What nursing advice can you give me?

[Sweetpea04, BSN]

What nursing advice can you give me? 

Hello all.

Quick back story, I have been a nurse since 2021. I started in adult oncology and work there now on Dayshift. Im in my 20's. 

I always had an interest in critical care so for a while I had applied to multiple positions in adult ICU's, but was always denied and rejected.

Then I applied to a job in the NICU and I got it.

I rejected it because I didn't want to be on night shift and I had a negative mindset. I ended up regretting this. Many positions in my area for NIcu, ICU, etc are night shift. It seems like I have to earn my time. 

Many months later I applied for a different NICU position and I also got the job. This time I transferred and spent 7 months there!

The entire time I was in orientation and working in the NICU, I did like the unit and the neonates... but my mind was in a really negative mindset about working night shift!! I am not a night person and my partner is a health care worker on Dayshift.

I also did not like the nurses or culture on the floor as many were toxic nurses. 

So after 7 months I quit and transferred back to my old floor in adult oncology.

This so far has been the biggest regret of the year. I am so UNHAPPY, burned out, stressed, and I feel like a complete failure. I am grateful for being on Dayshift but working on my floor is tough and I knew I had initially left for a reason.

I have been back 4 months and I want to quit AGAIN. Is this a bad idea? 

I miss the NICU/mother baby world and I want to change my mindset so I can work in such areas in the future. I also like pediatrics and feel like I still need to explore. 

But my family and partner all tell me it's wrong to job hop and that I should stay in oncology for 1 year at least. 

What do I do?

I am becoming increasingly burned out on my current floor and it's affecting my mental health and happiness. 

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Members have responded to you in 2 threads for same situation.

https://allnurses.com/feeling-like-failure-t760138/

What prior advice have you considered?

[Compassion75]

Try pediatric private duty homecare. It's low stress one on one care with medically fragile infants children and young adults. There are high tech cases like trach/vent/tpn and lower tech cases that pt just needs tube feedings, meds and monitoring. I've been doing it 8 years and it's extremely flexible and rewarding and most agencies train you. And there is opportunities for advancement to clinical nurse supervisor/case manager after a couple of years experience.

[Gwendolyn Stone, ASN, RN]

Well it seems like you are more burned out with your perceived displeasure of being on the night shift. There are other places that you can practice pediatric Care which may include a company that deals only with pediatric Care at home. You may want to look into that if this is what you really want. I was a nurse for over 30 years and I disliked night shift because I felt like I could not stay awake. After 25 years of working without having to work on night shift I let a supervisor talk me into becoming the charge nurse on that shift. To my surprise I was able to stay awake and stay focused. I stayed there for 2 years and then left for a job working for a community agency. My advice to you is to examine why you dislike night shift so much. If you're working by focusing on your dislike of a particular shift then you're not able to care for your patients properly or at your optimum level of caregiving. Look into your community to see if there are agencies that hire nurses to go into the home to assess neonatals or pediatrics in whatever healthcare situation they may be in. God bless you dear. Nursing is a calling to me so decide if you want to work in your calling.