RN that never was

Its working for you...ok I guess that means it works for everybody and what I said holds no merit...great! Also, I agree; I need an attitude adjustment. Being rejected for 3.5 years and hired by only by a sketchy SNF is no reason to be disappointed--I should be skipping down the street singing show-tunes.

Let me explain....Nursing (as far as I see it now) is not just a business. It is a profession that requires more than just knowledge and scientific aptitude. The "calling" is an analogy for a depth of compassion for others above and beyond what would ever be expected or REQUIRED to succeed in another career. Going into nursing with a "business" mentality will result in dissatisfaction and unfullfilment for many. I am pretty sure that many of the "I hate nursing" posts result from this. Sadly, once one reconizes the mistake it is too late.

So I got the job. . ..then I quit the job. Here are my reasons in no particular order: 1. The only place I could find to hire me was a SNF. . .and it took 3.5 years. I would hate to say it, but this particular SNF/LTC was horrific. To put it short: They were using medication techs as RN's due to staffing issues. 30+ patient ratios. The shortcuts by the LPN's were appalling. As it turns out, this SNF has a reputation for shady practice including mass NARC theft (prior DON), care violations etc. . .Not worth it. 2. I lost the passion. I don't know when or where it happened, but I found that I have completely lost the passion for nursing. It is just not in my heart anymore. I think being rejected for 3.5 years coupled with being away and disconnected from nursing for so long promulgated this change. The fire that once burned in me for nursing has died. I do think things would have been a lot different if I was able to secure a new grad program position on a med/surg floor right out of school. Now I just can not relate to the field as I am too far removed from it. "Distance makes a heart grow fonder . . .. too much distance kills it"----I do believe this has happened. I have changed over the last 3.5 years and nursing no longer fits who I am or what I want out of life. It is a very strange feeling. I chased a carrot for so long. When I finally got it I realized my tastes changed; I no longer like carrots. Now I do not know what to do. I enjoy helping people and have been told I am a "social animal". This, along with the scientific coursework, is what originally inspired me to be a RN. I do not see these things in nursing. I see pain, misery and exhaustion. Perhaps I was naïve. I envisioned being an OR nurse or something like that. I did not envision myself working in SNF. . ..if I would have known that this was going to be my only option I would not of pursued my RN. I feel you do need to have a "caling" so to speak to be that kind of nurse--I do not. I know this is getting long. . ... In closing. . ..I do not know where to go from here. Nursing is out. Any ideas of what can be made out of an RN degree?

30,000eh? I would not do it.

New grad BSN employment is a major gamble today; the deck is stacked--the house holds the odds---the players are drowning.

Last I checked, 16 month RN programs were running $80K+. You better ALREADY have a foot in a door somewhere. I would not invest a dime into nursing right now unless I was already working on a nursing floor as a tech/CNA etc... and had an in with a RN manager. It is just too much risk.

In response to CuddleFox: "ugh that sucks. that probably felt like you were sucker punched." It did. I knew it was pretty much my last shot. The majority of the class before me was unable to secure positions. My class was fairing worse at that point. The recruiter guaranteed me acceptance into the AF. I told him I failed the physical (MEPS) when I was younger (hearing) and he said I would get a waiver. All papers were signed, bases were chosen as was specialty(medsurg). Waited around 7 months for the waiver then was told I was denied.Entire process took a year. Recruiter was shocked. I was devastated-- another door slammed in my face. On top of that….my friend is now over ½ way through with her AF stint (as I was guaranteed) with top notch training and veteran status. Am I jealous? How can I not be.I went from being the highest educated person in my family entering a well respected career sprinkled with the noble/honor status of veteran to being an unemployed statistic with no foreseeable future----overnight. About the same time I ALMOST landed a job with a private hand surgeon. After 3 interviews he told me he, and the staff, really liked me.Then he said “I really want to hire you….but I can’t, you just do not have enough experience.” SNAP!!!!!!! College was hell. Had to maintain a 3.7 gpa to compete. All pre-reqs had a waiting list. It took me, due to over-crowding, 3.5 years just to complete my pre-reqs. With the RN program I devoted 6+ years of education to get my BSN from a State University. 6 years to run a cash register. That said…..I know how you feel. A degree in nursing is not like other degrees. You put your life into it. You identify yourself by it---you live it. When your career is denied, your identity is stripped. You are left holding a bottle of snake oil (BSN degree) wondering what to do---who you are---what’s next. Everyone tells you to “have faith”—“be patient”—“keep trying”. You do. More time passes. More classes graduate after you. Before you know it…it has been 3+ years and you fallen completely out of the loop while your envisioned career/life slip further and further away until one day you realize---It is not going to happen. Should you keep trying? Only you can answer that. How long can one pursue something like that before you go insane from the literal heartbreak? Making it through an RN program is a true demonstration of strong will….but everyone has a breaking point. 9 years investment was my cut off point. I couldn’t chase the dragon any further into the abyss. You will know when you are ready, The RN that never was.

