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I'm on leave for my mental health.

Nursing for 10 years, I've suffered injuries, assault, abuse, etc. I did my best to look for a job away from all the bad side of healthcare. I was lucky enough to find an entryway to clinical governance. I was told during the interview that it is a permanent job. After the hospital accreditation, I was told they don't have the budget for us. However, the contract that we signed means we are permanent employees of the company. Hence, we can choose whatever department we like and "we will be supported."

That time, staffing was at an all-time low. They cunningly created multiple permanent "easy" jobs that are technically not sustainable but attracted nurses desperate to get out of bedside. Many got hooked and I was one of them. My fault for not realising how vague the contract was. I was given a few hours to choose my new department. A lot of things happened after but to sum it up, I ended up in the theatre.

I had zero theatre experience. The training was brutal. I cried more than once. My preceptors were the typical senior nurses who pointed out every mistake, even things like not knowing the reason why a patient closed the curtains. I learned that the stereotypical nurse and doctor relationship is real in the theatre as well. Most doctors yell and blame everything on nurses. I stayed for 3 more years and even though it's not a good place for my mental and emotional health, I liked the job. I was really good inside the procedure room and even doctors who screamed at me, preferred having me in their cases. Financially though, I'm sinking. The increasing mortgage rate is draining my bank account.

Then I found a telehealth job. Same pay, 12 hr shift work, has mornings, afternoons, nights, and weekends. Better pay because of penalties but the best thing about it is, having long stretches of days off. It's perfect for me since I'm currently having health issues and at the moment, I'm being screened for the big C. A non‑bedside job with more time to rest felt perfect.

I started doing calls with mentors. At first I struggled because it was such a different field, but their guidance helped. I studied more, watched educational videos, reviewed differential diagnoses. From the beginning, I knew I was surrounded by highly skilled clinicians: ICU‑trained, consultants, multiple degrees. I knew I had to step up, and I did.

Training was supposed to be five weeks. After five weeks, my colleague and I realised we still weren't being assessed for independent practice. She emailed the head assessor, explained everything she'd done, and said she felt ready. She had spent most of her shifts sitting with senior clinicians, and after two calls with the assessor, she passed. She told me to do the same, email the assessor and choose the easiest calls during the assessment.

I genuinely liked this assessor. During training she seemed sincere, gave helpful advice, and made me feel comfortable enough to be open about what I needed help with. She often joked that if she could send me to ED, she would. I didn't think much of it.

When my assessment day finally came, I had already emailed the head assessor saying I felt ready to work independently and that I believed I was a safe clinician. She sat with me, watched two calls, and stopped the assessment right there. She told me I didn't have the clinical knowledge and wasn't safe for patients. The exact same words I had used in my email. She repeated again that if she could send me to ED, she would.

The standard assessment is ten independent calls with no assistance. I've seen plenty of people pass even while still being guided by assessors, and others pass after only a few calls. Not only did she fail me after two calls, she also didn't let me choose my cases, which is the complete opposite of what she allowed my colleague. And again, she made the comment about sending me to ED.

After that assessment, I asked several mentors whether there was something fundamentally wrong with my clinical ability. They all said I was ready to work independently and just needed some polishing that would naturally come with experience. My manager extended my training for another two weeks and arranged a reassessment, assuring me it would follow the standard process.

First call was a bit shaky. I was anxious and overthinking, but the outcome was safe and appropriate. I did more calls with the her then she told me after my 5th call, that I will do more training for the rest of my shift. In other words, I failed.

Apparently, she had already decided to fail me after the first call because she didn’t like my process, even though the outcome was correct. I couldn't understand why she let me continue with four more calls if her mind was already made up. I was exhausted, frustrated, and felt completely betrayed. My chest and throat felt tight from the stress. I just needed to get out.

I'm on leave now, and honestly, I don't want to go back. It feels like returning would mean putting myself through the same emotional torture, and that no matter what I do, she'll fail me again. I've even thought about selling my apartment, leaving nursing altogether, and moving overseas. I don't want anything to do with healthcare anymore. I told a friend, and she said, "Just do it." Somehow her words felt inspiring, even if the idea isn't realistic.

I just want to walk away from everything and start over.

I am a new grad RN, 6 months in, currently on a medical ward.

