Quit during orientation

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what are my chances of ever working in that hospital again?

I recently quit this past week my 1st ever tech job as a Nursing student b/c i felt it was unsafe. I had to juggle up to 15 patients, some mentally unstable and some being total/complete care with not much help from the nurses/techs and unsupportive management. I thought i'd be gaining valuable skills but all i did was clean patients for most of the day. This was something i was already taught in NS, so i dont need the additional practice. i felt like i was doing all the grunt work. The nurses were mainly charting and giving out meds, but they too seemed busy but their work is alot less physical. I was thinking of just working at my friends dads company as an administrative assistant until i graduate. It pays more and its a lot less work....It was a nice hospital, id like to go back, but only as a nurse.

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
We work with very different types of men then. Maybe it's an area thing, because I know employers who have specifically hired only women because they don't complain about needing to clean a bathroom etc.

I live in Texas & in particular a small farm town. So no one I know of shy's away from dirt or if you're in nursing blood, feces, urine, sputum & etc.

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These "average" wage ranges of RNs always make my eyes roll. Around here (Midwest), starting base pay for an RN is maybe $20 and some change? And that is a lot more than the $15 and change I started at as a new RN about 7 years ago in the same system. And this is in a large hospital owned by a corporation who is, of course, raking it in.

I live near a bigger city in the midwest and it starts around 30 depending on the facility/setting that you get hired into. I know in Northern Misconsin/Minnesota it's more like 20. So it does vary a lot. I will make more as a nurse than a chemist, but I'm not changing fields for the money. I should have done nursing the first time but I didn't. My loss.

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Just because you feel that you already know those skills does not mean you're above doing them throughout nursing school. Being a CNA not only gets you really good and quick with basic tasks but you are also 1.) Building a relationship with a manager that may hire you directly as a nurse 2.) Being part of a team and having chances to talk to nurses about what they are doing and learn constantly about things you DONT already know

3.) Doing your part in rapid responses and Cardiac alerts as a CNA before you are responsible for more as a nurse

4.) And many other invaluable and basic things (they way you talk to your patient, how you learn to stay calm when busy, not bumbling around when transport needs help with a slide board and your patient had lost of tubes and iv's)

It sounds like working in a hospital wasn't what you imagined. We often work shorthanded and things get very busy. You will often be pulled in six different directions while you're phone is ringing nonstop, you're trying to pull meds, and you can hear your crazy patient yelling from down the hall. If you're disappointed already I suggest you stick with the desk. If not you need to start at the bottom of the todem pole and put your time in to get a foot in the door.

I was a pca in a hospital float pool for three years, it's not glamorous and I wouldn't want to do it forever either, but it made the biggest difference in my career as a nurse.

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I think your chances for working at that particular hospital are unlikely. As a nursing student, I worked as a PCT. The most valuable experience I could have gained. Yes, it was tough. I learned so much about time management, prioritizing, and communicating with other members of the team. 15 patients that require total care and have altered mental status is a heavy team but these are conditions I've dealt with numerous times and it was hard. As an RN, the pay still will not be what is expected in comparison to the work put in. Depending on the patient, assisting with ADL's will vary. Once I began to develop relationships with the nurses, I learned so much more. I wasn't able to do everything a licensed RN could do but some of the observations were just as fulfilling. I also learned a lot about myself and what I needed to improve.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Um, that's 99% of people in healthcare, you're not a special snowflake in that regard. HOWEVER, it IS a part of nursing and a tremendous part of a CNA/tech's job. That should not have been a shock to you when you accepted the position...

Thank You for all the feedback. But this has reinforced my decision to leave my recently acquired aide job. Yes, i agree that a person may learn some skills as an aide that will be useful as a nurse but i can also argue that u can just acquire those skills and more when you start working as a new nurse. 1 big advantage is getting your foot in the door, i agree that hospital jobs are hard to come by. But also its really about who you know. If you know someone on the inside than at the end of the day thats all you really need, regardless of any aide experience. The main reason i left this job recently was bc i saw no teamwork and it was dangerous to my physical/mental well-being. The nurses i assume huddled together 1 day and said that they weren't going to perform any aide duties. When i asked for their help, i always got this scripted answer. "O i'm busy, get the other aide to help you". Keep in mind the other aide was always busy herself, so your left in a bad predicament where you dont have the necessary support to provide adequate care which opens the room for falls to occur, ulcer formation, and possible issues with liability and disgruntled family members. I did not want to ruin my reputation by staying at this job and getting fired for performing some type of negligence or medical error, when in reality i was just too busy to attend to all these patients needs. I dont mind cleaning patients, but i wont deny, if i can avoid it, id rather not do it. Its not my favorite thing to do.
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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I'm willing to bet that more than half the nurses that post here make less than the number you just quoted. Care to share where you got an $80,000 salary figure for an occupation you don't do?

If you work as a chemist, y do you work as a cna? just out of curiosity, dont chemists make like 60-80k on avg? which is similar to a nurses salary.
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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
Are you sure? I have never heard of this before and I live and go to school in California. Do you mind providing a link to the source where this information is provided? If this is true, then I have to let several of my classmates know. I'm actually the only CNA in a cohort of 20. We have LVNs, EMTs, and Tele techs but about half my cohort has no prior healthcare experience.

I agree This may be something new - But I graduated 15 years ago - maybe some schools require it (I'm thinking of for profit schools who want to suck every dollar out of you) , But I looked for this requirement on the California BON site under Qualifications for licensure and found no requirement of being a CNA or NA.

hppy

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I'm willing to bet that more than half the nurses that post here make less than the number you just quoted. Care to share where you got an $80,000 salary figure for an occupation you don't do?

*raises hand*. My base pay is $42,000. And I don't even receive benefits through my employer. I love nursing students who think they'll be rolling in cash when they graduate.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

OP, I do hope you go through nursing school and find that you love being a nurse. You needed to give it more time, because the job as a CNA is overwhelming at first. It does, however, give invaluable experience that will make that transition to a nurse easier. It's unfortunate you gave up so easily.

Also, sign me up as the first person who doesn't mind cleaning a patient. I'd rather clean a complete blowout than clean a trach, but note that I do both because it's better for the patient in the end. But when the secretions get stuck on the brush as you move it through the tube, and you have this phlegm train that won't shake loose from the brush...I do my best to suppress my gag reflex. Ugh.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/LDRP/Ortho ASC.
I'm willing to bet that more than half the nurses that post here make less than the number you just quoted. Care to share where you got an $80,000 salary figure for an occupation you don't do?

I made $82,000 at the bedside last year but it was from a CRAPLOAD of overtime, after several months of that I had to be hospitalized with palpitations. No thank you.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Exactly. It took, to quote, "a crap ton" of overtime for you to make that much. Op seems to have the grandiose idea that $80,000 is the upper end of norm for just showing up 40 hours per week...

I made $82,000 at the bedside last year but it was from a CRAPLOAD of overtime, after several months of that I had to be hospitalized with palpitations. No thank you.
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Specializes in Hospice.
I'd rather clean a complete blowout than clean a trach, but note that I do both because it's better for the patient in the end. But when the secretions get stuck on the brush as you move it through the tube, and you have this phlegm train that won't shake loose from the brush...I do my best to suppress my gag reflex. Ugh.

Ok, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

😖😱

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