I'm a new grad who just recently found a job in the east coast. It's in an acute psychiatric facility- my title--- Charge Nurse. The patient ratio here is 20:1. Upon the hiring, they said they will train me for 12 solid days on the unit. I am floating to all units of the hospital. I will be the only nurse on the unit who is responsible for CNA,LVN, all 20 patients who are acutely ill.
During orientation, they suddenly told us they're giving us five training days. =/ and i'm already almost done, i feel 25% competent by day 5. I am learning as fast as I can but in no way or shape, I can do what do in the next two days to be on my own. to make matters worst, you are literally the ONLY RN on the unit, and no other RN.
on weekends, no supervisors are around. no managers, no body. no doctors, no pharmacy. nothing. and my first shift alone, is going to be a weekends.
during orientation, the focus was $$$. you guessed, they are for-profit. Talking nonstop about how much the hospital is making. never once said the nurses are being treated well. Throughout orientation, i heard the words "how you can lose your license" almost 100 times. This is how you can lose your license, and if you do this, you can lose your license.. now if you do this, you can get reported, suspended.
this hospital has a history of firing 30 nurses in the last year- for god knows what reason. nurses are extremely burned out. all sounding like they want to quit and don't know how to manage to survive day by day. Only 1 nurse gave me a smiling face that he is doing fine. Today I got screamed at by one of the nurses who said " i refuse to let u draw up meds" because you've never been trained, and how can you be on your own after 1 day. management got involved, and told her its the new policy to just let the new orientees to "just do it" without training. and it was chaos.
of course all of us orientees went to management and spoke our concerns. they dismissed it and pulled out the schedule sheet. They said you're fine! don't worry! you wont get your license suspended! just be confident! here look, a supervisor is floating around (mind you this supervisor is in charge of the ENTIRE building), and she can just like look over you once in awhile. and if you really need help, just ask another nurse on another unit! they'll help you! =/ permission denied. another unit...??? i dont even know where the medicine bin is! GOODNESS!
the unit is chaos. the hospital is chaos. everyone is in the midst of chaos. the patients are crazier than the next, with kids cutting their wrist bleeding, and hitting the staff. The other, we just did several codes. I'm scared of the patients assaulting me here,, and sadly that's the least of my concerns for now.
i'm stressed out, i'm tired. this is not what i pictured it to be. any advice/ encouragement would be helpful.
i can easily say JUST LEAVE, but jobs are sooooo scarce in this part of the country. Half of my classmates didnt even find jobs yet. and i've waited a year and a half. sadly, i turned down 3 other interviews for this job and 2 wonderful without pay training programs. i regret it so much right now,i thought the real way of getting experience was just to get a job, and do it. no more holding your hands and guiding your, but this reality just too harsh. the sad part is, i am using zero nursing skills. i barely get a good glance at them before i have to start my charting for the day. there is nothing such as therapeutic communication or anything. its about making sure they don't kill themselves while on your care, and make sure you chart like crazy so you "cover your ass".
1. Your patients deserve better. Not saying you will not be a great nurse, but it takes time to develop skills and insight for anyone. Many patients can be manipulative and this is not something you should undertake without a lot of support.
2. You deserve better. You worked so hard to get your license, and you deserve a fair orientation. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving a new grad with no real support in ANY unit. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Although there are other staff members present, YOU, as the RN would be ultimately responsible.
3. The hospital does not care about you. You are just a warm body to them. If you end up in a bad situation, they will drop you like a hot potato.
4. A bad first job turns many people off of nursing entirely when they think all jobs are like their first horrible one.
I would rather work at any job, even a minimum-wage job, before I would put myself in a place to hurt someone else. I have seen it happen in similar situations. To give you an example, two years ago, a nurse I am friends with had a patient that seemed suddenly confused. The patient had expressed suicidal ideation in a past admission, and she had an instinct something was wrong. She called his primary, begged to put him on 1:1 or at least get a sitter, and was refused. She asked her charge nurse for help and to let her have fewer patients as this man was setting off alarm bells. The charge nurse refused. She was told she had to keep her same 8 patient load (this was on a med-surg floor). She asked the tech to help her, and they tried to check him every 15 minutes while three of her other patients got blood.
Two hours later, a code was called. The man had escaped his room, broken out glass from a window using a chair, and jumped to his death. His family was devastated. The nurse was broken-hearted. She has not practiced since, although no disciplinary action was taken. It was her documentation that saved her job, but she was too sick over what happened to care.
As nurses we must realize that many of those in charge only see money. They couldn't care less about nurses or patients, as long as things look pretty for JCAHO and Press Gainey ratings.
To be frank, as a new nurse, you only know what you know. As I mentioned, it takes time. It's like being a teenager. As a teenager, I thought I new everything, lol. As a new nurse, I knew I didn't know it all, but I still marvel that things turned out so well despite my comparatively small amount of knowledge. There is a reason so many experienced nurses are telling you to run away. We KNOW this would be unsafe. The hospital is irresponsible for allowing this to occur, and they are trying to discount the alarm bells you are hearing: "Oh, don't worry, it will be fine! You'll have a house supervisor to help!"
Look for a place that will invest in you as a nurse. They are out there. Don't give up. Good jobs do exist.
