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 Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
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.

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.

The issue with the OP is the author's disdain for the less glamorous aspects of nursing, his feeling that having done it in class he has nothing else to learn, that he expected to be having clinical type experiences rather than doing the job, and his egregiously unprofessional exit from said job. It's not about disliking the job it's about his attitude and believe me that will permeate his nursing persona. Had he simply come on AN and said "I tried to be a CNA but golly gee it was way harder than I expected and I bit off more than I could chew. I couldn't do it" he would have had a bunch of us saying the same things you just did. In addition, nursing is a very, very small world. Managers talk to each other. He left them in the lurch. Now they have to start the entire process all over again. Trust me, the chances he will be hired by that hospital again are nil.

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QUOTEarrow-10x10.png=FlyingScot;8559349]The issue with the OP is the author's disdain for the less glamorous aspects of nursingarrow-10x10.png, his feeling that having done it in class he has nothing else to learn, that he expected to be having clinical type experiences rather than doing the job, and his egregiously unprofessional exit from said job. It's not about disliking the job it's about his attitude and believe me that will permeate his nursing persona. Had he simply come on AN and said "I tried to be a CNA but golly gee it was way harder than I expected and I bit off more than I could chew. I couldn't do it" he would have had a bunch of us saying the same things you just did. In addition, nursing is a very, very small world. Managers talk to each other. He left them in the lurch. Now they have to start the entire process all over again. Trust me, the chances he will be hired by that hospital again are nil.

Thank You, norlns24, for your kind words. You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. You are absolutely right. The 1st 60 days or so is an introductory trial period to see if both you and the employer are a suitable match for each other. It even says that both parties can terminate employment during that time w/o prior notice. I simply determined it wasnt a suitable match and decided to end the contract early on, when i was just on orientation as oppossed to wasting my time and the employers time/money. I was extremely happy with the decision. In regards to the hospital itself, it is a independent hospital. So thankfully, even if im out of luck, im only out of luck at that hospital and it will probably mean that im only out of luck for a couple of years, then id be eligible for rehire, i doubt they even remember who i am at this point. but i could really care less lol. I recently applied and was offered a pct position. Now this is different from my cna position, ill be doing a lot more medical tasks as opposed to just cleaning patients. Its a small unit/specialty floor, so i feel i can truly gain a skill(s). This is at a different hospital. I was working part time hours at my cna job. This job however i decided id only work per-diem, that way if i truly end up hating it, id only have to work once in awhile as opposed to quitting, id just suck it up. Also im less than a yr from graduating, so i wont have to do nursing aide work for much longer. Yes, i know as a nurse ill be doing aide work but as a RN ill be paid well to wipe butts. If you pay me more to do something then yes ill be more inclined to do it. After i obtain my bsn i dont plan to stay at the bedside for more than 2-3 yrs, im looking into medical sales, insurance, Np, school nursing, and nursing education. im already networking with family/friends, doctors, np's, that i know of that way i have an in. And to just clarify in regards to the butt wiping, no i do not enjoy it 1 bit, i do not get any sort of satisfaction from smelling feces, i pretty much want to vomit. if i can avoid it, then absolutely id avoid it. ppl that enjoy the sight/smell of feces good for you. lol

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Thank You, norlns24, for your kind words. You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. You are absolutely right. The 1st 60 days or so is an introductory trial period to see if both you and the employer are a suitable match for each other. It even says that both parties can terminate employment during that time w/o prior notice. I simply determined it wasnt a suitable match and decided to end the contract early on, when i was just on orientation as oppossed to wasting my time and the employers time/money. I was extremely happy with the decision. In regards to the hospital itself, it is a independent hospital. So thankfully, even if im out of luck, im only out of luck at that hospital and it will probably mean that im only out of luck for a couple of years, then id be eligible for rehire, i doubt they even remember who i am at this point. but i could really care less lol. I recently applied and was offered a pct position. Now this is different from my cna position, ill be doing a lot more medical tasks as opposed to just cleaning patients. Its a small unit/specialty floor, so i feel i can truly gain a skill(s). This is at a different hospital. I was working part time hours at my cna job. This job however i decided id only work per-diem, that way if i truly end up hating it, id only have to work once in awhile as opposed to quitting, id just suck it up. Also im less than a yr from graduating, so i wont have to do nursing aide work for much longer. Yes, i know as a nurse ill be doing aide work but as a RN ill be paid well to wipe butts. If you pay me more to do something then yes ill be more inclined to do it. After i obtain my bsn i dont plan to stay at the bedside for more than 2-3 yrs, im looking into medical sales, insurance, Np, school nursing, and nursing education. im already networking with family/friends, doctors, np's, that i know of that way i have an in.

