cubbieblue

I am going through the same experience now. I work 3 days a week on a very busy Med Surg floor and that is plenty for me . My husband makes very good money and I really don't have to work if I don't want to but I wanted to be a nurse an help people , but family life and free time is more important. I work very hard and hardly ever take a break or get out on time and give my all to my patientss and other patients on the floor that need help and I feel that is enough. I am harrassed every day to come in because our floor is short on my shift. They never staff adequately and have been working like this for years and wonder why they have such a high turnover rate on my shift. Morale is low and people are tired of covering hours. I work with some people who really need to make the extra money and always pick up extras , but I don't want or need anymore than 3 days a week. Sorry , but i don't need the guilt trip for not picking up. So if management wants to harass me constantly about being short maybe they should learn how to staff correctly so people are happy about working there and don't leave in droves. Just a thought.

I am on 10 months as a new nurse and want to quit every day. My floor and shift is always understaffed and they call and leave a message everyday that we are short nurses on my shift. It is never the other shifts,always mine. I barely want to work my regular shifts so I sure don't want to pick up extras. I have a stomachache starting the minute I get up on the days I work . I am a nervous wreck most of my shift so I can see why I feel burnt out already. I can't relax ever. There are other new nurses I work with who take their breaks and get out on time and seem to be handling everything fine. I guess its just me. I think it is the nervous nellies like me that get burnt out so quick because we are in such a heightened state of anxiety all the time. I wish I could just relax and trust that I am doing a good job.

I feel the same way working on an ortho med surg floor. The bad days are the norm and I rarely have a decent night that I don't want to run out of there andf never come back. I feel like my brain and heart are racing all the time and am depressed and stressed all the time. I have been a nurse for about a year and don't feel like it is getting any easier for me. Some of the younger nurses I work with seem to be able to get all their work done and get out on time and I am always the last one to leave. I feel like such a loser most of the time. I got excellent grades in school and I thought i would feel more confident with my nursing skills but I feel so down all the time that I want to quit. I have gotten 2 very positive reviews and raises since I started but I myself don't feel I deserve any good praise because I feel like I am barely keeping up with my patient care and always stay late to finish. i love taking care of patients and they seem to like me but I can't handle 6-7 patients a night . I need to see if I can find some other nursing job that isn't so insanely busy. Why does it have to be so hard?

I hear ya sista! Way too much time with glitchy computers. I love spending time doing patient care but too much time is spent on the computer charting. I have to stop and wait until my computer feels like cooperating. Sometimes goes down right in the middle of passing meds and won't scan anything. It stinks and if I reallyy want to devote more time to my patients i just make notes and chart it all towards the end of my night, staying late most of the time. And double checking everything because you don't want to be hit with a lawsuit. Every day I want to quit being a nurse and its only been 8 months. But I have invested too much into it and feel I need to stick it out. I wish things were different,because this isn't what I envisioned nursing to be. Give me strength Lord to perservere!

I went back to school in my forties.I worked in several careers and then was a stay at home mom with my kids. I finished nursing school when I was 46 and graduated with high honors and started working on a very busy med-surg ortho floor a couple of months after graduating. It was the hardest thing I ever did but I am glad I was home with my babies and didn't miss anything. If you are financially able to stay home and raise your children, I would do it and postpone school and work. They grow up so fast and before you know it they are teenagers and don't want to hang out with mom so much, lol. It is never too late to go to school and start a new career. There were lots of 40 and 50 yr olds in my class and all that extra life experience comes in handy as a nurse. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

I am a new nurse with about six months under my belt. My nurse manager is one of the most supportive, kind hearted people I have have worked for. I work evenings on a very busy med surg floor and she always stops me and takes the time to make sure I am doing well and asks me if i am happy working there. She even has a sixth sense and knows when I have had a few bad nights and pulls me in her office for a pep talk. It is a long commute, super busy and hard to be away from my kids, but I feel very lucky to have this job with the best manager in the world. I wish everyone could have a manager like her. It makes being a new nurse so much easier.

Sorry to hear about the very bad work environment you are in. As a new nurse just starting out ,this is the worst type of place to begin your career in. No wonder your confidence is shot. I hope you don't give up nursing alltogether ,unless you are really sure it is not for you. I am also a new nurse and even in a good environment it can be very stressful and cause you to doubt yourself, but everyone says it will get easier. I wish you the best of luck in finding a different facility to work in. Keep your chin up and keep plugging along and doing your best. Try not to let others intimidate you and look confident even if you aren't. Bullies like to prey on the weak.

I just started on an Ortho/Med Surg floor and we also get alot of Psych ,drug seekers etc. It is a very busy floor and while I am learning alot , I am exhausted all the time. I don't know how long I will be able to stay on this floor. I love the staff I work with but I feel beat up all the time. How long do I need to stay here to get my experience before I look at other options. I am a new nurse and this is my first job. There is a very high turnover rate on this floor and management is always asking me if I like working here and do I need anything to help me succeed. I will feel bad if I do leave but this floor is killing me. I also live an hour away so my day is even longer. I really don't know what to do. I hate to leave such a supportive staff, but I am hoping my body and mind can hold up for the long haul.

I am a new nurse off of orientation for a little over a month and I am struggling. I am usually late getting off of work 1-2 hours trying to get everything done. I feel like I run all night long with no lunch or breaks and still can't get out on time. My staff I work with are all very supportive and helpful to me but they can only do so much ,the rest is up to you to figure out. I was a top student in nursing school but feel like I know nothing now . They all say this is common to feel this way and it is a big learning curve starting out. I work on a very busy ortho-medsurg floor with patients coming and going so fast it makes your head spin. I figure if I can make it here ,I can make it anywhere (as the song goes). Be prepared for a bit of a shock until you get some time under your belt and pray you get to work with a supprtive staff like I do and you will be fine. Best of luck to you.