I sometimes find that handover includes a lot of information I don't necessarily need, or can easily find myself, without including stuff I DO need, that may be harder to find.

For me, I've found that you can mostly skip the clinical stuff (other than immediately important things, of course). Obs frequency and time due, medications, history, etc, I can easily find. Yes, I want to know if they need a urine specimen collected today, if they're on airborne/droplet/contact precautions, if they've had a deterioration, etc but I don't need you to tell me they have a history of COPD - I'm going to read their recent doctor's notes as soon as I get a chance anyway.

What I want to know during a handover is what I need to do to help the patient OUTSIDE of the clinical stuff. I want to know if they're oriented, how they mobilise, how they void, if they require assistance to eat, and anything about their demeanour I should know (like if they're highly anxious or likely to get aggressive). These things are often difficult to find in their notes and often the first things I need to know - I can't count how many times I've walked into a room to do obs at 0730 and the pt says they need the toilet first. I need to know how they mobilise and how big of a falls risk they are, immediately.

Of course, I'm always trying to improve my handover, so I want to hear from other nurses: what information is critical in a handover? What is frequently left out? What has made you think "I wish I'd known that" when caring for a patient?

Student nurses, how do you guys prep your handover for the clinical educators. I've had experiences with clinical educators popping up and asking for handover and me not having done enough research to give them a proper handover and answer any questions they might have since I'm busy doing vitals. I was just told by one student that he failed on his second day because he wasn't able to explain the meds for his pt to the educators while giving handover, and the CNEs at this hospital have failed a lot of people.

Do you guys have any tips or methods that you use to make sure you have handover prepped for the educators.

Does it really differ in each state how you do flushes after administering an infusion? Working in regional hospital at the moment and fellow RNs have advised me to take down everything and flush with syringe. It feels off as Ive always used another 100 NSbag to flush the line atleast 30mls as giving sets take around 20mls and theres medications left in the tubing.

Can anyone enlighten me why is this pls? Thanks

i see all the 9-5 memes but atp with how stressful nursing is, i would opt to do office jobs with all it's "cons". it's a dream of mine. "dream" coz it'll never happen as long as my mother is still alive & with dis home mortgage/bills i have. i feel like most ppl who c/o 9-5 corporate jobs is coz they're still renting a dirty place to live or coz it doesn't pay their bills so they're stuck, can't move upwards. But for me, i want a change/break but stuck as well. So, it's kinda weird.

I'm used to my ward which is good. it's busy. but it's so much. u get weekend pay, get weeks of paid hols at a time but even with dat, I still fall back into this state of mind. everyone would say to stay as the right choice coz nursing rlly did help me out financially. just waiting for the day my mortgage is paid off till i can switch to a non-acute nursing job. think i'm just whining tho.

Are nurses able to initiate oxygen if a patients sats were below normal parameters or is it only to be administered when prescribed?

Hi Everyone

I requested to reduce my permanent FTE from 0.7 to 0.5 but my NUM is refusing this as I have excess annual leave accrued. She's saying I need to use some of this up before she'll be able to reduce my hours. Our annual leave quota is really booked out for the rest of this year, and I also don't really want to take time off unless I actually have a holiday or something special to do, I don't want to take annual leave for no reason so to speak. So I'm wondering what my options are?

As far as I know, I can take one day per week as annual leave for some time to bring down my accrued leave, or I could opt to be paid out some of it in increments. Does anyone know at what rate you get paid out? Do they take an average of your pay, and pay the hours at that? I just don't want to lose out on the penalty $ I would usually get, since I work every weekend and public holiday... I'm NSW btw.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

I’m still new to it and learning, haven’t had that many shifts in resus but honestly I feel so anxious and stressed working there. I’m independently working there now so no supervising CNE other than the other resus nurses, but I feel so out of my depth and feeling imposter syndrome so much.

I’m sort of just expected to learn on the go. Of course there are people who I can ask, but it’s not as simple when all your resus bays are full and the other nurses are also extremely busy managing the other critical patients. It’s very overwhelming and also overstimulating with how loud it can be and how much is happening at one time.

