I was fortunate enough to land a position as a new grad in an academic medical center. I am on a surgical floor. I received a place in a new nurse residency program an 6 weeks of orientation. Everything seemed great.
Then I got on my own. I have been out of orientation for about 3 weeks now. I passed my boards 3 months ago. On a typical day, I have 5 patients. These patients have PCA pumps, Epidurals, Trachs, foleys, peg tubes, JP drains, NGs, NJs, strict I&Os, severe pain needs, some of them are incontinent. Most are falls risks. Most have an entitled attitude. I am working day shift as a new RN (Not my choice). I feel myself drowning on every shift, terrified of making a mistake or a medication and hurting myself or a patient. Every time I give medications to a patient (IV meds, changing out pcas, epidural bags, crushing meds down tubes, which is all very time consuming) i have 2 or 3 other patients calling out to me for something. I feel like i'm being pulled in a million different directions. I have labs to get, patients going down to surgery,a med pass to keep up with, new orders, patient's calling out for prn pain meds that they don't have ordered, and me trying to keep my sanity.No matter how organized i feel some days, it seems like crap hits the fan at some point and everything is crazy.
I am being paid 40k a year BEFORE taxes. With a bit of overtime i could have made my net salary with my PCA job. I can't help but feel like i've received the short end of the stick and nursing is not what i thought it would be. I always feel stressed, overwhelmed, and scared. My patients are so complicated. I don't make as much as i thought i would. My job is a thousand times more stressful. Experienced nurses find themselves in tears with the load I'm given as a new grad. I have already started looking at grad school because i know i definitely can't do this for the rest of my life. I KNOW I'm a new grad and i shouldn't expect much. I know this is the bottom. Please please don't call me entitled. I'm THANKFUL for my job... i'm just...disappointed...
Let me just say that I am so ridiculously thankful for the opportunity to work there. It is a great experience for me and my nursing career, However, that doesn't negate how I feel.
Maybe I didn't get an accurate picture of nursing in school. Everyone says stick it out for a year and I plan to, but in the back of my mind, there's so much disappointment and dissatisfaction in my heart.
What do you think of my situation? is it normal? should i stick it out? I work in Central Ohio, dayton area.