Specializes in Dialysis,M/S,Home Care,LTC, Admin,Rehab.
nurse441 Listen to your intuition...it is screaming to you, at you! How horrific. Your instinct is giving you a huge warning sign. Nurses have the best instincts of anyone I know. You don't owe this place anything. Even if you just pulled a "no show", ( I am not suggesting you do this, but hopefully, you catch my drift) you would most possibly be saving yourself alot of stomach acid and adding 10 years to your life by just not going back there. In addition to the staff, I feel for the patients.
Listen to your Self. Keep us posted, and hang in there :)
I'm a new grad who just recently found a job in the east coast. It's in an acute psychiatric facility- my title--- Charge Nurse. The patient ratio here is 20:1.
I know jobs are scarce, but "new grad" and "acute psych facility charge nurse" just don't sound right together.
Sounds a bit like the place has a policy of flushing nurses and you are just the next warm body through the system.
I know i can't believe the words i am typing. i re-read them, and think.. is this seriously the situation i'm in right now? holy craps.
can you guys tell me what is the normal training period for a new nurse at a regular hospital without training programs? what about an experienced nurse going into a completely new field like medsurg? how many weeks do you guys get? any in class orientation?
i'm wondering if i should still fight for more training days, or just leave period.
I know i can't believe the words i am typing. i re-read them, and think.. is this seriously the situation i'm in right now? holy craps.
can you guys tell me what is the normal training period for a new nurse at a regular hospital without training programs? what about an experienced nurse going into a completely new field like medsurg? how many weeks do you guys get? any in class orientation?
i'm wondering if i should still fight for more training days, or just leave period.
I got 6 weeks of orientation on medsurg floor.
I would not take this position if it were me. If you're unhappy or something bad happens from being so understaffed, you'll have to leave and this place will always be on your work history. RUN!
I know i can't believe the words i am typing. i re-read them, and think.. is this seriously the situation i'm in right now? holy craps.
can you guys tell me what is the normal training period for a new nurse at a regular hospital without training programs? what about an experienced nurse going into a completely new field like medsurg? how many weeks do you guys get? any in class orientation?
i'm wondering if i should still fight for more training days, or just leave period.
Ask yourself honestly, do you really think additional training/orientation days are going to make a difference? Even if they give you another two weeks, do you think that will improve the situation, or prepare you for what's to come?
The working conditions just don't seem safe. Like others have stated, go with your intuition. Good luck to you.
Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.
Run for your life, and your license! Don't let the door hit you on the way out! You will find the right position; for certain it isn't this one! When I had 25 years of experience "under my belt," I decided to try psych nursing. I took a position at a state hospital; the orientation was dreadful! After "classroom work" (read the policy book from cover to cover and sign), we were put on our respective "wards." It was our job to "follow" a nurse; no preceptor was assigned. My family members who worked there tried to convince me to "tough it out," because the benefits were second to none. I stayed exactly 3 days after the month of "classroom work." I didn't care how good the benefits were; Iwas out of there, and never looked back. The stress alone of being in a new environment was enough, but knowing I was responsible and accountable for some severely mentally ill individuals just heightened the stress. See yaaa........
AOx1
961 Posts
As others have said, run.
1. Your patients deserve better. Not saying you will not be a great nurse, but it takes time to develop skills and insight for anyone. Many patients can be manipulative and this is not something you should undertake without a lot of support.
2. You deserve better. You worked so hard to get your license, and you deserve a fair orientation. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving a new grad with no real support in ANY unit. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Although there are other staff members present, YOU, as the RN would be ultimately responsible.
3. The hospital does not care about you. You are just a warm body to them. If you end up in a bad situation, they will drop you like a hot potato.
4. A bad first job turns many people off of nursing entirely when they think all jobs are like their first horrible one.
I would rather work at any job, even a minimum-wage job, before I would put myself in a place to hurt someone else. I have seen it happen in similar situations. To give you an example, two years ago, a nurse I am friends with had a patient that seemed suddenly confused. The patient had expressed suicidal ideation in a past admission, and she had an instinct something was wrong. She called his primary, begged to put him on 1:1 or at least get a sitter, and was refused. She asked her charge nurse for help and to let her have fewer patients as this man was setting off alarm bells. The charge nurse refused. She was told she had to keep her same 8 patient load (this was on a med-surg floor). She asked the tech to help her, and they tried to check him every 15 minutes while three of her other patients got blood.
Two hours later, a code was called. The man had escaped his room, broken out glass from a window using a chair, and jumped to his death. His family was devastated. The nurse was broken-hearted. She has not practiced since, although no disciplinary action was taken. It was her documentation that saved her job, but she was too sick over what happened to care.
As nurses we must realize that many of those in charge only see money. They couldn't care less about nurses or patients, as long as things look pretty for JCAHO and Press Gainey ratings.
To be frank, as a new nurse, you only know what you know. As I mentioned, it takes time. It's like being a teenager. As a teenager, I thought I new everything, lol. As a new nurse, I knew I didn't know it all, but I still marvel that things turned out so well despite my comparatively small amount of knowledge. There is a reason so many experienced nurses are telling you to run away. We KNOW this would be unsafe. The hospital is irresponsible for allowing this to occur, and they are trying to discount the alarm bells you are hearing: "Oh, don't worry, it will be fine! You'll have a house supervisor to help!"
Look for a place that will invest in you as a nurse. They are out there. Don't give up. Good jobs do exist.