bitz

Thank you for your responses. They are Very much appreciated. So nice to hear I'm not alone and to also hear from those with a lot of experience some suggestions to avoid pitfalls, etc... Thank you both! :redpinkhe

Please help. Please just add your experience, hope and strength so I have more to bounce around in my head here! SO many posts are encouraging me to keep trudging on because the first year is supposed to be awful, that I should expect to cry, feel like I can't do anything right at times, make mistakes, lose sleep, expect life as I know it to be really rough, etc... But WHEN/How do you know if it's not the right fit? I'm no stranger to hard work and do not fear it, but certainly don't want to keep pushing when it's wrong or futile. I'm on my 5th month as a new nurse and already feeling the begining signs of burnout I've seen listed in one of my nursing books. I work in a hospital's step down unit. I knew I'd never make a good floor nurse juggling 5-7 pts at a time. Maybe if I was still in my 20's, but not now. I figured the stepdown unit would be better with a 3 pnt load. I enjoy being a nurse, but I want to be able to focus my attention on one patient at a time in something like the OR, surgi-center, perhaps as a CRNA or RNFA someday, maybe as a practitioner, maybe in L&D, psych, or even an RN in a doc's office. As most hospitals, the one I work at is pretty big on having nurses with experience before hiring in the OR, but I was hoping I could transfer SOMEwhere where I can feel I'm giving my patients the time and care they need and deserve. I'm going to be meeting with my supervisor for a review soon and I really just want to tell her it's not a good fit. I also don't believe I've gotten the full extent of what I should have received in orientation to the unit. Can I ask for more time even though I've already come off orientation? Would it be harmful to mention at this point that I feel like I've not gotten all I need? What if it doesn't work out? Just leave? Can I get a transfer within the hospital if I haven't put in a year on a floor? Can I ask my supervisor or should I ask HR? Would this lead to them firing me? The economy stinks and jobs are very hard to come by in my area. WHO would hire a nurse with not even 6 months experience on the floor? Then, if someone was open-minded enough, kind enough, or just desparate enough to hire me, then HOW would I ever get to advance my career without extensive hospital experience? Should I just stick it out? (I so fear putting a patient in harms way d/t my lack of sleep. experience, training, etc...) Does anyone out there have a crystal ball?!!!?!!