MB423

Hi, all. I am a new grad and have been working for 1 month on a busy ortho floor. I travel for this job and leave the night before a shift, stay at an apartment while there, and then drive back after my last shift. I have never liked the city that I now work in, I miss my family terribly when I am away. This next stretch, I am scheduled for 6 twelve hour shifts in a row starting tomorrow and I am absolutely dreading it. I cry every day before I go to work and every night when I get done. I dread going back to work even on my days off. I plan to stick it it out for 6 months, but at this point, I don't think I will stay any longer than that. I received a bonus for a 2-year contract but I have put it away in a savings account and will not spend it in case I need to pay it back. I was offered a job before I graduated in the town where I live. I had worked at this hospital in several departments before being a nurse and LOVED it. However, it is a rural hospital and at the time I felt I needed to get out and experience the big hospital. I am regretting that decision now. I love rural nursing, knowing everyone I work with, living in this small town. So, my question is: do you think leaving this job after 6 months to either work in the acute care or clinic would be a bad thing? I would take a very small paycut: maybe $1-2/hour, but would not have the added expense of traveling. My current job makes me hate being a nurse, and honestly I am absolutely miserable in my day to day life while stressing over my job.

I never believed in the saying "C's get degrees" until starting nursing. I thought I needed A's in order to be successful. I now have the mindset of "I just want to pass!!" The thing with nursing is the classroom grade is not the only factor. You have to not just memorize the material, but to apply it on the clinical floor and know your skills as well. So there are many different aspects of things to learn in nursing school, not just reading material. There is a lot of material to be read each week, but you don't have to know EVERYTHING. If you can understand the basics of each topic, you can generally work through your test questions to find the correct answer. For example, you will never learn every single medication and their side effects, actions, interactions, etc. However, if you understand how, beta blockers, for example, work on a basic level, you can work through what the use of Bisoprolol is for by categorizing meds (beta blockers generally end in "lol"). (Just make sure you understand you sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and pharmacology will be much easier!!) I know that personally, my first month was completely overwhelming and my first clinical was terrifying. Everything my professor said was Greek to me. I never thought I would memorize my meds and didn't think it was possible to finish my care plan AND get a few minutes of shut eye before clinicals. Many weeks I had three tests in one day covering 4 chapters each. If you plan out your time and try not to procrastinate, you will be able to learn what you need to know about the topics. The first semester is extremely overwhelming. It is a lot like learning a new language. You will hear a lot of words that you have never heard of before. But once you learn your "foundation," you will continue to just build on it each semester. My class is extremely close and we rely a lot on each other! If someone is struggling, try to help them out. Because you never know when you will be the one needing help. We have a Facebook group that we will post things to remind one another about deadlines, a youtube video that helped us understand something, a helpful diagram, or a good mnemonic. You end up seeing your classmates more than your family, so having a good relationship with everyone is really helpful as well. Something that I always tell myself is, "they can't fail everyone!" If you try, you will succeed. Nursing school is the time to make mistakes when you have someone there to catch you. Best of luck in the program!!

I am about the start my second year of an ASN program and love it! I plan on continuing on to get my BSN while working. I have heard from so many nurses that you only learn a fraction of what you need to know in school and learn everything else out on the floor. I know I personally learn better hands-on and on the clinical floor. Plus, many hospitals in my area will help pay for continuing education. Best of luck!