newrnonthefloor

Sure, a lot of people go into various career's thinking that the job is going to be like something they seen on television but never in my years of studying for nursing was it expressed that I would be expected to work with patients who had a highly contagious infection without the proper protective equipment. I have taken care of patients with hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis, and the list goes on but the difference there is that I was protected and never had to fear for my own safety of the safety of my family. I never entered a patient's room and wondered if this patient would be the one to directly kill me, or my family because I'm not allowed to wear PPE even if the patient is symptomatic, if no travel was done. If I asked you to put an I/V or stop a patient from profusely bleeding out at an arterial site who had hepatitis or HIV with no gloves, would you? I highly doubt you would take that risk. I think if anything, it is making people realize how much the hospital does not care about us at all. We're expendable, while the CEO's/governor's sit in their golden towers and pay millions of dollars to the CDC to continue to change their PPE requirements so they can legally and justifiably expose us.

No, my management is known for holding you in your current position for 3 months (legally as long as they CAN hold you based on our contract) for a permanent spot. I can't see them allowing anyone to move internally right now, just due to the planned shortage. Never would I be allowed to drop down to PRN there, I'm one of the handful of nurses left that are experienced- a lot of my fellow nurses got out of here a long time (admittedly I should have too). I am going to offer to stay casual when I do leave, but I would never pick up there. It's a very toxic environment and unsafe environment. It'll be easier to pick up my shifts elsewhere where I'm not exposed to potential COVID-19 + patients and not allowed to wear PPE because even though they are symptomatic, they never "travelled" so I'm safe, supposedly. This has only been a cumulation of things for me. I have been planning my exit/escape for a long time now.

I personally would like to give no notice, but I'm in Canada and the union suggests in our contract to give the employer our four weeks notice. I'm unionized by my province, so I don't know if it is different in the US. I have known people to not give any notice and be hired back but I still think I am giving my four weeks and just being done with it. With my days off I'll only work a handful of shifts. I pick up casually in a lower risk area, and eventually a spot will open there so I'll probably remain casual for the time being. Luckily, I have a good chunk of savings because I have been planning on leaving this main hospital system for some time now.

The same thoughts have been running through my head. I am shy of two years into working on my acute medical unit, which has now been turned into acute medical/COVID-19 rule out. We are told we do not require the N95 masks, unless the patients are positive, but by the time we do get the results (up to 48 hours when they're hospitalized) we are already after being exposed. Not including other patients who present with symptoms and are not tested since they did not travel. If anything you are safer working on the dedicated COVID floor in my hospital. My unit has been one of the worst units in the hospital for years, with staff constantly leaving and the changing of managers to hopefully improve things, but I stuck it out despite being offered other jobs because I do not quit anything- ever. We are down to five experienced RN's me being one of them ("experienced" meaning at least a year of experience) and all new graduates from last November. This hasn't hit us yet and with the way I feel already I hate to see what a full blown pandemic crisis would do to my hospital system. As well as our management is currently failing us on our unit. I am finally at the point now, after considering this during my off days of giving my four weeks notice when I go back. I was never truly happy here, and with this currently going on it really taught me how fleeting and meaningless this life can be if you spend the majority of your time doing something or working somewhere you don't like. I felt this way before and wanted to leave but really feel as though this is my sign to get out now. I love my coworkers, but enough is enough for me and this made me realize I need to get out. I have nearly two years of hospital experience right now so I am hopeful I can land something else after a couple of months at most. And I have no intention of ever working on my unit again. As others have said the hospital does not own you. Just say you are leaving for personal reasons or a new opportunity if asked, half the time they don't ask. Good luck with what ever you decide.

I have been working as registered nurse full-time for two years on a medical/surgical unit, but it is more like a step down ICU in terms of acuity. I am good at my job and a resource on my unit. The bad thing is that my unit that I work on is constantly understaffed and unsafe, and there is always a lot of movement of nurses in the negative direction. I am one of the few senior nurses left (with only two years of experience under my belt), and it is usually me, a new grad and one LPN during backshift caring for 20 people which is honestly a lawsuit waiting to happen and I am tired of constantly feeling like my license is on the line. I love my manager and am constantly precepting new hires, and students but once they get out on their own they realize that this unit is not safe and tend to leave. Anyways, When I graduated from university I applied for a new grad job in dialysis (my dream job). I completed all my hours there as a student and fell in love with renal patients. Sadly the year I graduated they did not take any new grads. Months after the fact I spoke with one of the managers of the dialysis unit who basically told me to apply for everything since dialysis is hard to get into since if you don't have experience on the unit, or the eight week dialysis course since the majority of people applying typically have one of these before they'll look at the acute care experience, so it is hard to get into. I have been applying in the past but stopped since I never heard back and I felt content in my current position. As stated above I'm tired of feeling unsafe and think it is time to make a move for the better. My dilemma is that there are currently two part time postings up for dialysis. I currently work full-time and am worried about my financial situation. Going part-time and gaining the RDU experience as well of the training course would put me in line for a full-time position, and there are a lot of nurses retiring from this unit (as I have been told by management) so chances are something will open. I have also started looking into picking up shifts on other units, as mentioned I am a strong RN and have a good relationship with management on the other floors so being orientated and having to pick up to full-time while in a (0.4FTE) is most likely if I apply for this position. I would have to pick up 4 shifts every two weeks to make it to full-time. I'm just wondering what everyone else would suggest? Has anyone else picked up to full-time while in a part-time position? If I do get the part-time the unit would be willing to keep me once a full time spot opens since they would have invested the training program into me. I also plan to go back for my NP in the future and feel working days would be easier on me while going to school. Just looking for some advice from some fellow nurses!

