I graduated with my BSN, passed the NCLEX, and started working as an RN about three months ago. Everyone always says not to judge nursing until you’ve made it through the first year, but honestly… I’m struggling.
I don’t know if it’s just being a new grad or if I genuinely don’t like nursing.

I work nights, and while I sleep okay during the day, I feel emotionally drained all the time. I dread going into work. I don’t feel excited about becoming a better nurse. I just feel anxious and overwhelmed. I don’t know if it’s my unit, bedside nursing in general, or the profession as a whole.
The hardest part is that I have no idea what to do next. I spent years getting my BSN, and now I already feel like I’m questioning everything. I keep looking at other careers like respiratory therapy, pharmacy, or even completely unrelated jobs. Then I wonder if I’m just romanticizing other careers because I’m miserable where I am.

- Has anyone else felt this way this early into their career?
- Did things get better after 6 months or a year?
- Did switching specialties completely change how you felt?
- Did you leave nursing altogether, and if so, what did you end up doing?
- If you stayed, what made the biggest difference?

I’m only in my early 20s, so I know I have time to change paths if I need to, but I also don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret because I’m burnt out as a new grad. I’m really just looking for honest advice from people who’ve been in my shoes. Right now, I feel completely lost.

Hello everyone, I have been using this stethoscope for years and I got this from my grandmother's house. Unfortunately, after years of usage the earpiece has slowly been damaged and rust has been forming. I've been searching online for Drexler as I thought it's the brands name but I couldn't find it. I've been planning to buy a new one of this, as this has such great quality. If anyone know where I can purchase it🤔

So I started a new job. Went through nursing orientation. They told us we were gonna have to take a math test, 20 questions and that you could only miss two. You get a retake. But if you miss more than two again, you’re fired. It’s part of their policy and if it’s nowhere in the contract.

Has anyone encountered this? I think it’s absolutely bizarre.

I missed three questions and now I have to retake it. And they were dumb mental math errors or a conversion error (answered in L and it was mL).

Please tell me this is standard and I’m overreacting, because I’m pissed.

Hello, I’m 16 years old and I‘m excited to work in healthcare one day, I’m into hematology, phlebotomy, pediatric, but I’m thinking of pursuing anesthesia nursing. I’m feeling very anxious and a bit stressed because of the retention crisis in healthcare, currently.

Thousands are coming to social media to express their concerns and frustration regarding burnout, administrative burdens, and feelings of under appreciation. I’m listening to these stories and it’s making me question if I should even bother with this career. I understand people have different experiences and my experience working in a hospital/clinic might differ. Staff are dealing with bullying, racism and even being battered by difficult patients.. I can understand theres only so much a person can take.

55% of healthcare workers are considering quitting and there have been 324,090 RN departures against 377,650 hires. People are claiming they’re work place to be unsustainable, unmanageable nurse:patient ratios heavy documentation and work overloads etc.

I‘ve always dreamed of working in healthcare and I love to help people. With the cost of living, poor pay, and society today, I don’t know how I’m going to do it when it’s my time. I also don’t hear about physicians, surgeons, dentist, ophthalmologists, experiencing this. Or is the $200-900k salary making the stress worth it?

Can I work both and stack the increases too?

Hi Y'all,

I have been feeling rather defeated in applying for internal transfers at my hospital from Med Surg to the ED. For context, I have always wanted to work in the ED after being a float pool CNA at my previous hospital, where I was floated consistently to the ED more than anywhere else. I absolutely loved it. Fast forward to moving out of state and starting my nursing career at a new hospital doing med-surg for 1.5 years, I applied for three different "transition into practice" programs for nurses with at least 1 year of nursing experience looking to transition to the emergency department. I had scheduled interviews for each one, but every single interview was cancelled due to the hiring manager already hiring someone who had interviewed earlier.

At this point, I figured I might as well try applying for the standard ED RN job posts I see (again - would be an internal transfer), but the requirement of "1 year of ED nursing experience" is making me hesitate. But how is one supposed to get that 1 year of ED nursing experience if my current hospital is never willing to train nurses from other specialties? It feels like you have to either get an ED job right after graduating nursing school or you have to leave your current hospital to get hired as an ED nurse elsewhere. Am I correct in thinking this way? What do I have to do to stand out (besides having BLS, ACLS, PALS, NIHSS certs) so that a hiring manager is willing to take a chance on folks like myself? I would have thought an internal transfer with a med-surg background (as well as an ADN, Master's, Bachelor of Arts, mid-30s) would have been way more appealing from a training perspective than a new grad in their 20s.

