Quit during orientation

Published

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.

I'm sorry but the "unsafe" phrase really bothers me. I feel "unsafe" with 5 pts on a step down unit with high acuity pts as an RN. We also frequently have no aide. Killing someone is easy if a med error, blood transfusion, etc done wrong. I'm sorry, but it's a lot more "safe" and less responsibility as a tech with 15 pts.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
What did I learn as a tech?

-time management

-organization

-doing 12-lead EKG's

-normal vitals (actually that each patient may have a different normal)

-I would look up diseases I didn't know about

-how to interact better with patients

-how hospitals work

-interacting with families

-the nurses knew I was a student so if I was around when something cool came up I got to help

-"gut feeling"

One of my tech jobs was a student tech so I was able to practice nursing skills as they came up:

-blood draws

-IV starts

-foleys

-deep suctioning

-rhythm strip interpretation

It's really sad you didn't see the good in the job you had. Would it have prepared you to be a RN? Absolutely not. Would it have prepared to be a BETTER RN? Probably.

I'm not necessarily trying to harp on you but you barely even gave it a chance. For me to quit during orientation I'd have to have seen outright negligence.

This.

I'm hoping the OP is reading these responses and getting a better idea of what is entailed in nursing-tons of work.

The OP certainly has some thinking to do...

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Specializes in ICU Stepdown.
Exactly. I don't mind cleaning patients, i think ppl misunderstood what i wrote. Its the unsafe working conditions that drove me away as well as poor management that doesnt really care bc they don't deal or work with patients so they don't know what the floor staff goes through. Specifically the high acuity/pt. load. I felt like a chicken with its head cut off , trying to get tasks done on time otherwise id get in trouble for not finishing. I wasnt providing the type of care that i wanted to give, not to mention, i wasnt gaining any new skills that i could apply to being a future nursearrow-10x10.png, and the low wage, all combined, drove me to quit. Since i was orienting, i didnt feel a need to give any notice but i let them know that i wouldnt be coming back. I do agree that nurses also dont get paid as well as they should for the work they do but atleast its a liveable wage, i cant live off a cna salary that i was making.

1) if you were there before orientation was over how can you really gauge how management is? I'm not saying you're oblivious but relationships with management changes and grows the longer you work there and one week is definitely not long enough to interpret how management is. Hearsay isn't enough either because I had so many coworkers talk bad about our previous interim DoN and she was great to me....

2) everyone feels overwhelmed during orientation and the first few weeks after it .-. Your experience is not new and is not going to magically differ once you become a nurse. You're going to feel like you have to much to handle regardless. It's about getting used to your work, prioritizing and creating your own flow.

3) I've been a CNA in a LTC facility for 6 months now. I am constantly learning new things. There is no way you are working in a hospital setting and not learning skills you haven't learned before. Even then, you can always get better.

All you're posting are excuses. I don't even know what your original question was.... If the hospital would hire you again as a nurse? Most likely no.

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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 PICU.

OP - I think many people don't fault you too much for not wanting the job as an aide, however, it is the WAY you left during orientation. I think by just quitting and not giving sufficient notice has burned lots of bridges, and the likelihood of being hired as a nurse in that hospital is likely a big No.

I realize that it must have been very frustrating for you, but at the end of the day, it still is important to be professional about the job, regardless of what it is. You could easily have given two weeks notice, stated you wanted to focus more on school or some other professional excuse, then let it go.

There always are jobs that you will love or hate. just remember for future to be respectful of the place that hired you and give appropriate notice.

Good Luck to you in the future

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As an aide you wouldn't have any opportunity to commit any sort of "medical error." You would also not be liable for pressure ulcers or falls if you did your job, because it's the RN's responsibility to provide adequate staffing. Yes, you're at the bottom of the totem pole, and you are not as important as you think. Unless you make yourself more useful by being better at what you do...which takes practice. In a job. Which you have quit because you weren't able to keep up. Because of inexperience. Later, rinse, repeat.

