Should I move to a new job?

[Brittanytaylor04]

I was a med/surg nurse for 2 years out of nursing school. I got tired of that. I worked at a small hospital and seen the same patients over and over all the time. They would get "healed" and go home and come back again for the same stuff. I did not feel effective at all. Our hospital can have anywhere from 2 to 35 patients. We had 4 nurses scheduled so sometimes it was too much, sometimes no aide! Right at that time, there was a L&D job opening at a hospital an hour away from me. L&D is what I really loved in school. I applied and got the job! I was so excited. I have been here for 5 months and I don't like it. It's not what I thought it would be. The hospital I am at is high risk so we get lots of emergencies and scary situations all the time. I don't like not knowing what will happen in a moment's notice. I know med/surg can be like that but I don't go to the OR with the patient and we can send them to ICU. I recently seen a job posting for Davita Dialysis outpatient clinic. It is only 15 minutes away from my house. I'm unsure if I would like it though. I'm just trying to find the place in nursing that makes me happy. It will be a M, W, F 12 hour shifts. I like knowing what days I will work and that it's day shift. Should I apply?? It's closer to my house and I know things can happen but I will know for the most part how my day will go. Makes me less anxious. I do hate I've only been in L&D for 5 months but I don't know this opportunity will come often (I live in a small town, and not even saying I would get it).

[nurse_flo_marie, MSN, RN]

I think it is great you went for what you loved in school... even though you now realize you don't like it. Not many nurses get that opportunity. I wanted to be an OR/Scrub nurse but ended up in LTC. Luckily for me it turned out to be the right path.

If you are interested in a job, ALWAYS apply! You would be throwing away an opportunity if you didn't. When scheduling your interview, ask if you could have a tour of the clinic. During your interview, ask questions to determine if you would like the job. Think about what type of job would make you happy [and what didn't make you happy at the previous jobs] and ask those questions. Dialysis is very different from Med/Surg & L&D. As a nurse, you can't avoid the unexpected - that's why we have jobs. You will probably have less of these emergencies in dialysis.

Good Luck!

[babeinboots, MSN, NP, CNM]

I actually did the opposite! I went from dialysis to L&D, lol. L&D isn't for everyone, it's pretty intense and can definitely cause stress and anxiety. I'm still learning to deal with that but am enjoying the experience.

DaVita is a great company to work for. Although I was only there for a few months, my overall experience was positive. You see the same patients so you get a chance to know them. It is repetitive so IDK how you'll like that in the long run. I say just apply and see what happens. You know you don't like L&D but you won't know if you like dialysis unless you try it. Good luck.