I'd appreciate everyones honest advice please. I'm really stressed and just do not know what to do.
I am in my final year of adult nursing. I will be finishing my placement this week and then qualifying. During my training i had already started disliking working in the ward. However, when i applied for jobs i applied to work in a ward for one year and then rotate in to the community. At that time i decided to try it because some people adviced "go in to a ward as a newly qualified as it's better for me than going into community or elsewhere". But I just feel like I really don't want to and can't do it. I find wards overwhelming\stressful (am i being silly). It is such a busy ward and heavy work which i imagine would be the case in every ward. Hardly get a minute to spend with the patients because you are constantly rushed off your feet. I'm scared there is higher risk of making errors and risking my nursing pin. I'd be looking after 9-10patients!
I enjoy working and caring for the elderly i had a placement in the community which i absoloutely loved! So i'm contemplating if i should change my choices and work in the community as a newly qualified
I like hemodialysis too it's ratio of 1:4 patients, you can build rapport with patients etc. I'm just worried if I'm at disadvantage for NOT working in a WARD?
Hi Pippynurseuk, thank you for your response. I also had my management placement in the community and loved it hence considering to start my career there. I have been offered a post so should soon be starting. I look forward to it and not feeling as nervous as i was to start on a ward. Yes that is true i understand community has it's own stresses of the job. Thanks once again :)
District used to be a good place to be, until they started making cutbacks and making impossible demands on nurses time. A few years ago i had a caseload that consisted of patients from 5 GPs, and then ten years later I was covering 24 GPs.
If you just want to drift along, seeing a few patients a day and sitting chatting with them, then yes you might get away with that for a while, but sooner or later you need to get up to speed and become a team player. My last community job was in a nursing home when I had sole charge of 35 patients, with a team of care assistants. If you want low acuity, then you get higher numbers. Either way you need to get stuck in and stop being scared of hard work. Your colleagues will appreciate it.
I'm not afraid of hard work i want to be able to provide high quality care for my patients as i wanna be a good nurse. I feel in hospitals unfortunately i wouldn't be able to due to the demand and environment. In the community i understand i wont be seeing only a few pts that can be a hard job too (i don't mind) i feel more comfortable and less anxious about it for some reason. The job that i have been just offered few days ago cover 3 GP's.
P.s nowadays not many collegues appreciate in my experience.
I work in an integrated role bridging hospital and community at the moment, the acuity and dependency of community patients is terrifying, and the staff out there have to be resilient, fast paced and very versatile. Unlike wards there is usually no immediate backup, if you have a problem you need to solve it or if that's not possible then you often have to wait for help to arrive. The level of autonomy needed, and level of decision making is scary, and this is coupled with the usual staffing constraints found in hospitals.
If you are already a nervous practitioner, I would be worried that you will not have access to the level of mentorship and support you need.
Newlyqualnurse
10 Posts
Hi Pippynurseuk, thank you for your response. I also had my management placement in the community and loved it hence considering to start my career there. I have been offered a post so should soon be starting. I look forward to it and not feeling as nervous as i was to start on a ward. Yes that is true i understand community has it's own stresses of the job. Thanks once again :)