a great environment. I also work three 12 1/2 hour shifts for full time and the hospital is a 2 minute drive from my house. This is awesome because I have kids and like to be close to home and the travel time is so incredibly low. I don't know if I am in the honeymoon phase or what, but almost everyone who works there thinks that our hospital is the worst hospital to work for, and can't wait to leave, and has a reputation of having a high turnover. Pay is lower at ours (24.50 days, 26.00 nights and weekends) the two others around us start at 30-34. Those other 2 hospitals are 45min-1hr away from where I live. I have an opportunity to work at one of the other hospitals, the one that starts out at 34 an hour after shift diff. This hospital is known for being amazing. Everyone wants to work there and every person who I have met who works there can't find anything wrong to say. Its somewhat hard to get your foot into this one, so I feel like I am making a bad decision staying where I am and not persuing this opportunity. It is also 5 days a week vs 3 days a week, I love working 3 12s and having the opportunity to get overtime whenever I want. Has anyone been in this situation? I REALLY love my job. I am excited to go into there everyday and see what kind of patients I am getting. I love the people I work with, everything.