Oh boy. Let go from job... not sure if this is it. :(

3 Hi all. Well I have worked in two medical settings and had to resign at one job, and now tonight, was let go at another. AWFUL!!! I am told I am 'very smart' have an 'impressive educational background,' but cannot 'connect' to hands on clinical nursing. At both jobs, I have grown and gotten better, but not fast enough, etc. My husband tells me I am not cut out to be a RN. It's SO SAD... I did so well in school, graduated top in my class, and STINK in the real world. By the way, I went to a BSN program. SO... I have ALL THIS mental knowledge, but no real hands on experience. I am told I would be excellent in admin.

So now I have no job... it's the pits folks.
Oh no, I'm so sorry! I don't really know what to say. Since you have your BSN, that's one less step toward getting your MSN, and then you could do things like diabetic education or case management or something.

Do you want to do bedside nursing? Did the same sort of incident get you fired from the first job?

I think you would be great in teaching. Why not give it a try? Good luck!When one door closes, another one opens!

Quote from Epona My husband tells me I am not cut out to be a RN.

It takes time to put it all together, ESPECIALLY if your clinicals in school were weak (as so many describe).... Any chance for some type of preceptorship????

I am sorry this has happened to you-could it be you need to find a different kind of nursing?

Wow. I am sorry you are going through this difficult situation, I hope it's just a bump in the road for you. It may take you a bit to absorb it all and find the right path - but I would not give up on nursing. There are too many options that don't involve bedside (as mentioned above). I am not sure how your orientation went, if it was a full new grad program or a short one. There are facilities out there that provide extensive orientation. I wish you well.

I am so sorry you are going through this and I know by your posts that you have faced some challenges since graduation in 2009 and some health issues as well. This is just another example of how clinical weak the programs are today aand that hospitals aren't doing their job in orientation to save money...........and that makes me sad. The other concern for me though, and this has nothing to do with you, is that you are told that you can't hack it at the bedside but you'd be great running the show and telling others how to do the job correctly. THAT my friends is what is wrong with nursing today!

What kind of nursing were you in that you left? Was it critical care/ICU/ER? How long have you been a nurse?I've recommended LTAC's before to nurses on these forums, and I'll do it again with you. They aren't the ideal places to work IMO, but the skills you'll learn are amazing. The patients are VERY sick most of the time, still coming out of ICU's and medical floors, have histories a mile long, but are more stable than critically ill patients. You'd practice everything under the sun, and with them more stable, you'd be able to connect the dots, practice tons of skills and improve! It was your husband that said you shouldn't be a nurse???? IS he a nurse too??? I mean no offense to your husband, but unless he's a nurse too, he needs to shut his pie hole! Most of our spouse's have NO CLUE what it is we do and how hard we work. I started out in L&D, and it was a terrible experience. Small rural hospital with 30 deliveries a month and 6 NEW GRADS (should've been a big fat red flag huh?), I was brought into the manager's office twice, she told me I wasn't picking up things fast enough... well hello... a month without a delivery? What do you expect!!! I was told I could work on another unit the hospital, and I ended up quitting and moving across the country. I thought L&D was my passion in life, and I was soooo depressed and thinking I was not good enough to be a nurse. Getting into a LTAC with a good orientation with good basics was the best thing I ever did. And what do you know, there's only ONE of the original SIX nurses I started with in L&D still working there, and they all quit within a few months of me. DON'T let other people get you down, you just need to find a better place that will work, I wouldn't recommend just leaving bedside nursing if you don't want to.

"The other concern for me though, and this has nothing to do with you, is that you are told that you can't hack it at the bedside but you'd be great running the show and telling others how to do the job correctly."Amen!

You are describing how I was in bedside nursing. Like you, I did very well in clinicals but in the real world, I was horrible. Time management, prioritization, you name it, I was bad at it. I was constantly being written up, even fired. Add to that the stress of being a bedside nurse.I was thinking maybe I shouldn't have wasted my money to be an RN. Then I found psych. I worked in a residential program overseeing group homes. I was there a long time, did well, and only left because there was no growth. I am in an insurance company now and I am excelling. I never thought I would hear how good I'm doing and not get written up.I'm telling you this because I don't want you to think it's just you. Look into non-clinical positions...insurance, hospice, psych, group homes for mentally disabled. You will find something you like out of the bedside.

Quote from Esme12... and that hospitals aren't doing their job in orientation to save money ...