I’m terrified of making a mistake. It was different in acute or on the wards because these patients were mostly stable. But I’m looking after patients presenting with cardiac arrests, intubated patients, code crimsons and massive transfusion protocols, various types of cardiac or respiratory failures requiring vasopressor support, massive traumas, strokes needing thrombolysis. The learning curve is steep and I lack the experience to always know exactly what I need to prepare and prioritise with each patient. My biggest fear is that my inexperience leads to delay and potentially cause harm or deterioration to a patient and the fact is, it’s a very possible risk.

Mainly asking for advice from any fellow resus nurses please :)

I am a new graduate RN (5 months) who is seriously considering a Rural and Remote nursing position. When I look at the job advertisements, they almost always require a C class driver’s license. I understand that this would be necessary for very remote clinics, but I don't think that all hospital-based facilities require nurses to drive.

Do I need to obtain a manual driver’s license before applying for these positions?

Hi there. I just recently have finished and passed all assessments and such, and all I have left are placements. My Acute placement is coming up, and I have heard it is the hardest… how do you guys manage that all mental wise and physically wise? Acute consists of so many things… It will only be my third week of placement ever when I start. I am just scared. Please help

For anyone who work in mental health, specifically drug and alcohol inpatient, can you tell me about your experiences?
What are your shifts usually like, what skills and tasks come up the most?
Do you enjoy it? If so, why do you enjoy it more than regular ward nursing?

thanks y'all 💞

I am quite unsure who to choose as a final reference. I already have my clinical fac.

I have 2 choices

AIN NUM:

I don't really know my NUM that well or have really spoken to them since they manage both AIN and RN casual nurses. I did email them where they responded saying they were happy to be a reference. I am not quite sure how that would go tbh.

Old manager (left in march):

Worked there for 2 years, mostly 5 days a week. Knows me better however is non clinical.

Which would be better for a new grad application.

Hey everyone,

I work at a large healthcare facility with a lot of employees, and I’m finding the workplace dynamic really exhausting to navigate.

Due to recent staffing shortages, there are many new international workers on the floor.

Communication issues have caused some tension, and the team feels pretty divided and burnt out.

The issue I’m facing is that based purely on my appearance, people automatically assume I don't speak English or know what I'm doing before I even open my mouth.

Staff I’ve never even met give me cold looks or bypass me completely. In reality, I speak fluent English with an American accent, but I’m constantly being lumped into stereotypes and treated like an outsider based on my skin colour. Craziest thing is, a lot of the staff also assume I do not care, just doing the job for the money or something even before they’ve worked with me.

Coming from past workplaces where I was valued and respected, feeling invisible and pre-judged based on how I look has been a massive shock.

I just want to do my job well, protect my peace, and keep things professional.

For anyone who has worked in a cold, fractured healthcare environment:

- How do you navigate the day-to-day without letting people's assumptions drain your mental health?
- What’s the best way to handle this without coming across as defensive?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hey fellow nurses!

Just looking for advice, I'm almost complete my diploma of nursing (EN) just waiting for my transcript to be completed so i can apply for registration but i'm wondering if it's worth working as an EN?

i'm planning on doing my bachelors next year (feb), and i really want to focus on that when i begin to make sure i get the most out of it and am on top of my studies. Is it worth applying for EN roles??

Does anyone currently study RN and work as an EN? I know the experience would be super good to have but is that too stressful?? Is it stupid to work as an EN for a bit then stop to focus fully on school??

also how easy/ hard was it for you to land a job as an EN new grad (no grad yr program)

Any advice or personal stories / opinions would be appreciated! thanks!!

Hi Everyone! I am a New grad nurse working at a GP clinic. I did not get a grad year (VIC) and i made dumb decisions(i wish i had applied for rural nursing). I got a job at a GP clinic and it is a skin cancer clinic but the job requires us to do admin work aswell. For clincial side, it is just procedures and stitch removals and wound dressing which gets boring. I want to do venepunctures and immunisations aswell. I want to do more clinical work.

During my ward placements, i knew that bedside nursing is not for me. Personality wise, I am very introverted and it takes me a while to get used to a workplace and to actually speak up. I am happy I am not doing ward nursing because i think I would not be good at advocating for my patients and it would have been too stressful for me. But i still miss it. I miss doing all the clinical work and taking care of patients.

gp nursing is okay and the pay sucks. I have been looking for new jobs and it is hard to find anything. I got a response back from an aged care but the reviews did not look good and the pay was just $3 more than my current pay.