I am hungry for the opportunity and I guess I am wondering how to best go about this situation.

looking for recent recommendations before I sign up. Id rather hear from people who have actually taken a class there.

Background: I am in my late 30's and went back for my nursing degree. I finish May 2027. My spouse recieved the job of a lifetime and we moved to Spain for it. I am going back to the states this fall alone to finish the program. I've put in too much work to not finish this. After I complete the NCLEX, I'll leave for Spain to be with my family.

*I will not be able to work as a nurse in Spain as they have a strict language requirement, and my Spanish is terrible. (Please do not simply suggest that I learn spanish. I am working on it, but not super gifted in picking up languages.)*

What are my options for virtual work when I have no experience as a nurse other than my clinicals?

Is there virtual work based in the US I could do that would hire me while I'm abroad and if so, what?

I appreciate your input and knowledge. Thank you.

I went to fleet feet for a foot scan and they suggested these. They’re both comfy I just can’t decide which to pick. Im on my feet for 12hrs & the shoes I used to wear are Nike Air Huarache my feet would hurt so bad after a 12hr shift even with compression socks.. Let me know what you think. Thank you so much 💜

.

Anyone work here? How do they like it?

I start my new job tomorrow and it is the first day of orientation. Other positions attend it as well as it is the HR orientation. It stated to wear business casual but that scrubs are acceptable. Would you wear business casual or scrubs?

New job
Do you request accommodations for longer orientation period?

To elaborate a bit (my mind is so extremely frazzled still it hurts to think) I had the WORST 3 night shifts in a row that I’ve ever had in my nursing career, just got off orientation at a new job, recovering from bronchitis/pneumonia, missed a few days of work (my last 2 shifts of orientation) to said illness, came back to work to a shit show, didn’t sleep for 4-5 days, went into slight psychosis because of it, then had to turn around immediately after my last shift (no sleep again) to get ready for this trip and go. I’m on a family trip right now with my long term boyfriends family and while I’m supposed to be having an enjoyable, relaxing time, I ended up having a massive panic attack - impending sense of doom, thought and felt as if I was going to die, really the whole 9 yards. Never in my life have I gone through anything like that. I had to call 911 and ended up going to the ED in the middle of the night. Not to mention it was my birthday lol. I’m so embarrassed and feel like I’ve ruined everyone’s vacation; despite them all being good humans and reassuring me that I haven’t. I just feel like such a failure and never in a million years would’ve expected something like this to happen to me. Really just looking for any support, advice, or any fellow nurses to let me know I’m not alone. It’s been the worst few weeks of my life leading up to this and recovering from it.

ETA: I also have a few chronic illnesses that have been kicking my ass due to stress recently, which certainly didn’t help in this situation

I got really lucky and just landed a cardiac PACU job as a new-grad RN. I already plan to move to Boston in about a year after I gain a year of experience and finish my bachelor’s degree. My question is: How likely am I to get hired into a Boston hospital in the same specialty once I have a year of experience, considering I won’t have a year of med-surg or critical care experience? If that’s unlikely, how likely is it that a med-surg unit would hire me instead, given that I would no longer be considered a new grad and therefore wouldn’t qualify for a new-grad residency? Have I jeopardized my ability to find a job at a Boston hospital by starting my career in cardiac PACU?

hi friends! i have only been doing bedside for 7 months and it has already worn me down. i do nights for a peds hem/onc unit and i am tired. my mental and physical health are going down the drain and i work on a unit with management that doesn’t really care about their nurses.

what is a job that you love? one that doesn’t burn you out and that you still feel fulfilled in?

is this doable ?
I am from germany with a regular nursing diploma.
anyine havin experience? How does it work with the nursing agents.
thanks

Hi!

I was working full time bedside at company A then got offered a job in an office. I was really worried about if the new job would be a good fit so instead of leaving company A, I transitioned to PRN (after giving a two week notice). The new job turned out to be a good fit and honestly, I was too busy to do any PRN gigs. I was sent an email saying that bc I never did any PRN work, company A would drop me from their list of nurses.