My manager is currently on vacation and I have accepted another position that requires me to put in my resignation. The place I am at now is severely affecting my mental health, as we are constantly short staffed and I am the charge nurse to three other graduate RN nurses and four LPN's (IF we are full complement) causing me a great deal of stress as I don't feel safe with these ratios based on my floor's acuity. Luckily, I was able to score a less stressful gig that I already work at casually. The problem is that my manager is away on vacation. My union requires 30 days notice so the later I put in my notice the later I will have to wait to start at my new job. I'm debating sending a draft email and leaving it in my managers mailbox to at least start the 30 days... I do plan to talk to her once she is back. Just wondering if this is a good idea... I just want to move on.

Hi everyone, I need some advice. I have been working on a medical floor for over a year, and have recently become very burnt out. I have loathed my unit from the start but it is really starting to wear on me now. I have wanted to transition into one of our mental health units (an area I want to specialize in but was unable to obtain a job straight out of school), and I have applied for positions there, but like most specialities they require six months to a year of mental health nursing experience in /that/ speciality. If no nurses apply to the positions who have that then they look at other applicants by seniority. I spoke with the manager of my hospital's mental health units and he is willing to hire me as a casual employee in order to gain experience and be better qualified for positions as I would have the gold "six months to a year of experience" in MH. I cannot work on these units while I hold my FT job.The only thing is I would lose my benefits briefly for a few months to a year until I obtain another position. I have a sizeable nest egg tucked away. I'm just wondering if I should take this risk and finally jump from the toxic environment I have been working in? I'm leaning to yes, as this is a step towards my dream but just wanted to seek some advice Thank you!

Hello, I am a registered nurse with a year of experience under my belt. I have been at my current job for one year, during which I have hated the job since I started but attempted to make the best of it. I got this position on bad terms meaning, I was forced into it by HR (literally) and was told to accept it or they would never hire me otherwise. I go through periods where I think I can stay here at this position long term (mainly due to the staff on the floor being so great) but the floor I work on is toxic and has a bad reputation amongst the whole hospital I work at for being chronically understaffed and unsafe, both in which are true. I worry about my license constantly and the manager here does not have our backs. With a year under my belt I'm second most senior on this floor with most of the floor consisting of new grads who have been trained by nurses with as much (or as little) experience as I have. I have to say I have learned a lot on this floor, but on my days off I spend them all upset and dreading going back. Since starting my moods have been all over the place and crying day to day is slowly becoming the norm. I'm not normally like this, especially at my other job where it's like night and day compared to this. I fear if I stay here it is going to cause long term negative effects to my health (if it hasn't already). I'm starting to HATE nursing, and it isn't nursing I hate, it is this job which has been clear to me from the get-go. I'm at a loss of what to do. My current manager block transfers to other units so I will be stuck here at least another year before I will be let go, but I don't know if I can last that long. The hospital I work at is under one big umbrella so essentially quitting here would mean quitting the hospital all together for the time being. I am unionized so my seniority/benefits will transfer with me. I current pick up causally in LTC, a job I adore since I have been working there since being a student as a CCA and now an RN. I know I can eventually go back to the hospital on another floor in the future but the thought of leaving, even though this job is seriously beginning to effect my personal health scares me. I'm okay money wise as I was able to pay for my BSN out of pocket since I worked through my degree. I also have a healthy savings account and am in a position where I could be unemployed (if need be) for a while. My end goal here is becoming a NP, but where I live I need another year of experience. So I'm just looking for some advice. I feel like I should just quit and be done with it and make the transition to PT/FT at my other causal job before this job breaks me. I even considered the option of possibly going on a leave of absence for the time being and figuring things out. I don't know what to do anymore...