Wow. Just wow. Between your screen name & your posts, I wouldn't let you take care of my DOGS! *shake my head* Get ready for the real world of nursing once you graduate. Wow...

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QUOTEarrow-10x10.png=OrganizedChaos;8559555]Wow. Just wow. Between your screen name & your posts, I wouldn't let you take care of my DOGS! *shake my head* Get ready for the real world of nursingarrow-10x10.png once you graduate. Wow...

haha your words dont phase me not 1 bit. I've met a few nurses that have this sort of gang mentality, if sum1 doesnt agree with them or do their bidding, they automatically attack that person, with verbal harrassment, crude jokes, among other things. Its a disdain/curse thats found in this profession. unfortunately. But at the end of the day, its what i think is best that matters the most. bye

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
QUOTEarrow-10x10.png=OrganizedChaos;8559555]Wow. Just wow. Between your screen name & your posts, I wouldn't let you take care of my DOGS! *shake my head* Get ready for the real world of nursingarrow-10x10.png once you graduate. Wow...

haha your words dont phase me not 1 bit. I've met a few nurses that have this sort of gang mentality, if sum1 doesnt agree with them or do their bidding, they automatically attack that person, with verbal harrassment, crude jokes, among other things. Its a disdain/curse thats found in this profession. unfortunately. But at the end of the day, its what i think is best that matters the most. bye

You have to start at the bottom & work your way up. You showed your character by quitting your first job with no real reason other than you don't want to clean patients. With that attitude I wouldn't want you as my nurse.

Gang mentality? We're experienced nurses. If you don't want to clean your own patients we don't want to work with CNAs or other nurses like that. Simple as that!

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"A lot less physical"? My days are plenty physically exhausting. There are many days that it seems all I do is clean patients and do "grunt work". My PCTs are awesome but they can't do it alone and they can't be in two places at once.

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"A lot less physical"? My days are plenty physically exhausting. There are many days that it seems all I do is clean patients and do "grunt work". My PCTs are awesome but they can't do it alone and they can't be in two places at once.

You need to tell this too the nurses who i used to work with who felt they were too good to do cna duties. Y do u think i left? lol Im not breaking my back for any nurse or any patient, they can kiss my butt for all i care. My well-being is #1. Again the nurses i worked with pretty much formed their own little union saying they refuse to do any tasks a cna can perform. i saw no team work. i left. Now if they paid me 20+/hr then i would be inclined to stay, since your giving me an incentive to work really hard in dangerous conditions

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

I was a care tech for six plus years before I became an LVN/LPN. I was an LVN/LPN for eight years before I became an RN. I've wiped my fair share of butt, given baths galore and will continue to do so as I work in the ICU and care techs are like unicorns...especially on night shift.

I've never asked my care tech to do something I couldn't or wouldn't do unless I had to due to patient needs/tasking. Those individuals who make patients wait while they hunt down an aide to get the patient up to the BSC or on the bedpan or to give the patient the urinal make me insanely angry. It's a dignity issue. When we have to go...we go, right? Patients have so little autonomy and to make someone wait to do something so basic and important is just cruel.

Now, that said...I want to know what nursing utopia the OP believes exists where all I do is pass meds and chart and assess? I don't usually call people out on boards but I don't think the OP paid close attention in school or listened to your nurse preceptors during clinical. While you're getting that patient up to potty, you're assessing their gait, their skin, how well they move...do they grimace/are they in pain? Do they strain to use the bathroom? Are they able to void immediately or is there hesitancy? What color is their urine/stool? Does it have a strong smell/is it bloody? Is the patients rectum tender? Do they have hemorrhoids? Is their BM formed? Is it loose? Does it smell like c-diff? The list goes on and on and seriously? It's running in the back of the RN's mind while they talk to the patient about other "things". It's how it's done.

Same goes for bathing the patient...

As far as patients being mentally

"unstable"..welcome to nursing! As more and more psychiatric facilities close, hospitals and nursing homes are faced with handling these patients. Some safe and others not so much but as an aide it's your responsibility to report the "unsafe" patient behaviors to the RN so that they may notify the appropriate physician.