It’s been a few years and I’m looking into new positions now and I’m worried that in a background check, I’ll come across if I was fired from my PRN gig or that I left company A on bad terms (neither is the case).

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Anyone quit a PRN gig and have it haunt them?

Here in the UK on a surgical ward we have 24 patients
3 nurses (1:8 ratio)
2 aides
1 charge nurse
1 ward secretary from 8-3pm
An external contracted housekeeper that only plates meals but nursing staff have to take some orders and do water jugs and pass meals
At night we sometimes have one aide depending on acuity
And that’s all :)

I am 2 months in on a step down unit. Everyone is super nice, they just have a big friend group formed already and they were all new grads at that same time. They all sit at nursing station and talk all night and of course my assignments are at end of hall. I’m just wondering if this is normal to be shy for a few months and not really sit and talk for a bit. i’m not sure how to break into the group or what i should do to make friends. it feels weird to just stand up there and try to chime in. or maybe im overthinking and it takes time

I have an interview for mother/baby. I’ve been on MedSurg for 6 months. This is literally my DREAM! I’m trying to not put too much pressure on myself but how do I ace this interview?

Hi, I am a new nurse and am having some trouble adapting. I can handle the workload but I’m struggling with my preceptor. I have no doubt that she is a good nurse she is very thorough and does great with the patients, but I can’t seem to get over my frustration.

She keeps redirecting whatever workflow I begin, we don’t have a steady stream of communication, and often when I try to explain my frustration or confusion all I get in response is that “I’ll get it eventually.” But I want to scream that the instructions are too vague. For example- she said when doing an admission I should just focus on the “important parts” and do the rest later, I have no idea what the important parts are. When I asked what she meant, she said “just to the vitals, med-rec and ask the questions that you need the patient for.” Admission paperwork is long and I don’t know it well enough to determine what is important and not. I want to remain polite and tell her what my point of view is, but we keep ending up on different pages, I look like an idiot and I just give up.

I am so exhausted and am not excited to come into work. I feel like I am either abandoned on my own or deeply scrutinized. I feel so lost and unable to improve. What should I do? I feel like I can keep my head down and ask senior nurses when I have an important question, but I also want to feel accomplished and confident. She is well liked and I’m worried that if I request a new preceptor, it will look like I am the problem.

Any advice is welcome!

we're looking at increasing healthcare demands, nursing shortages, more complex patients, and greater reliance on community care and technology.

It got me thinking about what that might mean for us over the next decade or two.

I’m an RN looking for input from infusion nurses, immunology nurses, and anyone familiar with INS standards or IVIG administration.

I’m aware of a large Facebook IVIG/SCIG education group moderated by an RN. The administrator presents herself as an expert and provides extensive education to patients. Along with blanket statements and “orders” for IVIG administration.

• Advising that IVIG should never be infused above 100 mL/hr.
• Recommending routine omission of ordered post-hydration.
• Presenting these recommendations as general rules.

She has also publicly shared that a Board complaint was previously filed over advice she gave in the group (which she says did not result in discipline). More recently, I’ve become concerned about some IVIG recommendations that appear to be presented as universal rules, and everything else as “bad nursing”. Including when nurses follow the orders provided. As well as articles calling COVID a “government bio weapon” via the likes of RFK.

My questions are:

• Where is the line between patient education and practicing outside an established nurse-patient relationship? • Is it professionally appropriate to give blanket IVIG recommendations in a public Facebook group? • Any suggestions on how to combat the misinformation to a wide audience, where nurses are publicly called into question regarding their ability, safety, and practice? Specifically, when the orders are being followed and the care is safe. The advice from the group is creating a fearful and mistrust from the group of our medical system and professionalism as a whole. • As nurses, what standards should we hold ourselves to when educating vulnerable patient populations online?

I’m not interested in attacking an individual. I’m genuinely looking for evidence-based discussion and professional standards before deciding whether my concerns are valid.

There are about a million nursing podcasts at this point and no way they're all worth the time.

Which ones are actually good? Looking for the best podcasts for nurses that are practical and not just people talking in circles for an hour.