coffeeRN

Thank you all so much for your responses. I have a lot of thinking to do, and what you all wrote helps so much. What is hardest about being a new nurse is that you are still trying to figure out how to be a nurse...and gaining the confidence that goes with that knowledge. I think if I had a few more years experience as a nurse, I would not be so afraid to venture ! Thank you all again!!!!

Hi, I am a new RN - for 8 months- working in a large corporate run hospital in the city on the oncology floor. I LOVE being a nurse, I love caring for people fighting cancer. However, I do not love my current place of work. We often have horrible patient ratios - I had seven patients the other night. Our staffing is based on this horrible midnight census "grid" which only seems to save staffing costs and forgets patient care. Our NAs our horrible - there are a few that are more than wonderful - and have even refused to do things when I asked them only out of being desperatley busy and spend more time shopping online than doing work. Sorry - I am venting here. What concerns me more than anything is that because of being worked like dogs, we do all respitory treatments, no IV nurses - we do it ourselves, blood draws, on top of a huge patient load, I often am unable to give the care that my patients deserve. More experience nurses admit feeling this was as well. I do not know if I can stay here much longer. In a few weeks, I am going to be certified in chemo administration. Is it too soon for me to be looking for another job? I've heard I should wait a year, but I do not know if I can make it there past this summer! Any advice would be greatly apprecitated.