Sadly, the BSN, outside of the RN realm, is completely useless. You might as well have gotten a degree in "under water basket weaving". You are going to have to swallow a very hard pill. It is over and the world will keep spinning without giving 2 thoughts about you. Welcome to America in 2013! Your education holds no value while the country has turned into a giant strip mall. Welcome to the life of minimum wage, unbenefitted retail--AKA: The Land of the WAGE SLAVE.

I tried the AF in 2011 to be commissioned as an officer RN with no experience and 5 months out of school. My recruiter told me I was in. I interviewed with the Chief RN at a military base and was assured I would be going to officer's basic training in 3 months. Sadly, I failed to get a promised waiver for a slight hearing loss in 1 ear. Recruiter said in his 17 years he has NEVER seen a waiver denied like that. Things were already starting to change in 2011. However, my friend who graduated a year before me (BSN) WAS accepted and used the same recruiter. We applied at the same time and even interviewed together with the Chief RN. She was 17 months from graduation with no paid experience.

In response to CRNA13 Wow, what an insitefull comment. I guess the 60% of my still unemployed graduating class suffers from the same defect. You are right. The problem has nothing to do with the following: 1. Over saturation of the market with a flood of RN new-grads form colleges who INCREASED their class size along with the many private RN expediate 1 yr programs that opened in the last 6 years to capitalize on the mythical RN shortage. 2. Mass insourcing of RN's from abroad. 3. 2008 Economic recession that has not recovered. Actually gotten worse with no end in site. 4. Elimination of RN new grad programs by Sutter/Kaiser and other major hospitals. What a critical thinking, sympathetic and altruistic CRNA you must be to completely ignore what I said and judge me and toss me away like unwanted refuse. Like what I have to say is completely in-valid because it is tinged with notes of frustration. How would you expectmy tone to be? Jolly? Whimsical?

I know what you mean. I graduated 2010 with a BSN. TOTALWASTE OF TIME. Degree has proved to be useless and has opened ZERO doors. Let me stop some of you before you spew the following rhetoric: You need to lower your standards and apply jobs at a LTC/SNF”: I did and no dice. “You need to be more assertive”: I was. Literally went into offices to speak to floor managers only to have the “1-2 year experience required” motto affirmed over and over again. “Do volunteer work”: Sorry, working two crap jobs to pay rent and college loans. No time left to work for free doing tasks irrelevant to nursing. “Move out of state”: No can do. Further, where is this magical state that has endless jobs for new grads with no paid experience? I haven’t seen it. “Just be patient..baby boomers (BB) are going to retire”: LOL!! Do you think ALL the BB are going to retire at once? WRONG. The BB generation spans from 1946-1964. Do not expect a mass exodus from the nursing floors anytime soon. Further, has anyone considered the influx of foreign nurses? Every RN floor I was on was majority Filipino RN’s, and none of them were BB with the exception of some floor managers. Also, the BB generation has, in general, over extended themselves financially to the point that they CAN’T afford to retire. “Again..be patient, things will open up” Ok, let’s ignore predictions of worsening financial stability in the coming years and say things will open up. Do you really think they will open up enough to employ the RN stale grads and the fresh RN grads? Who would you hire: A fresh grad right out of preseptorship or a stale grad 1-3 years removed from a nursing floor? “Take a refresher course” I am not eligble for the only one in my area (120 miles away at a community college)…too long out. “You have entitlement issues” No….I don’t. I worked hard in school—got accepted into an impacted RN program with high competition—excelled in my program both academically and in clinicals receiving accolades/stellar references from my instructors. After all that I am told, by the very hospitals that used me on their floors for my clinicals and preceptorship, that I am not qualified for an entry-level position in their institutions. The question begs: What is the point of the RN program then? Truth is: it is a lost cause for a lot of us. Funny when I think back to my RN instructors literally telling us about all the opportunities upon graduation we were pretty much guaranteed. How we could walk right into a specialty and “write our own tickets!” Oh how naïve I was. At this point I have really lost interest in nursing—with the door being slammed in my face at graduation and all. Giving your life to something only to be told to go away for 3 years takes its toll. Pretty soon the flame burns out. So to nursing I say farewell. You gotta know when to fold em'. --The RN that never was.