I’m a new grad who’s just completed his first full year in the workforce doing Tele/Med Surg nursing. I started as a resource nurse but absolutely hated not having a set team with clear expectations and was looking for a way out… plus I was getting worked to death because they kept giving me shit assignments since I was “just the float.” I eventually got floated down to a concierge unit where all of our MD’s, major donors, and associates go if they need in-patient care. It’s a super luxury unit with four-star hotel grade rooms, marble bathrooms with walk in showers, and all kinds of fancy amenities. Because the work flow was so much more lax down here with the routine patient load being 3:1, I applied for a transfer and got the position. Almost 8 months later, I find myself here still and feeling as though I’m losing touch with the practice. The majority of what I do is just pain management and hanging IV ABx while they sleep the night off after cosmetic surgeries or hip replacements from their third fall at the luxury retirement communities they mostly live in. Needless to say, it’s getting boring as hell. And to top it off, several of these patients can be insufferably demanding and needy because they “deserve it” after having paid so much more for this suite instead of a normal room.

When I was a student, I precepted in the ED and loved it. Granted, I wasn’t borne the full responsibility of patient care and was helped constantly when attempting to do stuff on my own, but the culture seemed a good fit for me and I enjoyed seeing such a multitude of different cases. Sometimes I feel like I need to go back in order to sharpen up my skills again and continue developing my base of practice because, at this rate, I feel like I’ll walk into another hospital knowing less than when I first started… which is a scary thing to say.

I’m debating applying for a transfer because I feel my skills and knowledge rapidly deteriorating these days but admittedly it’s hard to bring myself to commit to it because the work flow of this unit is so unbelievably easy it feels like I’d be willingly signing away one of the easiest jobs of my life. Knowing how savagely our professional has been brutalized in the last two years, I’m scared to think how much I could regret this decision if I come to realize I made the wrong choice… and get worked to absolute shit.

I need some input here from you guys, do you think it’s worth it to take the plunge? Or should I hold my ground and simply aim to sharpen my skills and collect as much knowledge as possible while I’m here by seeking as many learning opportunities as possible? (Which are far and few between quite honestly).