Hello,
I'm a new grad who was lucky enough to land my first job at a long-term acute hospital. I'm 2 months into orientation and so far it has been going well. I feel that I have support from my preceptor, from management, and from most of the other nurses. During my short time here I feel that I've learned a lot but I'm still going through the new grad emotions of feeling overwhelmed and not competent but EVERYONE tells me that's normal and that I'm doing great. Sometimes I feel like I lucked out with this job, however, this isn't what I want to do. I want to be a NICU nurse but I took this job with the intention of getting a year of experience and moving on. However, I find that I'm completely miserable. I cry all the time before and after work. I see less and less of the ones I care about the most and it makes me sad to think that I'm not loving what I'm doing. Part of me wants to seek a position in labor and delivery, another part wants to seek a job in a larger hospital where I can eventually transfer to the NICU, but then another part of me says that the grass isn't always greener on the other side and to stick to my 1-year plan. But the thought of spending 1 year here makes me really depressed. I was just hoping to get some insight and maybe some advice as to what to do.
