HayRayRN

Hi everyone, Its been a few years! I got out of that place and never looked back. It was a stepping stone to where I am now. Never payed a dime. If you are truly in a bad position like I was, and you can line up another job, I’d say go for it. I have 0 regrets. I re-read this post and realize I gave you all the shortened and condensed version of the situation I was in. It was hell. I still have flashbacks to that extremely negative time of my life. However, I’m thankful because it paved the way to where I am now. I ended up working at a major cancer hospital in research. Very interesting. Best of all it was off the floor. Worked there for 1.5 years and decided it was time to ease into an outpatient position with more skills and interaction. I transferred to an infusion center where I now do chemo, blood, abx, etc everyday. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I get to put my whole heart into it and my patient population is the best. I never thought I’d like oncology so much, but it’s truly a different world. The patients are the sweetest and my hospital has so many good benefits, pay, resources. This is not a place I would have been able to get into without my experience on the floor however, so I’m thankful for that. It was a smooth and easy transfer and I am happy to say I didn’t “lose my skills” or anything after being off the floor for 1.5yrs.

Hi just want to update for any readers out there, I gave it a year. I switched to days which did help my overall mental well being, but still really disliked the job and environment I was in. I was just tired of the constant issues with poor management, purposefully short staffing the unit (no tech, short a nurse, always being badgered to come in on days off to work), and this constant blaming the nurse for everything wrong culture that existed there. I made some great friends there, but it was a toxic place to work. So after talk with my management (who would not transfer me), family, coworkers, friends, I made the decision to quit so long as I had another job lined up. Never once was I questioned for only staying on the floor for a year in my interviews. Found a job in research & clinical trials. Also, while I do agree that employers invest in hiring and training new employees and will contract you to recoup costs....I have not seen another hospital in this city (major medical center in the US) contract for 2 years at a monetary value of 10k. The training I received was 1 teacher in a room of 150+ new hires, disorganized, busy work. It was kind of ridiculous, and I look back at that now and think it was a huge red flag. I still believe that program was a trap to new nurses. They hired so many, you'd get to your unit and look around and not a single experienced nurse was working the shift with you. That's scary.

If so what are your thoughts? Did you like it? How is it legal? Are doctors on site? If you haven't worked at one, what are your thoughts?

If you're anything like me, you probably chose nursing because you like helping people. You imagined that you would have the power to change lives for the better. Even if it was just one a time. Fast forward to reality, you've been slapped in the face of what modern-day nursing has become: all about patient satisfaction. You never imagined that you would do everything in your power for someone to be medically okay and comfortable and them STILL not appreciate, care that you even helped, or expect the moon out of you. Your fantasy of what nursing would be does not exist. You call and wake up doctors at night for an order for a heating pad, administer every pain medication the patient asks for, make their bed, wipe their butt, get them food because they are hungry, and they still will be mad at you because you weren't good enough. And you go home asking yourself, what is the point of trying so hard, when you couldn't meet your patients expectations, when your managers never recognize anyone's good work, and when your constantly working under less than favorable conditions to do these things? Stressing your mind and body until you have no sanity, all for someone else. You end up burnt out and compassion fatigued. You don't try anymore -- because either way the patient will still be unsatisfied. You rarely meet a person who shows an ounce of compassion for you and your profession. Nurses get no praise on the floor. Doctors reap the benefits while still treating us like we have no idea what we are talking about. And you get to the place where mentally you can barely even handle going into work without feeling physically sick. Dreading going back to work on all your days off, rarely enjoying your free time. Constantly fatigued and aching. Not feeling like you can take care of yourself between all the work and sleep and for me, school. What do you do when you reach this point? Nursing is nothing of what I thought it would be. It has left me empty instead of full. My once so beautiful image of nursing that I thought it would be is shattered, and I feel broken.

My contract is very vague.. It's valued at 10k. The contract says nothing about transfers, in fact it does not specify the job I have on my floor, just informs me about my training and the facility I will work at. I have about a year and a half left. I'm prepared to pay if they come after me.

I'm a first year nurse. I'm also in my early twenties. Right out of school, I accepted a job in a nurse residency that offered training for a 2 yr contract and monetary agreement. I could not find another job, and was naive about accepting this job. I was never advised that with contracted jobs -- the hospital might have a retention problem. The program was extremely hyped up, and I felt like I needed the education. Fast forward to now, I work on my own on a surgical floor. I feel like things are not safe and I'm risking my license a lot of times. I've also realized that this floor is in general not a good fit for me. I go home after work in tears, unhappy and scared for my license and my mental health. Without getting into too much detail, I've talked to coworkers and they too think the floor is not a good fit for me. The only thing that keeps me pushing is the contract and my coworkers. I accept full responsibility for picking this job, even though now when I reflect, it seems to look like a trap for new grads. So my question is: Should I seek transfer (not sure they will let me)? Should I break my contract?