I am not sure what to do. I am 21 at the moment and i know i have so much time left and I could even switch career paths. I have been looking at courses that could get me more of a corporate job (accounting mostly) but I do really like being a nurse. It has not been easy to find a job in a hospital and I think i gaslight myself into thinking that i don't even like nursing because it is hard to find a job. But i loved my nursing placements. I miss it all. I guess that i don't like my current one because it is barely anything clinical.

i am signing up for the SA health immunisation course and will be doing that but i just wanted to vent. Thankyou for reading! Remember even if you are having a hard time at work rn, time heals everything. I hope all the new grad nurses and all the nurses who are stressed feel better. Please treat yourself to something sweet or go shopping. Nurses deserve that!

Hello, i’m working for WA Health as an ED nurse - I was wondering if there was a way of getting my cannulation skill for free? We don’t cannulate in our department, only the doctors do. I’m not necessarily wanting to cannulate in my ED job but am wanting to learn the skill itself.

what do you do for work now? looking for inspiration as i am getting super burnt out from bedside nursing.

shift work is destroying my body and i’m really struggling to keep going down this path.

i have about a year and a half of experience in emergency, and am getting resus trained at the moment.

Hi!

I am commencing work as an EN at a public RACF in a couple weeks and am feeling very anxious as I am a new grad, and this will be my first job in healthcare.

I did my aged care placement at a private facility and it was incredibly mentally and physically exhausting- though, I was pretty much only doing PCA tasks as we weren't allowed to do meds.

For those who used to/currently work at a RACF as an EN, what does your shift normally consist of/look like?

If you could give advice to someome new starting out, what would it be? Are there certain things I should read up on before starting?

Any help would be much appreciated, tysm 😊

Edit: additionally, is there much of a difference between RACFs in rural vic vs metro?

Hey guys,

What does a typical shift look like for a new graduate nurse working in a busy Acute Medical Unit, including during the supernumerary period?

What is generally expected of a new graduate, and what qualities or behaviours do SNUMs and supervisors look for? During my placement in AMU, I saw a new graduate receive strong criticism for their time management and lack of critical thinking, which made me wonder how new graduates can manage these expectations effectively.

How do you structure and prioritise your day, demonstrate critical thinking, and build a positive relationship with your supervisor?

Any guidance is appreciated!

Thanks :)

I was interested in radiography before doing nursing, and I’ve come across this, so I’m wondering what is the day to day like? Work life balance? Is there alot of demand for radiology nurses? How hard is it to get into?
Has anyone done it for their grad year?
Thank you!!

Does anyone else experience this? Or is this just at my hospital. We have so many students who do not engage, and it feels like talking to a wall. For the younger year students who can’t yet do any skills I talk through everything I’m doing. What assessments I’m doing, why I’m withholding a medication, what I’m looking for in the lab results, and all I get is blank stares. I ask if they have any questions? No. Is there any assessments you want to work on? No. Any skills you need to be checked off on? No. Do you want to read through the patients note to get more familiar with charting? No. Half the time the students don’t even talk to the patient and say “hello I’m the nursing student can I take your obs please”, they just start putting the BP cuff on. I’ll be sitting writing notes and they just hover over me without them even saying “hi hello I’m back from my break! Is there anything we need to do now?!” By the time it reaches 11am i get so tired of having a one sided conversation.

My hospital does have a lot of international students so I’m wondering if this a cultural or a language barrier issue. I’ve had so many great students who have been amazing to work with, unfortunately this doesn’t happen very often.

I’m genuinely looking for some advice because I had the most painful day today. I understand being a student is hard, we’ve all been there, but how do we teach social skills?

Hello everyone! I am starting a diploma of nursing in Canberra and plan on moving back up to my home town in Brisbane to do my Bachelor's at UQ.

I keep seeing many mixed reviews about nursing. I know it's super hard, but this is something I genuinely really want to do as a career. I am feeling pretty nervous about it, to be honest. I'm not the smartest person. I don't have an ATAR, which is why I'm starting with the diploma, and I can be a bit clumsy, but I am looking to grow and improve myself. I do struggle a bit with depression and anxiety, but I am trying not to let that stop me from having stability and security.

Is there any advice you could give to someone just starting out? Or something you wish you had told yourself before you started Nursing?