Keri29

Do you think there is anything I could do to bring this to the attebtion of hospital supervisors?

I think being a helper/extra set of hands doing things all nurses should be able to do is a totally different story than being asked to take a team of ICU patients. I would feel comfortable helping out, but not being responsible for a team...

Hello fellow nurses! I'm having a hard time understanding why it's okay for my hospital to float med/surge, med/tele, and PCU nurses to ICU to care for ICU patients!? I work for a float pool so all I do is float, to 4 different hospitals. I get called and told that I'm going to a certain ICU but I will be caring for overflow PCU pts (I'm a PCU RN). I get to ICU and they try to give me all ICU pts. I refuse because #1 I'm not a qualified ICU nurse, I don't know their protocols, charting requirements, etc, #2 if my loved one were in the ICU and I found out a nurse not qualified in ICU was caring for him/her I would be LIVID!!!, #3 the safety of the patient!!, and #4 I'm protecting my license! If God forbid something happened to the pt I was caring for and I had to go to court, no one would be backing me up saying "oh well we made her take ICU pts", I would be the one in trouble! I've refused every time and every time it causes a big issue! I personally think the hospital is just trying to get away with paying a PCU nurse instead of an agency ICU nurse...just trying to save the $$$.  has anyone else dealt with this?! Do any others think this is wrong? I'm curious for your opinions! Thanks!!! 

Thanks for checking on me! I'm still on the same floor and dealing with the same feelings unfortunately. I've gotten used to the floor a little bit, but still not happy. =/ I just found out I'm pregnant, so now I'm really starting to consider what I'm going to do. I'm considering staying on the floor until after I have the baby (December), since I already have a rapport built with everyone and then maybe after coming back look for something else? Hope you make decisions that make you happy!!! Life is too short! =) be blessed.

I've posted on this forum before and got a good response, so I thought I'd give it another shot. I'm a new nurse, graduated with my BSN in August 2011. I'm not happy with my current job, which is on a surgical oncology floor located one hour from my house. I'm under a two-year contract that is worth $13,500. I feel stuck in my current position even though I dread going to work and am not happy! I'm married and this is not helping my marriage! My husband was supportive through nursing school and knew it would get better once I got out of school. I'm depressed and unhappy in this new job of mine which I've been at since October, 2011, and it's just not fair to my family. I just don't know what to do! I've considered applying to places near my home and seeing if they will buy out my contract?! I think the drive is a lot of my problem, plus, the floor I'm on is just so hard and is not for me. Any advice from experienced RNs who have maybe broken contract? Or appealed contracts? Or just know what I'm going through?! Thanks for listening...I really try to look at the bright side but I didn't go through all the hard work of nursing school to dread my job! =(

Thanks everyone! The support and advice is uplifting!

NetGlow: That is a good idea...force myself to get out and do things and that will probably keep my mind off of it. I start thinking about having to go back to work like a day before I even have to, so it's a never ending cycle. I really do appreciate the support and advice!

Thank you for your advice!

I graduated nursing school with my BSN in August of last year, 2011. I applied for many jobs but only got calls from a hospital that is an hour away from where I currently live. I decided to take the job on a surgical oncology PCU floor at this hospital located one hour from my house. I had to sign a contract, because they put me through a GN program for 12 weeks. It's a $13,500 contract. I cannot move closer to the hospital, because my husband and I bought a house where we enjoy living and he also has a business that is located here, so one of us would have to drive anyways. I just got out of the GN program about 2 weeks ago, so I have been on my own for 2 weeks now. Most nurses on my floor are great, but for some reason, I dread going to work and feel depressed. It scares me that these people's lives are in my hands. Even on my days off, I feel so drained from working and so exhausted that all I do is sleep in, watch TV and lay around the house. I thought that working 3 days a week and having 4 days off would give me time to do a lot of things, but I'm just not being productive at all. I'm not quite sure how to explain exactly how I'm feeling, and I don't know if this is a normal feeling for new nurses? Maybe it's because I jumped from nursing school to working on a critical care unit? I just did not want to be a medsurg nurse for the rest of my life. With the contract, I can move to different floors, but cannot leave the hospital unless I want to pay the $13,500. The driving is also affecting me I think. I have to leave my house at 0515 and don't get home until between 2030-2100. Any advice from experienced nurses? Is this normal to feel this way as a brand new nurse? I thought after nursing school life would be grand...but I'm just not feeling right. =/