speedynurse

This is not a shocker - I left the ER basically because of an incident very similar to this.

I had a good team in general that was wonderful to me as a new grad. However - this incident eventually made me lose all respect for my manager. And honestly, I would never work for her again.

Sign on bonuses are never a good sign. Job hopping may or may not catch up with someone. In all honesty, since Covid, I feel like there is a ton of forgiveness in terms of job hopping out of desperation for finding experienced nurses and not just all new grads. I personally don’t look at other jobs unless I have some level of dissatisfaction in my current job (not boredom) but the need for a better work-life balance, better pay, better insurance, or a better team/management, etc. In addition, as terrible as this sounds, staying at one job for 10 plus years is not always beneficial either. Some employers want to see diversity and different work experience.

It can be difficult to live your own life/make your own decisions when still living in your parents house. Once you are in your own apartment or house, it will be easier to separate yourself from these. It’s your life - make your own decisions and then live with those. It’s a choice every adult has to make at some point in their life and part of growing up. I wish you the best.

Everyone above has given some good advice. One thing I want to mention is have your thought of trying for a different bedside nursing job first? Inpatient floor nursing is TOUGH. Nights are miserable for those who struggle with that shift. I never did inpatient nursing (new grad ER nurse and then to pre-op and PACU) and never want to seeing how all the nurses are run into the ground. Have you thought of day shifts or a different speciality? There are lots of options from ICU to ER to surgical nursing, etc.

I completely understand that for some, it truly is hard to work nights. I have worked all shifts and honestly, I never could adjust to nights. However, this is a night position. In addition, many people are on the list to move to days. I know I was one of the employees on night shifts that was on the list to move to days. And guess what happened? New employees were hired to day shifts while I waited years patiently - using excuses from they had kids, they couldn’t do nights, they had other jobs, had health issues, couldn’t sleep, etc. While I understood this - it was incredibly hurtful to me when I was dedicated to my unit and job and saw this happen. I just wanted to give you a perspective- not to discount your concerns but to understand other perspectives. I get not being able to do nights. I personally don’t think I could EVER go back to nights. However, it will put you in a bad place with your future team not to mention this is a NIGHT position.

Pink doves - there is nothing wrong with looking into a non-nursing job/career. I do agree that often the way nurses are treated has become much worse throughout the years. One thing I recommend on your days off is to truly try not to think about work. Don’t answer calls/texts from work unless absolutely necessary. Don’t pick up extra shifts. Find something you enjoy! I know changing specialities helped ease a lot of the stress for me. My nursing career is a very small part of my life - it’s a way to pay bills and while I do take pride in my job, I rarely bring it home anymore. I go out with friends, walk my dog, hike, spend time outdoors, read a good book, do errands, take classes, discover new areas in my hometown to explore or do day trips. Again - there is nothing wrong with finding a different career that you enjoy. Another option is to find a non-bedside nursing job while you try to go through school for another career option. Nursing is difficult and has become more so in my opinion. I have had to strategically separate myself from my job on my days off. One thing left I thought I would mention is to maybe think about is it the career itself that you hate? Or the specialty, shifts, management, team, etc? I know sometimes dissatisfaction can stem from a toxic team, poor management, night or rotating shifts, a specific patient population, etc. I wish you the best in your career and happiness….

I am currently a PACU nurse - I enjoy my job, comfortable with the surgeons and anesthesiologists, and absolutely love my team. It is the easiest bedside nursing job I have ever had (and by far the lowest stress!). However, I have had fairly extensive health issues rise to the surface these last few years due to my EDS/HCTD and related multiple neurosurgical issues. As much as I love my job and team, I have very much considering pursuing a non-bedside nursing job, such as in education/staff development. The chronic pain/multiple injuries/potential neurosurgeries in the future has me realizing that bedside nursing is just not the greatest for my body. I am relatively young and have not had children - I want children in the next several years (even if it's through adoption) and want to be in well enough shape that I can take care of them/play with them/be their mom. I am concerned with the pace that my body is going that I won't be able to do that if I continue in the field I am in. So what's the issue? I also want to be able to go to NP school (hopefully in maybe the next 5 years if I can get a grip on health issues). I am concerned that if I leave bedside/hospital nursing now that I will not be able to be a potential candidate for an FNP program. Has anyone ever gone to NP school after leaving bedside nursing? Or does anyone have any ideas of other bedside nursing jobs that are potentially less risky? The only other thought I had was to perhaps seek out shorter shifts at an outpatient surgery center with generally healthy patients. Thoughts? Not asking for medical advice - just asking about the possibility of NP school after leaving bedside nursing and/or other ideas. Sorry for the crazy long post!

I worked in the ER for 7 years - before Covid we were holding patients (sometimes all the ER rooms were full and we had nowhere to place ER patients). Now it’s worse of course. I moved from the ER to pre-op/PACU nursing and we are now holding patients there as well. Not to the point the ER is being but enough that we are working our day shifts and our on call team (which is often the team working that day) working all night as well to take care of hold patients ??‍♀️

Okayyyy….not sure where this post is going. I actually think basic cleanliness and scrubbing into surgery is one of the most basic forms of ethics in the surgical field. Working in the surgical field….I know of one surgeon that doesn’t follow basic forms of cleanliness and has the highest rate of post-op infections. I think this is time for a break from AllNurses with the way this thread is going.

I hated all of nursing school - I couldn’t wait to finish. Two miserable years….saying that nursing is nothing like nursing school but is very hard and stressful - in a different way. One way or another….2 weeks in is not enough time to make a decision.

There are multiple threads on this so this is very redundant. There are legitimate reasons for not getting the vaccine (anaphylaxis, etc). There are other precautions to take as well. On another point - that’s how I feel about surgeons not washing their hands….and have a high rate of post-op infections. Or of vaccinated coworkers refusing to put on PPE to go into a covid room. The list goes on and on.

I think it depends what you are up for. I personally would go for the day shifts but that is essentially because I know the last time I did nights, I essentially crashed and burned…..never a good situation to return to. It depends on what works better for your life….is it money or the commute or the insurance or the doctor-nurse relationships? Personally - most doctors and nurses seem to relate fine to each other . In all honesty, coming from the ER - I don’t put up with garbage. I expect my opinions to be listened to when I have a patient safety concern and vice versa. Nurses don’t like the way they are treated? Then do something to change that….my philosophy is we are all human beings and can figure out a way to work together.

In all honesty, I generally try to be positive but I also think sometimes it’s needed to see things as they really are - here is the reality: nurses are working shifts that are impossible, patient safety has fallen by the wayside because there is no one to take care of them, and yet nothing changes. I think I have reached a point of: it’s time to set the record straight and just tell the truth.

I think this title was used short term and has now gone away in my opinion. I don’t think our profession ever needed that title - what we did need was compensation, decent insurance, and not having to essentially work double shifts with is not even compatible with the human body. I don’t need or want that title - instead I need people (administration) to understand what we go through and actually try to meet us in the middle with what I mentioned above. Instead, it is now seen OK to work all day and all night, not get a raise for years, have very substandard insurance so we can’t afford healthcare when we need it ourselves, etc. (Oh and by the way - we are supposed to keep going to school to get our BSN for magnet status even though we are already burning the candle at both ends). Ironically, I actually do like my job - I just don’t like the way things are being twisted - the word hero means nothing to me.