I♥Dexter

No... I've been an RN for 1 yr but only employed for 6mos. Last week I was told to quit or be fired... Looking back just makes me mad!! I put off my life for nearly 5 yrs to become an RN and it is nothing like I expected. Like many of the other posters, I too now suffer from anxiety and feel more like 55 than 35...The gossip, the bullying, and the lack of support I have experienced as a new nurse still blows my mind. Showing up to work every day made me feel scared and isolated, like a battered wife going home to an abusive husband day after day... However, I am determined to find my niche in nursing and make it work... I'm stubborn I suppose, but if you haven't sold your soul already, I would choose some other career to invest in!! Just my 2 cents!!

Thanks Ruby Vee for your insight. I'm not sure how a red flag goes up, by my following the rules...doing the proper paperwork when something was done differently than the protocol requires... There is paperwork we were supposed to do... when the paperwork is filed, the manager is notified. It isn't as if I went into her office 'tattling' on the other nurses. I only filed paperwork when it was a patient safety issue, in order to cover my liability and my license... However, besides the blood incident, I only did the paperwork if it was an incident that occurred repeatedly... For example, if I get report on a patient whose reason for admission is mrsa infected stage III decub and the plan is pain control, IV abx and TID dressing changes... and low and behold, it's 1500 and the Pt hasn't had any dressing changes nor received 1200 IV abx, and this is the 3rd or 4th time from that same nurse... yup, gonna write it up.... Why? Because when it's time for a vanco trough to be drawn but the Pt is 2 doses behind and the doc calls the unit, mad and questioning me as to why stuff isn't done... I have proof that it wasn't my fault... So Ruby, I suppose, as a new grad, I was supposed to suck it up, and not only do the extra work that was left for me, but also cover-up/deny the fact that it had been left in the first place? Well, then, I suppose you're right. They didn't like me because I refused to just "bend over and take it..."

Thanks for your response caliotter3, the manager is new to the position. I was one of her 1st hires. I tried to get help from the union but apparently although you pay dues starting the 1st day of work, they can't help with grievances, etc until you are off of probation... The nurse manager was a staff RN and fill-in charge on that same unit for many years before her promotion, and it was obvious that she was unable to "manage" the staff that she had been an equal to, for several years prior. I was told that she was intimidated by some of the older nurses because they harassed her when she was new...As far as my work performance, the only tangible complaint they had was over-time. As a new nurse, struggling with time management, I had accrued approx. 12 hours of OT, in the nearly 6 mos that I worked there. I can't help but think that letting me go was sort of a retaliation... I didn't mention in my original post, for fear of making it too long, the complaints I brought to the manager. Many, many times I would get report on a patient at 1500, and realize that no meds had been given since 1200... Or that the last blood sugar @ 1200 was 65 w/o notification to the doc and no notes pertaining to it... Once I took report and was told my Pt had 1 of 2 units RBC's hanging, they had been infusing for 30min... It's against protocol to hang blood less than an hour prior to shift change but as a newbie, I was too afraid to say anything... When I went in to assess/meet her, she was in rigors, with a 103 temp and come to find out, she had a Hx of transfusion reactions... Needless to say, the manager never did follow-up appropriately on these issues. I know she told the nurses involved not to do those things again, making them dislike me even more.... but if she had followed-up on the blood, I'm pretty sure I would not have still been seeing that nurse at work every day after that...

Hi all, here's my story: I graduated with an ADN December 2010. After months of searching and tons of rejections, I was finally hired in July, for a 12-week RN Residency with one of the largest hospitals in the region. I was put on the General Medical unit, and was told at the very beginning that d/t the client base, it was a very tough unit... "if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere..." The bulk of the patients are AMS d/t acute etoh intoxication, IV drug abusers with recurring mrsa infected abscesses, transfers from SNF d/t AMS from UTI, diabetics who can't manage their disease, COPD'ers who still smoke, etc... And because most of the patients are medicare or medicaid, the reimbursement is low meaning the equipment is sub par and we were always understaffed...And you must have at least 5 patients to be allotted an NAC... So, I completed the 12-weeks w/o any issues, errors, problems... I didn't love it, but it was a job and in this economy new grads can't afford to be choosy... I was hired to stay on that floor after the residency. Unfortunately, they were unable to put me in the 12-hr noc shift I was promised, with the other newbies. I didn't make any med errors, etc so they figured I could hang with the big kids and work evening shift, the busiest shift of the unit. The more senior nurses made it crystal clear that they didn't want a "baby nurse" as I was referred to... Nobody would help me w/o attitude and God forbid should I have a question... Anyways, 6 days prior to the end of my 6 mos probation, my manager told me it wasn't working out, the other nurses were c/o my inability to fit in with the team, that I acted like a new grad, asked too many questions and I even cried in the break room after my patient died.... She offered me the opportunity to quit, or else she was going to have to terminate me... So, I quit... I'm very disappointed... Any advice how to move forward from this? Thanks for reading!

Hey Chitown, it sounds like we work on the same floor!! I've only been there since July and have only been doing eves for 2 weeks but every day I feel like I could lose my license!! I've asked to be moved to night shift but my manager (who is very new to management, I'm her first hire) says it wont be possible until January. I'm now in 'should I stay or should I go' mode. I too wonder if and when it's too soon to put in for a transfer?! Ugh! I'm getting so burned out already, and I've only been working as an RN for 3 months! I've been told by nurses on other units that my floor is the worst and to get out as soon as I can but I'm afraid I'm going to get into trouble before I'm able to move forward!! So, just know you're not alone Chitown!! Keep us posted!!

