Dani1951

Backstory to my dilemma: Starting working as an RN on a specialty unit at a hospital. 9 months into that job I was offered a FT position at an outpatient center that I had worked at in previous years. I took that position and went PRN at the hospital. I had been on nights (which I hated) and the promise of normal M-F daytime hours sounded like a dream for my family. On top of that, full time at the center only required 4 days a week...total bonus since most outpatient jobs are 5. Fast forward 6 months and I absolutely dread going in each morning. I find the work incredibly monotonous. I feel completely bored and unfulfilled. 90% of the nurses I work with are 25+ years older than me and are not team players/constantly complaining/just generally over their jobs and waiting to retire. I feel like I am sometimes taken advantage of because of my age and the fact that I used to be a tech there. The pay is much less than I make at the hospital. The hours are sporadic (you can work 3 hours in a day or 10, sometimes I don’t even get all my hours for the week etc). Getting time off is a nightmare because we don’t employ that many staff nurses and the PRNs are unreliable/all have other jobs. FT staff are expected to work their day off/basically be on call if coverage can’t be found in PRNs. Also it is a long commute for me. I know that these types of nursing jobs are “holy grail” jobs for most .... no nights/weekends/holidays/ only 4 days a week... and I know I was very fortunate to have been hired into one during my first year of being an RN. These points make me feel ungrateful and bratty for not being happy with it. It also makes me question if I am making a mistake by giving it up, despite all of the reasons I listed above. I suppose I’m just looking for some outside perspective as I know I have a very poor attitude towards the situation right now. Maybe I just need to adjust my thought process and be grateful for this job that I know plenty of others would love to have? Or do I follow my gut and just keep this as PRN and go back to the hospital FT? Thanks in advanced for any insight.

I found your post because I was searching for the same opinion of leaving a position before your first year. My situation is very similar but also different in ways. I was hired days and then asked to do nights because of staffing changes. I’ve never worked them full time but figured anything is possible and I really wanted the job as it’s a specialty unit that I was grateful to be hired onto. I started in January and had 6 weeks of dayshift orientation and then 2 weeks on nights - so I’m just finishing my fourth month of nights. I don’t have to work days but I do have children so staying on a night shift schedule is just not possible for me.... which makes it feel like I’m on a rotation anyway. I have tried everything there is to try short of RX drugs and I just cannot sleep during the day. I get maybe 2 hours during the day on nights I work and then on days off I’ll sleep a few hours at night and then be up at 11pm and unable to sleep the rest of the night. Rinse and repeat. I live in a constant state of jet lag and sleep deprivation and it’s recently felt as if I’m slipping into depression. My anxiety is through the roof. I fight every single day with pep talking myself into keeping it together. I spoke with management who didn’t seem concerned. Days are not an option anytime soon due to being so short staffed at night and full on days. Transfers are not an option for the same reason. As much as it’s not what I want to do I’ve made the decision to start looking elsewhere. You have to do what is best for your health and family at the end of the day.

Also, I forgot something I wanted to point out about workload. In the first half of the semester you will have a lot of busy work between lecture and pharmacology (pharm homework load doesn't end throughout the whole semester as it is online). The hardest part at first was having to figure out all of the assignments, when they were due, what was expected etc. The syllabus was not black and white with all assignments and due dates in a nice little table. You will definitely benefit from spending your first free day making a calendar for the whole semester and really looking through all the syllabi, canvas, etc to make sure you're not missing anything.

All of the above is fantastic advice ^ My professor was the same exact way as far as letting us know exactly what material to focus on. The tables and boxes that were pointed out were always on exams. I never read the assigned reading start to finish. The way I would study is to go through the power points the night before lecture, then during lecture I would take notes on things that were pointed out as important, and then I would go through the book and elaborate on the power points and key points made in lecture. I also quickly leanered that the lifespan considerations in each chapter were EXTREMLY IMPORTANT to know like the back of your hand. I ended up .37 percent away from an A for lecture ( it doesn't get rounded up). While I was of course very disappointed that I missed my A, I do feel like I left level 1 having really learned the material (rather than other classes where you memorize and then forget).

Hi! I just finished level 1 at FSW so feel free to ask any questions about what to expect from the workload :)

Charlotte campus wasn't told that. Has anyone gotten schedules yet? We were assigned to a clinical day/group but told we won't get detailed schedules until clinical orientation on 1/10.

Hmm. Maybe this was specific to your campus? I didn't see that anywhere

How do you know this??? I'm also in a predicament regarding my work schedule for January and February ( we schedule 8 weeks out). So frustrating to not have our days yet :/. Prof at my campus said we would get it by end of December.

Solus, Thank you!!!! So much. That was exactly what I needed to know. I appreciate you taking the time to clairify that in such detail :) Do you mind me asking if you're working during the program?

Thanks for taking the time to answer! :) Im still just a tad confused. Mainly I'm wondering if there are ever weeks where school is 4 days. I know sim is on a non class or clinical day... But do you also have clinical if you already had sim? So for example if had sim on Tuesday during a certain week... Would your schedule that week also include your Friday or Monday clinical?

Are you kidding me??? That's insanity that there is still expense on top of the 1600+ Even worse for you guys finding out with this short of notice. I'm a huge fan of the ebooks so it's great to know that's an option. I snooped around the files in the nursing colloquium and found the schedules they posted for you guys for Fall. It still shows a scheduled clinical day ( or a CRD) the weeks there is a sim...that's what made me ask. We're those schedules changed later? I'm mainly curious because of work. Thanks again for answering!

FuturenurseM2018: thanks again for your answers! :) So is it correct that some weeks it's 4 days a week because of simulation ? Or do you not have clinical that week when that happens? also you mentioned that days may change in regards to needing flexibility at work. Did you find this happened a lot ? Solus: Thank you for offering to answer questions for us! :) Which campus do you attended ? for both of you: did you need to carry ALL of your books every class/clinical??

Just wanted to check in with everyone and say hello!! Less than one month left until we start!! Hope you all had a great thanksgiving :) Ps- regarding bookstore/financial aid... When I was there buying mine the girl working told me as soon as I asked for the bundle that with tax it went over the amount allowed to be used with financial aid on its own (before even buying the ATI card). I wasn't using aid so I'm not sure what happens... But I would imagine that you should be able to pay cash or something to make it below the $1000.

Thank you so much for sharing all of this great info with us! I have some questions as well if you don't mind :) 1.Class is 3-4 days a week, isn't it? From what I saw it looked like 3 days regular weeks , 4 days on simulation weeks. 2.Is is homework more busy work ( papers, assignments, etc) or mostly just studying ? 3. Do you always go to the hospital the night before clinical to get patient info ? 4. For lecture only days, do you wear the polo/ your uniform ? 5. Did you get to pick your clinical day? Or do you know of anyone that was able to switch days from what they were assigned ? Thank you so much again!!

Im sure you've probably figured it out by now since I'm replying so late, lol.... But! Yes I did upload everything with no issues :)