In a week, you didn't have any reasonable sample size to know about the team or how they functioned. And last, while I know you think you know all there is to know about bedside care because you did it in school, you don't. You have very, very limited experience. Sure, you can learn it as a new grad, if you find a job. And if you come with it, you'll have less hassle learning it at the same time you're learning how to function as a nurse. Oh, you thought you'd learn all about that in school before graduation, too? Hmmmm. Not.

Good luck.

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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.

If you didn't work out a notice, it doesn't matter who you know. You won't be eligible for rehire.

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Forgive me if I sound like a bully, that is not my intention. But I do mean to be pithy.

The thing that bugs me about this post is that it seems like you're wanting absolution from your decision to quit, and are trying to convince yourself that your decision is justified. It's not. I think if you're honest with yourself, you'd realize that you quit because your were overwhelmed by the 'grunt work' that the job entailed. If you truly quit because you deemed it unsafe, then you wouldn't be complaining about the 'grunt work' that you already learned in nursing school. You signed the hiring papers of a grunt job, what else did you expect? I fear that you will become the type of nurse that you just described.

On a more positive note, I hope that you gained a massive appreciation for aides and techs that make RNs' lives a whole lot easier (and vice versa). No one is above grunt work, in my opinion, not even physicians (the most respected physician at my ER has no problem cleaning up vomit, blood, feces; changing a diaper).

Put this decision behind you. Go on and become a wonderful nurse.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

Honestly, you just sound entitled & your second post didn't help you one bit. Yes, it's true knowing someone can help you get a job & I've seen it. But if you quit without notice, they won't take you back.

You're in nursing school so you should know how hard being a CNA/Tech is & how much work everyone (in the nursing team) has to do. The nurses aren't just sitting on their butts ignoring you, you should know they have a lot of work too.

I hope you learned a lot from this experience. Being a nurse isn't any easier. In fact, it only gets harder. If you can't handle it now, then I don't know what to tell you. Maybe nursing isn't for you. Especially by you saying "I'd rather not do it (clean patients)".

No nurse is above cleaning patients. If you don't want to do the grunt work, why did you get into nursing? You'll have to pay your dues before you can land a job where you won't have to clean any patients.

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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.

Wow-I don't think you're nurse material. You have to be ready to meet whatever the patient's needs are at the time he or she needs it. Will you be one of those nurses who runs the other way when something unpleasant or that's not your favorite thing come up?

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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.

Honestly if I were you I wouldn't worry about it. Don't put that job down on your resume and apply to a different hospital. And don't let some of these comments get to you. I havent met one person that enjoys cleaning a patient. Some of these nurses that are saying it's apart of nursing are probably passing that job off to the tech anyway. But I will say you if you do it enough u will become fast at it and won't think twice abt it. And if you honestly felt like it was unsafe then u had a right to leave and don't have to justify that to anyone. I know I wouldn't put my license or future in jeopardy for a couple of bucks.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Honestly if I were you I wouldn't worry about it. Don't put that job down on your resume and apply to a different hospital. And don't let some of these comments get to you. I havent met one person that enjoys cleaning a patient. Some of these nurses that are saying it's apart of nursing are probably passing that job off to the tech anyway. But I will say you if you do it enough u will become fast at it and won't think twice abt it. And if you honestly felt like it was unsafe then u had a right to leave and don't have to justify that to anyone. I know I wouldn't put my license or future in jeopardy for a couple of bucks.

You're a lab assistant, are you even a nurse? Most nurses & techs/CNAs are generally short staffed. Nothing in his post was unsafe. He's a CNA & in nursing school, has to get use to the grunt work & time management (which he clearly doesn't know how to do). He can't just pass it off to the CNAs. There are times CNAs may be too busy themselves or might not be there at all. If he doesn't like cleaning/bathing/toileting patients then he is in the wrong profession.

If he got paid, at all for that job, it will show up on a background check.

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