scared i'm going to lose my license..

I'm a new grad who just recently found a job in the east coast. It's in an acute psychiatric facility- my title--- Charge Nurse. The patient ratio here is 20:1. Upon the hiring, they said they will train me for 12 solid days on the unit. I am floating to all units of the hospital. I will be the only nurse on the unit who is responsible for CNA,LVN, all 20 patients who are acutely ill.

During orientation, they suddenly told us they're giving us five training days. =/ and i'm already almost done, i feel 25% competent by day 5. I am learning as fast as I can but in no way or shape, I can do what do in the next two days to be on my own. to make matters worst, you are literally the ONLY RN on the unit, and no other RN.

on weekends, no supervisors are around. no managers, no body. no doctors, no pharmacy. nothing. and my first shift alone, is going to be a weekends.

during orientation, the focus was $$$. you guessed, they are for-profit. Talking nonstop about how much the hospital is making. never once said the nurses are being treated well. Throughout orientation, i heard the words "how you can lose your license" almost 100 times. This is how you can lose your license, and if you do this, you can lose your license.. now if you do this, you can get reported, suspended.


this hospital has a history of firing 30 nurses in the last year- for god knows what reason. nurses are extremely burned out. all sounding like they want to quit and don't know how to manage to survive day by day. Only 1 nurse gave me a smiling face that he is doing fine. Today I got screamed at by one of the nurses who said " i refuse to let u draw up meds" because you've never been trained, and how can you be on your own after 1 day. management got involved, and told her its the new policy to just let the new orientees to "just do it" without training. and it was chaos.

of course all of us orientees went to management and spoke our concerns. they dismissed it and pulled out the schedule sheet. They said you're fine! don't worry! you wont get your license suspended! just be confident! here look, a supervisor is floating around (mind you this supervisor is in charge of the ENTIRE building), and she can just like look over you once in awhile. and if you really need help, just ask another nurse on another unit! they'll help you! =/ permission denied. another unit...??? i dont even know where the medicine bin is! GOODNESS!

the unit is chaos. the hospital is chaos. everyone is in the midst of chaos. the patients are crazier than the next, with kids cutting their wrist bleeding, and hitting the staff. The other, we just did several codes. I'm scared of the patients assaulting me here,, and sadly that's the least of my concerns for now.

i'm stressed out, i'm tired. this is not what i pictured it to be. any advice/ encouragement would be helpful.

i can easily say JUST LEAVE, but jobs are sooooo scarce in this part of the country. Half of my classmates didnt even find jobs yet. and i've waited a year and a half. sadly, i turned down 3 other interviews for this job and 2 wonderful without pay training programs. i regret it so much right now,i thought the real way of getting experience was just to get a job, and do it. no more holding your hands and guiding your, but this reality just too harsh. the sad part is, i am using zero nursing skills. i barely get a good glance at them before i have to start my charting for the day. there is nothing such as therapeutic communication or anything. its about making sure they don't kill themselves while on your care, and make sure you chart like crazy so you "cover your ass".


Last edit by nurse441 on Jun 29, '10
Has it been just past 5 days? If so, and if at all possible, kindly give them a "NO THANKS" and get the heck outta there!!

Run...do not walk...I repeat RUN away from this place. It sounds extremely dangerous and it is only a matter of time before you lose your license. How can facilities operate this way? It can't be legal...

Holy cow!NO way would I stick around! I have spent waay too much $$$ to risk on a place that could give 2 squirts about me/my license!I would seriously re-think your position (granted I am a new grad nurse...just took NCLEX). I just wouldn't give the time 'o day to a place like that! YIKES!Good Luck to you what ever you choose to do! Just take your time and don't feel like you need to rush too fast (unless an emergency)!

What possible encouragement could I give? That job sounds like a bloody nightmare. If you think your license is in jeopordy it probably is. Do what you have to do to make money if you must. But I don't think a virtual "hug" on this website is really going to do you any good. Trust your instincts. They are usually correct.

You worked way too hard to risk your license and think how you would feel if there was a tragic outcome while you are in charge. I would not want to be in that position even if I was a nurse with a lot of experience; it is a diaster waiting to happen. Waiting for a job is better than losing your license.

WOW, I think I step back and really weigh the pros? or cons of keeping this job. It sounds like a disaster to me. How long has the other nurse worked there? Does the LVN, know the ropes there? You as the RN, are the one the LVN, goes to if he/she has a question or problem. How much of a team player attitude does the rest of the staff have? Just be very careful. If I were you I think I'd give up the job. Let us know what you decide.

they just hired in MASSES recently due to recently "firings". the management is new. everyone is new. i suppose even the management team quit!the nurses are all 3 months brand new. the oldest nurse is 6 years. and shes about to bounce too

In school, I had a teacher who told me... always trust your gut instinct, it will not fail you. The one time I did not follow that advice almost cost me my license. RUN, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $200.00!!! Leave before damage is done to you that you may not be able to fix.

Lots (not all, certainly) of private-for-profit psych places operate this way. They hire lots of new grads because they're the ones who don't know better than to take a job like this -- anyone with any experience and savvy knows to stay far, far away from a situation like this. You have a lot more to lose than you have to gain from working in a situation like this. Best wishes!

Please get AWAY from that place as fast as you can!

This unfortunately sounds WAY too familiar... *sigh*

As others have said, run. 1. Your patients deserve better. Not saying you will not be a great nurse, but it takes time to develop skills and insight for anyone. Many patients can be manipulative and this is not something you should undertake without a lot of support.2. You deserve better. You worked so hard to get your license, and you deserve a fair orientation. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving a new grad with no real support in ANY unit. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Although there are other staff members present, YOU, as the RN would be ultimately responsible.3. The hospital does not care about you. You are just a warm body to them. If you end up in a bad situation, they will drop you like a hot potato. 4. A bad first job turns many people off of nursing entirely when they think all jobs are like their first horrible one.I would rather work at any job, even a minimum-wage job, before I would put myself in a place to hurt someone else. I have seen it happen in similar situations. To give you an example, two years ago, a nurse I am friends with had a patient that seemed suddenly confused. The patient had expressed suicidal ideation in a past admission, and she had an instinct something was wrong. She called his primary, begged to put him on 1:1 or at least get a sitter, and was refused. She asked her charge nurse for help and to let her have fewer patients as this man was setting off alarm bells. The charge nurse refused. She was told she had to keep her same 8 patient load (this was on a med-surg floor). She asked the tech to help her, and they tried to check him every 15 minutes while three of her other patients got blood. Two hours later, a code was called. The man had escaped his room, broken out glass from a window using a chair, and jumped to his death. His family was devastated. The nurse was broken-hearted. She has not practiced since, although no disciplinary action was taken. It was her documentation that saved her job, but she was too sick over what happened to care. As nurses we must realize that many of those in charge only see money. They couldn't care less about nurses or patients, as long as things look pretty for JCAHO and Press Gainey ratings.To be frank, as a new nurse, you only know what you know. As I mentioned, it takes time. It's like being a teenager. As a teenager, I thought I new everything, lol. As a new nurse, I knew I didn't know it all, but I still marvel that things turned out so well despite my comparatively small amount of knowledge. There is a reason so many experienced nurses are telling you to run away. We KNOW this would be unsafe. The hospital is irresponsible for allowing this to occur, and they are trying to discount the alarm bells you are hearing: "Oh, don't worry, it will be fine! You'll have a house supervisor to help!" Look for a place that will invest in you as a nurse. They are out there. Don't give up. Good jobs do exist.