Nursing/the profession of caring for others where you're working as an RN or as an Aide is physically, emotionally and sometimes even spiritually demanding. Period. If there is any part of that someone looking to enter this profession finds too unbearable, distasteful or demeaning to try their damnedest each and every day ...for the sake of patients everywhere: please consider another line of work.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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Still waiting for an example of an unsafe---and now, "dangerous" condition.

Why do you feel it was appropriate to leave without giving proper notice? Orientation time, it is true, is the time to see if the fit is right. It does not negate the requirement for the employee to give proper notice.

What you did left the facility hanging without enough tech help, regardless of whether you liked the job enough to stay. Why are you not seeing this?

I understand you deciding you didn't like the job. I don't understand why you TOOK the job, why you thought the job would be so radically different than what you experienced (again, you were hired as a tech, not a nurse....not a nursing intern....a tech).

You may not realize it, but you do give the clear impression that you are disinterested in having a nursing job that involves effort.....and those of us working as nurses know that it most certainly does. And before being eligible for the more desirable jobs you are hoping for, you would need to learn the time management skills, hone your assessment skills....and that isn't going to happen WITHOUT working "in the trenches" so to speak.

You desire a cushy job, a non-backbreaking job, that much is quite evident. And there's nothing wrong with that....except that I wonder how you would qualify for such a job, if you are unable to excel in the kinds of jobs that would give you the experience you would need before even being considered?

You are meeting the resistance you are getting on AN because your attitude presents as arrogant and "above" such needs as patient care and learning the ropes of nursing. You want to achieve great things within this career, and we certainly encourage that, but......you aren't expressing the kinds of qualities we expect to see in people who DO achieve great things. Nor, it seems, do you care; you want things handed to you just as they would be for someone who has put IN the effort, put IN the time, and WORKED to build rapport with colleagues and hospital management.

Students who come across as you do, in my own experience, tend to not do well once they graduate: they don't do well at the bedside (typically blaming their preceptors, their NM, other nurses, etc), they don't do well with their colleagues (everyone is mean, bands together and leaves them 'out', don't give enough help), and...well.....they tend to need to seek out other avenues of employment MUCH faster than their classmates who don't behave as you indicate.

Just my two cents' worth of observation.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

I hope OP realizes that PCT/CSA/PCA/NA are all pretty interchangeable. Being on an inpatient/specialty unit still means OP is unlicensed personnel. Duties will include vital signs, baths, ADL's, feeding with high ratios.

Even as a STUDENT tech those were my main duties. If I had time I got to do catheters and draw blood and start IV's. But my main duties were still vitals and ADL's. Sometimes being a sitter as well for confused patients.

Regardless of thoughts and duties please stick with it OP! Maybe you'll enjoy the environment more but you will get some benefit from it!

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Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

Ok.. A bunch of actual nurses are all saying the same thing. Of course they're wrong.

I think a lot of people are just seeing that you quit because you didn't want to do what most of us perceive as a normal amount of work for a CNA. It's ok for you to feel that way and have/not have whatever job you want. It's just that you can't expect a bunch of people who have/still work hard like that to sympathize with you. Also, if there was no team work and the nurses were such princesses.. Why do you want to work there as a nurse? Do you want to be a princess nurse who doesn't participate in team work too?

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.
You need to tell this too the nurses who i used to work with who felt they were too good to do cna duties. Y do u think i left? lol Im not breaking my back for any nurse or any patient, they can kiss my butt for all i care. My well-being is #1. Again the nurses i worked with pretty much formed their own little union saying they refuse to do any tasks a cna can perform. i saw no team work. i left. Now if they paid me 20+/hr then i would be inclined to stay, since your giving me an incentive to work really hard in dangerous conditions

It's sounding like you're already one of those people who thinks they are above CNA duties and you're not a nurse yet? While you're at work, the patient does come first. Not you. There are safe ways to help patients without hurting yourself, BY yourself. You can do a full bed bath and linen change by yourself. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.

If you didn't want honest feed back about quitting your job during orientation you shouldn't have come to a predominantly NURSE website. We've cleaned patients and performed CNA duties and a lot of us have been CNA's/nurse techs before graduating so we know what the work is like. It sucks.

I worked the hardest unit in my hospital as a tech for 2 years while in an ADN program. Full time school, full time work with a husband and child at home. I'd go in and only have one other tech for 42 patients. So what did I do? Put on my big girl panties and got all 21 baths done and linen changes done along with getting vital signs q4hrs. It can be done. You've just gotta get your time management down, work your butt off and get it done.

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