Nonetheless

If you have a license, you're a nurse. You may work outside of nursing or in a role that doesn't require your license. But you're a nurse.

Your experience is kind of like how mine was. I will never work acute care again. It's just a hot mess. Apply for a bunch of jobs that aren't acute and see where you end up getting hired.

You are very kind! But I don't know if this is a good idea to say during an interview. In my experiences, the job market is extremely competitive for acute care jobs for new/ newish grads. It would make her seem like she is difficult to train and work with. I would consult with a career coach.

I dusted off my old account to come here. When I graduated nursing school in 2014, I job hopped a bit and wound up working in a clinic until I found a job in an ICU in 2019. They hired me knowing I didn't have any acute care experience. I was hired as a new grad and was trained as a new grad. The experience was traumatizing. I knew it would be tough and that it would take a year for me to start feeling comfortable and a few years for me to feel very comfortable. But the problem went beyond regular new grad anxiety. I felt like after the first 2 ish weeks, I was branded as too dumb to work in the unit. I felt like a target was placed on me. I was told that I wasn't asking enough questions, and that "there are no stupid questions.” So I started asking questions. I was immediately told that these questions are incredibly basic and that I should know the answer by now (by the same person). I will always remember asking a question and the nurse training me was so shocked that I asked such a question that she gasped. She said that the question I asked was common sense, and that she's surprised I didn't know the answer. I also asked the manager about something, and the same lady said that the manager would now question her decision to hire me because my question was so ignorant. I also circulated between 4-5 different preceptors. One told me that I was doing a great job and that she was proud of me. I later found out that she told the manager and my team that I was not learning well, I was behind, and that it wasn't safe for me to be on the unit. Any time I had issues with the EHR system, my preceptor told me I should figure it out for myself. I had one patient on a ventilator who needed to be extubated and one who kept de satting over and over again, requiring constant monitoring and care. So I focused on the guy who kept de satting. My preceptor scolded me for leaving the patient who needed extubation on the ventilator for too long despite me focusing on the guy who kept de satting over and over because he literally would die if not carefully monitored. Since I was scolded every time I asked for help with the EHR and charting system, I almost made a med error, because I thought that an IV medication was supposed to continue. I didn't understand the order and how it was placed into EHR system but any time I asked for help, I was scolded and told I should understand it by now and figure it out for myself. When I almost made the error, my preceptor went to the charge nurse and said I wasn't safe to practice. After the shift, she sat me down and said I was dangerous, unable to handle the unit, and learning too slow. She told me that my other preceptors, some of whom had told me I was doing a good job, said that they were concerned about my safety in the unit and ability to handle patient care. I got so scared. I lasted 2 months at that job because I immediately put in applications for a new job and quit as soon as I had another offer. My preceptor then told me that I should have stayed, that I would not have been fired, just transferred to med surg. The experience left me traumatized. Unless I have no choice, I will never work acute care again. And even then, I would consider a new career.

Don't you know, she will never ever get another nursing job ever again, because some strangers on allnurses told her that it is absolutely, completely impossible. Look at all the posters who are telling her she is a liability and a risk. Only people who stay at their first job for a minimum of 5 years will ever make a living. The rest end up jobless and poor...forever. Joking.

I agree with this poster. You will be poor forever and ever and never get another job ever again. joking.

I relocated for this job. I am alone and depressed and have awful hours. I come home once a month

I forgot I did have two nights in a row off *once* because in between I had a daytime training event in between those 2 nights .

5 nights per week or 3 12's?

15 calendar days, not work nights. It would be, for example, Sunday night to Monday morning, Monday night to Tuesday morning, Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, Wednesday night off, Thursday night to Thursday morning, Friday night to Friday morning, Saturday night off, Saturday morning. So I am at work every calendar day of the week, either in the morning or at night. I never get 2 nights in a row off, so virtually every calendar day is spent working.

Look, if I didn't have a support system I would not even be posting this thread. My parents aren't "enablers". My mental health and physical health have been in decline, and I have not had a 2 day weekend at all in the period of time since I took this job. my manager is not willing to negotiate with me and I feel sick all the time. Supporting your child when they leave grueling work conditions isn't "enabling". All work is hard, of course. But I am getting physically sick, anxious, and depressed I spoke with my boss and she told me that I have no other options. I can't switch to part time since I am new. No evenings for me, at least for a year, assuming more senior nurses don't take whatever evening position presents itself. I am going to leave. Whether I leave today or in a few weeks, or in a few months, I don't know. if this makes me a bad person in your eyes, so be it!

Yes, every day I want to quit, but I just push through for one more day. I also didn't suffer so much to be so miserable. My sanity and physical health are just in decline and I don't want to get sick from doing nights just because it's a "good job". I have started actively searching for other jobs. I also am going to talk with my boss soon and see what happens. I didn't come into nursing expecting a 9-5 day job with weekends and holidays off. I thought that I had to "suck it up" and endure all the suffering. But 15 calendar days straight then 17 more, including 7 nights in a row is just too much for me to handle. Some people can do that and are fine with it, but those people are not me. My unit needs to step things up and offer 12 hour shifts OR a much higher differential, and recruit people who are enticed by said differential enough to work nights.

THANK YOU!!! I also am a little over the edge here because I can safely ventilate all my frustrations relatively anonymously. And I am a Type A, naturally anxious person. I don't have clinical anxiety but I am definitely on the spectrum for anxiety (just as everyone is on the spectrum for different things). It's not like I come to work whining about my schedule and crying. I do my best, and work as hard as I am capable. I am so close to quitting. I am going to talk with my boss soon and see what my future schedule will end up looking like, but unless it is manageable I will probably quit and look around for a part-time clinic/ anything non-medical job close to home while I go back to school and figure out my next step. I also am learning how intense nursing is. In school, I thought "wacky hours? Oh I don't care! I am young and single and free". But those wacky hours take a toll on my health. I can't imagine being a parent at this time. It's awful. And there is the added frustration of patients who don't get better, patients who are abusive, and patients who I cannot help aside from minute things.

Thank you for understanding!!!! I wish I had 3 12's. I don't think the people commenting here realize how hard it is. Even my coworkers have a hard time, and most of them like working nights. Normal, healthy human beings get tired staying up all night, because that is how we are designed. No one ever fully adjusts to working night shift, and that doesn't make them less human. You can learn to tolerate them, but not to fully adjust.

I would not lie. I would be honest and upfront. I don't want to write out an example on here, but I would make it very clear that I liked my job, and that while I thought I could adjust to the hours, I simply could not. Also, about the job market....I thought I was going to be unemployed for life thanks to reading the online nursing forums. I never worked as a CNA or anything. I got this job offer about 2 weeks out of school, and then I got 5 interviews in addition to that...all of which I turned down because I had a job offer. I thought no one would want me, and somehow about 20% of the places I applied to wanted me. 2 nurse managers in addition to that called me and told me to let them know after I pass my boards. I applied all over my state, within about a 100 mile radius, so not all of these jobs were next door, but I was so desperate and afraid for nothing. There are jobs out there. I know with a blot of quitting after 4 months, I will have a harder time, but if I had such "luck" with my other interviews, chances are I will get at least one or two. Anyway, I am feeling less depressed right now so I don't plan to quit anytime yet. I will stay for as long as I can.