Jacob

Hi everyone! Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I decided to stick through as long as I could and am closing in on one year this month. As much as I hated to hear it at the time, I really do agree that persevering does help to create a better work experience. I feel like I've grown in my skill set and confidence and am able to handle much more that is thrown at me (and therefore have less anxiety). Unfortunately, I still have little to no enthusiasm or enjoyment in the job itself and am burnt out. I've talked with many of my co-workers that have left and traveling/FEMA nurses and the consensus from ALL of them is that my hospital is just really bad on its staff. That being said, I have started to apply to other hospitals and to different units (even if I have to pay back the HCA contract). I plan on staying with nursing and trying a different specialty outside of bedside nursing for a while. I might end up leaving nursing later down the road but in the meantime, I am going to try to stay with it. Looking back I think that staying for the year was a good move because now I know that the reason I am leaving is not that I couldn't cut it, but instead because it is truly not the right job for me. @Mattinthehat I am really sorry that you went through something like that. I completely understand not feeling confident, prepared, or so uneasy that it feels as if you don't know your patients. From what it sounds like though I would give you the hard advice to push through it. I can only imagine that it's treacherous to stay focused and continue working after your traumatic experience. I'd say try everything you can to prepare beforehand and then go to work with the mindset to learn something. If you're anything like me then if you leave this job based on this it will probably shoot your confidence down even more and it will be even more difficult to regain. Often my greatest source of stress is from me looking at one thing and becoming tunnel-visioned. The truth is that while you should absolutely seek growth and improvement this one time in your life isn't the definition of who you are. If you get to the point when you feel confident in your work but you still do not like the job itself (or the stress) then look for something else, but don't let the fear chase you away! One thing that really helped me start feeling confident at my job is to start studying again. Every other day or so I'll spend 20-30 minutes reviewing medications, heart rhythms, procedures, or disease processes that I'm interested in or see often in the hospital. That has made a huge difference in confidence. ---Especially when another co-worker or student comes to me for information or help with something. I hope this helped somehow. I guess it's been about a month I'd love to hear back about what you decided to do!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to get some friendly advice from people who have possibly been in the same position as me. I am a new grad who has been working on the Progressive care/Telemetry floor for 5 months now and am considering leaving nursing altogether. Throughout nursing school, I got to the point where I enjoyed the classes but really did not like clinical at all. I thought about quitting but couldn't stand the idea of giving up on something, especially since I was so close to graduating, but I was definitely not passionate about nursing. Then as graduation approached I was not quite sure if I wanted to work as a nurse at a hospital or just do something else. As friends in school were getting jobs I felt the pressure to also look for work and took this position at an HCA hospital (later realized that was a bad idea). Working on this unit, I have really great coworkers that are very helpful and friendly, but still, the stress and anxiety I feel is extensive. I feel that I can't concentrate or remember details and any enthusiasm for the job has left me, speaking with the doctors generally leaves me feeling incompetent and like I don't understand the patient. I also feel incredibly unprepared to handle many of the assignments I've been given. I have been taking steps to help myself though, like creating a brain that works well for me, asking a ton of questions, and coming in early to read charts, but I feel like its just something that is draining the life and joy out of me. It seems so early to say this too, but I feel just so burnt out of the work already. After talking with some other coworkers (most nurses on the unit have only been here for under 2 years) about if it gets better, it turns out that a large portion of the nurses who have been here for a while are about to transfer or quit, and almost all of the nurses from my cohort feel the same as I do, but are trying to wait out that HCA contract as best they can. Unfortunately, in a lot of posts I've read on AN, even experienced nurses say you just get used to it and the anxiety gets better but the job and stress are generally the same. I know 5 months is not very long, but I feel like my feelings have been consistently deteriorating. My thought/plan is to stay till I'm at least at 6 months, then look for work part-time at a nursing home/clinic for the time being while I try to decide what else to do with my life. There are a couple of options that I am very passionate about that I just need to figure out logistically. I think it is also important to say that I have spoken with both family and friends on advice and given it a lot of thought over around 2 months. It would just be nice to get some wise advice/experiences from some other nurses and or people who have left nursing. Thanks!