Well Valhalla, I don't have your exact schedule, but I am in the "feeling isolated" boat with you!! I'm working 12hr dayshift, and I commute over an hour each way so I too am always exhausted and seem to work opposite most of my friends. And, I haven't really made any friends at work yet so that too is extra isolating. It helps to know I'm not the only one, and hopefully it gets better soon.

35 miles. It takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on time of day. Seattle traffic can be brutal!! Oh and $15/day for parking!!

When I hear a healthcare worker talk about a patient's O2 stats, it just makes me crazy! I haven't had the guts to correct anyone yet, though! I also have a little trouble taking someone seriously as a professional, when they can't seem to decipher when to use which of the following: then/than, its/it's, they're/there/their, to/too, lose/loose, advise/advice, etc... Oh and when someone says that they should of, could of or would of... the use of "of" instead of "have", gets to me too!! haha!! I enjoyed reading this thread a lot!!

Hey CCL RN, can I ask when this was, that you moved here from out of state, and had 3 immediate job offers? And were you a new grad then? And if not what type of exp did you have? Oh and one more: do you have a BSN? The reason I'm asking is because I've lived in WA all my life and am very familiar with the Seattle area job market, and well some of the things you posted, I'm having a hard time with. In 2008, when I was accepted into nursing school, I was promised by several different recruiters at different hospitals that with my previous work exp, I would be hired no problem, will probably have multiple offers, before I even graduate. Now 7 months after I've graduated, in this poor economic climate, it has been tough competing with all the other new grads, esp when all the hospitals "prefer" BSNs... I have had 6 job offers but all have been only within the last 90 days, 3 in LTC, 1 at a kidney center and 2 in hospitals. The hospital offers came in just in the last 2 days... My point is, (and I mean no disrespect at all), that unless you moved here before 2008 or you were an exp RN with a BSN.... consider yourself veryveryvery lucky, because your experience with the Seattle job market, is definitely not the norm. itri4vt, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get the position. I don't know where you are located but I know a ton of people who work at PRMCE and the rumor on the street is that they are gonna repost their residency, very soon. It's supposed to be a good program. If you know how to private mssg, I don't...:) Anyways, mssg me and I'll give you the Senior Recruiter's info.

I am an ADN, new grad in the Seattle area. Two different LTC facilities offered me positions and both quoted the starting wage for new grads as $23/hr. The job I accepted is an RN Residency position in a HUGE hospital and it pays new grads $26.97/hr plus differentials for eves/nocs/weekends. Also, just in case you aren't familiar with the area, the cost of living in Seattle is quite high so I think it would be difficult to live off of and repay student loans with the LTC wage. Hope that helps!

I'm definitely sending good thoughts your way!! And a 'good word' from another manager sounds very promising to me! Good luck!!

itri4vt- well, how did the face-to-face interview go? did you get the job?!

Well, I think that working as a CNA helps, a lot. I took the LPN nclex, half way through the ADN-RN Program and was unable to find a job as an LPN because A. I didn't have CNA experience and B. they said they felt that I would quit as soon as I became an RN. But that may depend on the location.... Where I live (Washington State), LPNs work predominantly in LTC and around here, LTC exp is not considered "nursing experience" that is required to get a hospital job... CNA exp isn't 'nursing' exp per se, but it is hospital exp and the hospitals tend to hire internally before they recruit externally... and around here, to get into NP school or CRNA school, you have to have good grades (3.5+), but more importantly, you have to have a minimum of 2 years experience in ICU, CCU, ER... some type of "specialty area" hospital nursing. You know, the typical catch 22 of the new grad... how to get a job w/o exp, and how to get exp w/o a job... I hope that helps!! In quoting the words of Forest Gump, "and that's all I have to say about that..."

If I only knew then, what I know now... Let's see, where to start... First off, nursing is not a recession proof career!! Don't believe the hype!! Second, grades are not nearly as important as they scare you into believing. My Nsg school suggested that we not work while in school in order to help ensure our ability to maintain a high gpa because according to them, a high gpa will make you more marketable and it almost always guarantees that you'll pass the nclex the first time... Well let me tell you this: I didn't work while in nursing school and I graduated at the top of my class and I did pass the nclex the first time...BUT, am I working as an RN, now 6 months after I graduated?! Nope. The students from my class that are working as RN's are the same ones who worked in healthcare all through school. And yeah, they all had lower grades than me and some of them did take the nclex twice, but in this economy, it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know, that will get you a job as a new grad!! So, I wish someone would have told me to do what ever I had to do, to get a job in healthcare, before nursing school, so that I could have worked while in school, allowing me to gain healthcare experience and make networking connections... Also, one more thing, and I will preface my statement by saying that I'm not sure if this is r/t the economy, my location or even both but: if while deciding to go to nursing school, you have the opportunity to choose between ADN and BSN, choose the BSN program!!! Around here, all the RN jobs clearly state, "BSN Preferred". Good luck!!

Wow! A residency for 12 weeks? That's interesting... is it for a particular unit or is it a general float pool sorta deal? Either way, it sounds like a neat opportunity. Good luck!! :)