Reconsidering

[courthousenette]

I've been an RN for less than a month and I'm reconsidering whether this is for me or not. I've always wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl, and now that my dream has come true, I don't feel comfortable doing what I do. I'm thinking about working in a teen clinic for youth's with std's, hiv, pregnancy, etc. At the moment I'm working in the NICU. I've always wanted to do NICU but now that I'm doing it, I realize that this is just not me. Is it too early for me to work in a clinic setting? How many years of experience do I need? Any suggestions? Words of advice? I'm feeling pretty low because I dread going into work each day.

[Melinurse]

You are not alone. I've been in med-surg for a while and I've known that when I graduated with my RN it was not going to be for me. The problem is I have no idea where I want to work. I wish I had some better advise but I just wanted you to know you are not alone and to wish you good luck.

[courthousenette]

Meli,

Thanks for responding. I'll let you know how things go. But I do know when mynew grad contract is up in 1 year I'm moving on to something. In the meantime, I just need to figure out what.

[momofthree]

i always feel this way, i don't know what i want to do either. as you already know i need to pass the nclex first. i have a 16 hr. a week job right now working in homecare. my pt. is 37 yo male who is in a persistent vegetative state, has a trach and is tube fed. he is like this due to a medication error involving dilaudid. very very sad. don't feel like you are alone, i have no idea where to go after i pass the exam. i feel like i should start off on a medsurge floor to get my foundation down and then decide from there. i know the feeling of dreading going to work, i went through that last year when i worked as a tech in the ed of a level 3 trauma center, i was more scared to death than anything else ~~ do you think that is the case with yourself? best of luck to you, keep us posted.

[courthousenette]

Yes, I am very much scared to death annd scared of losing my license. I've been reading alot of threads that suggest getting out before it's too late. Basically going into insurance or something that pay more and is less stressful.

[UVA Grad Nursing]

How about asking if you could transfer to a less-intensive environment (and out of the NICU). I've seen people transfer from one area to another in their orientation periods. My guess is that your employer wants you to succeed as a RN in whatever environment is the best one for you.

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

Give it a year. Trust me...it does get better! My first 6 months were hellacious and I was looking everywhere for something that wasn't NICU, even though NICU was always my goal. Now I'm glad I didn't quit!