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.

Seriously. Why would that make you think it was a female. That's extremely sexist against your own gender. All respect lost.

What? How is that sexist? Did she say or insinuate that one gender is better than the other? Did she discriminatory remarks about a gender?

Do you know what 'sexist' means?

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.
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?

40k-45k-ish for RN here too!!!

Enough to pay the bills? Yes. I am actually making 80k as a NP though...WOOT!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Gyn, Pospartum & Psych.

I am just finishing my first year on the nursing floor after graduating a year ago. I'd kill to have had the experience as a NA before hitting the floor as a new nurse. It is more than just taking vitals and cleaning patients, I rely on my NAs to help me monitor changes of status and skin issues. More than once I have had to request an aid let me know when she is doing a "clean up" because I need to see a coccyx or various skin breakdowns and asking a patient in pain to move one more time just so I can look is cruel. There is nothing I admire more than a skilled NA who an thoroughly clean a bedbound patient well. We don't learn that in nursing school....the stupid manikins don't simulate real life issues. Also the skill you would have received in helping a patient sit or stand up...or ambulate would have been priceless. And time management is also an important skill that can only be learned on the floor.

As for "less physical"? I have never been so tired in my life as when I finish a 12 hours shift. The amount of time I actually get to sit down and chart is relatively small...and seldom more than a few minutes at a time before I am called to meet a patients need. And yes, I am often the one that gets to move and clean difficult patients because it is MY LICENSE on the line and these patients often get passed over because of the time requirement to help them.

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Specializes in Hospice.
I am often the one that gets to move and clean difficult patients because it is MY LICENSE on the line and these patients often get passed over because of the time requirement to help them.

And this is why my shoulders don't work quite the way they should and let me know when the weather is changing-all the large mammals I turned, moved and cleaned by myself because the halls were mysteriously empty when it needed to be done...

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
*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.

Base pay for an RN varies from state to state and is often based on the economy. In California an ADN can expect to by paid $28 to $30/hr straight out of school if they can find a job. I currently make $70, 000 a year, Take taxes out and it becomes $66,000. Still a very respectable income but based on California's very high cost of living. Go the salary .com and enter your profession and your geographic area and you will find out the average wage of you profession in your area.

Hppy

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Base pay for an RN varies from state to state and is often based on the economy. In California an ADN can expect to by paid $28 to $30/hr straight out of school if they can find a job. I currently make $70, 000 a year, Take taxes out and it becomes $66,000. Still a very respectable income but based on California's very high cost of living. Go the salary .com and enter your profession and your geographic area and you will find out the average wage of you profession in your area.

Hppy

I know this. I live in New England where my cost of living is probably comparable to many places in California. Luckily my husband works so we can afford to live. IMO many new nurse salaries are not adequate- or at least not as great as many in nursing school think they are. Of course earning 40k is better than $0.00 they may have in nursing school. Wages just have not grown as fast as COL has.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

It's called earning your dues. In my state this job is the best way to get a new grad job at one of the two larger hospital groups. >1/2 of the 50+ new grads at one hospital were PCAs there already. It's a stepping stone and you can't get too much experience, this is basic nursing.

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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.

Now that quote about cleaning patients all day was something you learned in nursing school and don't need the additional practice gave me a good laugh. That will be your job as a nurse, don't always count on having a tech on duty or available every time you have a mess to clean up. Nursing isn't only about passing out meds, charting, starting IV's. As a nurse your gonna have to wipe a lot of a.., vomit, etc.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Medical/Surgical.

It seems the OP is refusing to listen to all these great advice and turning his/her back away from reality. Nursing is not a suitable profession for the OP, and he/she will regret it after graduation.

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Where are these 60k-80k a year nursing jobs? I'd love one of those. I also do not get paid enough for what I do. Dealing with combative old people, or mentally unstable people. Dealing with death, unsupportive families... But it isn't about the money it's about knowing at the end of the day I gave these people the best care I know how and maybe not all of them are grateful (because they're not mentally capable of knowing what we do for them) but some are and a lot of families are grateful. THATS why people work as CNAs/techs and/or nurses. Not everyone is in it for this magical 80k salary.

I swear reading through this I read "I learned this in NS" and it made me laugh. Uhhh yeah you did because it's part of your job. Why else would they teach you? For crap and giggles?

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OP made an economic decision to leave based on the work the position required, the work environment, and the rate of pay & benefits offered. We all make these types of decisions. I do not see anything wrong with leaving. Yes, the job could have afforded some good experience prior to pursuing a career as an RN and may have benefited the OP in terms of networking. However, it is not unusual for students to be hired as RNs out of nursing school with no CNA/ UAP experience. Moreover, clinical instructors, teachers, family friends, etc. may provide the all-important networking opportunities for those students who do not pursue a healthcare job prior to graduation.

Also, no matter how large the agency in question is, I believe leaving during orientation will not get the OP blacklisted and shut out of the profession on a large-scale. Orientation is a chance for the employer and the employee to find out if the fit is right. Yes, it's still mostly an employer's market in terms of the employment picture in nursing, but an employee absolutely has the right to walk away from a job -- preferably tactfully and with sufficient advance notice -- if the job is not working out. The OP had another opportunity to earn money this summer and chose it. That is an economic decision the OP felt was the right one to make. Employers make these types of decision all the time; should not employees have this right as well? Again, I see nothing wrong with this decision.

Also, I see no reason why the OP eventually cannot find an area of nursing that meets his or her needs in terms of balancing a good work environment, a decent schedule, the right mix of duties with adequate pay and benefits to motivate him/ her want to stay and make a successful career out of it. This area of nursing may happen to be one that is light(er) on duties typically performed by a CNA/ UAP. There is nothing wrong with this pursuit by any of one us, imo -- at all. If the OP can find an area of nursing right for him/ her at an acceptable rate of pay....great! Who are any of us to fault the OP for wanting to pursue the best work environment for him or herself?

I happen to agree that CNA/ UAP work is extremely important, but we should all agree it is not for everyone. Yes, many RN positions require the same tasks as a UAP be performed on a daily basis and said RN needs to able to do them well and without complaint. However, the marketplace (by examining differences in pay and turnover rates that exist) demonstrates perfectly just how much more desirable an RN position is compared to a UAP position. To me, it does not follow that because someone does want to spend his or her summer working as a UAP at a specific rate of pay in a specific agency (of which we know few details), said individual cannot or will not be able to excel in one or more areas of nursing at some point in time after graduation.

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*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.

I know , a lot of my classmates think they're going to be rolling in cash. I told one of them that nurses can make as low $40,000 annually, she was baffled and stated she makes close to that now as a server. Sometimes it's not the nursing students fault as some of them are being told lies by their registered nursing friends about nursing salary.

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