I became a nurse less than a year ago. My first job was at the non-profit reproductive clinic.
Within two months of my hire, I was the only nurse qualified in my position in the state. Because the other nurses had all quit for jobs that paid fairly (at least $50-100 per hour while I made $29).
Then I was given the responsibility of training two nurses they hired after me. I was slowly given administrative tasks like inventory, ordering, and receiving.
Finally this week, I was told I was going to be trained as an ultrasound tech. So basically I wouldn’t even be a nurse anymore, just an admin and ultrasound person.
I was at my wit’s end today when I had to figure out how we were going to accommodate an unsafe amount of procedures tomorrow without the required supplies and with me still training two new nurses (for example, I have been making my own flushes for a month).
I got upset when I was told by my assistant manager (who can do blood draws) that my trainee needed to do a simple blood draw and not a procedure for someone who had been waiting for FIVE HOURS. Because I raised my voice and she cried to the manager, I was written up. She accused me of swearing at her in front of patients.
While cleaning up and generally doing all of the end of the day nursing tasks by myself, I overheard one of the boomer (but still untrained) nurses and the competency manager say that I “need to be able to get my sh*t together” and proceed to sit around doing nothing but literally stay late to talk about me.
I packed up everything, went to my manager’s office, and told her I quit. I have never walked off a job in my life. I am an Army veteran of 10 years. I loved and cared for every one of my patients.
So I guess I’m going to go get a travel nursing gig like everyone else, make some money, and try to find fulfillment outside of work. Because even in an NPO, if you have a job, managers figure out a way to ruin it.