Should I stay or should I go?

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Hello. I am a new nurse. I graduated May 2020. I started my career at a long term care facility that was a far drive from my house. I stayed there for about 3 months until I got presented with an opportunity to work at a small community hospital on a telemetry floor. I have worked here for 7 months. I love how much I learn and how I work with a diverse population. BUT there is major staffing problems. Every shift on days I work I have 7-8 patients. This is seriously taking a toll on my mental health and I just cannot handle it anymore. I feel the unhappiest I have every felt. It is definitely affecting my personal life as well. Do I stay at this job another 4-5 months or apply to another less demanding nursing job? Is it bad that I leave after less than 1 year experience? Any advice will help. Thank you

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Hospital  nursing can do that to us. I did it and had to get out but I was at it 15 years. Try to find something else and don't feel bad doing so. There are lots of other avenues, check out some of the specialty threads here.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

You will find numerous threads on this site with almost the same story. I'm not saying that to blow you off, I'm saying it because you can find MANY other nurses, new and experienced, that are going through the same things. No one else can really tell you what to do. More traditional experiences are that leaving before a year can be detrimental, but others have had that work out fine. You're the only one that can determine whether you can stay a few more months, but it may take you that long to find something else anyway. Good luck. 

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Specializes in ER.

Start making an exit plan from nursing. It's basically the same everywhere, it's become a pretty lousy career. I talk to former colleagues and I don't think anything is ever going to change in nursing except to get worse.

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Specializes in Adult.

It's effecting your mental health, your personal life and you are the unhappiest you have ever been..find something else asap. When we agree to work somewhere we are agreeing to certain conditions, not to give up our lives for an employer that would not think twice about replacing us. NO job is worth how you are feeling on a long term basis. 7-8 patients is not safe for you or the patient.

YOU are not the problem, the problem is the disregard hospitals have treated nurses with for years has been pushed to the breaking point because of covid. 

I have never (and will never) understand the magic "one year" mark. Why waste any more of your time, physical and mental well being when you know it is not working out and will most likely not get better? Life is way too short for that.

There are many other options for you even though you are a relatively new nurse. Don't give the hospital you are at one more day than you have to. It's absolutely not worth it. 

 

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5 hours ago, Olivelove20 said:

It's effecting your mental health, your personal life and you are the unhappiest you have ever been..find something else asap. When we agree to work somewhere we are agreeing to certain conditions, not to give up our lives for an employer that would not think twice about replacing us. NO job is worth how you are feeling on a long term basis. 7-8 patients is not safe for you or the patient.

YOU are not the problem, the problem is the disregard hospitals have treated nurses with for years has been pushed to the breaking point because of covid. 

I have never (and will never) understand the magic "one year" mark. Why waste any more of your time, physical and mental well being when you know it is not working out and will most likely not get better? Life is way too short for that.

There are many other options for you even though you are a relatively new nurse. Don't give the hospital you are at one more day than you have to. It's absolutely not worth it. 

 

Thank you for this. It is truly so sad the working conditions that almost every nurse is dealing with. I for sure am going to look elsewhere 

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

With a heavy heart, I say save yourself! While there are some hospitals that are better than others to work at, I understand that it may be difficult or impossible to find one, depending on where you live. All this to say, if you truly enjoy bedside but this place is burning you out, it could be worth looking elsewhere if they're are other options nearby. But if the kind of job isn't of huge importance, it's definitely not with sacrificing your physical and mental health to get your year in. You are first and foremost responsible for taking care of you.

It's such a downer reading all these posts about new grads wanting to leave nursing so quickly. I hate thinking of all the wonderful future coworkers I could have had who have been driven out of nursing by the awful conditions. (Not hating on the OP or anyone else who leaves; it's the system that pushes people to their breaking point I'm upset with.) Such a bummer.

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Specializes in school nurse.
5 hours ago, Olivelove20 said:

 

I have never (and will never) understand the magic "one year" mark. Why waste any more of your time, physical and mental well being when you know it is not working out and will most likely not get better? Life is way too short for that.

There are many other options for you even though you are a relatively new nurse. Don't give the hospital you are at one more day than you have to. It's absolutely not worth it. 

 

Keep in mind though that OP mentioned a 3 month stint before taking a job which they want to leave after 7 months. For better or worse, that track record (esp. for a new grad) could adversely affect competitiveness in the job market...

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Specializes in retired LTC.

A major concern that I have for situations like this is that leaving one place for another may NOT always be the better option. Kind of like 'the grass may  NOT be any greener at the new position'.

Another cliché comes to mind - something about 'jumping from the frying pan into the fire'.

I've made some not so great changes between jobs. I never regretted leaving the old jobs, it was just that the new jobs sometimes weren't as expected. 'Honeymoon phases' wear off quickly.

I'm not recommending that OP perseveres in an intolerable situation, but to carefully assess the old job versus any new one. The 'weighing of the pros & cons'. By all means, don't stay UNHAPPY. Just make an informed choice.

Good luck to OP.

 

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We nurses have so many professional options. We can work in:

  • Med/Surg
  • Critical Care
  • ER
  • Labor and Delivery
  • Mother/Baby
  • Pediatrics
  • Outpatient Procedures
  • Clinics
  • Research
  • Nurse Navigator/Coordinator positions
  • Imaging
  • Discharge Planning
  • Wound Care
  • Operating Room
  • Pre-Op Intake
  • IV Therapy
  • Pre and Post Procedure Care
  • Home Health

The list goes on and on................

Find a specialty that really appeals to you at a hospital that has the highest nurse approval rating in your area, and start applying for a new job. Consider your current situation as a learning experience. One helpful skill to have is "knowing how to start an IV". This one skill will benefit you in almost all of these jobs. Also, think about whether or not you enjoy paperwork, and having mostly phone contact with your patients.

A lot of new grads are only able to find hospital jobs in the "less desirable" units in the hospital (the ones that have constant turnover,because working conditions are not ideal). Keep looking until you find a good match for you. Remember why you chose to be a nurse, and look for that kind of setting.

In the mean time you can either cut your hours to part-time (if you are able to afford this), think about taking more weekend shifts if the differential makes it worth it (usually a smoother workflow on the weekends), or just try to learn as much as you can.

I hope you have found something better by now. Good Luck!

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