Casualties: Nurses struggling with burnout

[Xbox Live Addict]

I'd like to start a new thread aimed at those of us who are struggling with "compassion fatigue", also known as burnout.

This is for nurses who are struggling at every level of burnout....

....those feel trapped in your current specialty but still wish to try other things in nursing...

...those work in a nightmarish facility where they feel you cannot possibly give the best care they know, due to toxic co-workers or management....

...or those whose nursing-related stress is so great that it is making them physically ill, and they want to leave nursing altogether.

This is a thread for burnouts to vent, or to offer one another words of encouragement. Those who have developed effective coping skills for burnout are welcome too. I'd also like to hear from those who have successfully transitioned - either to an area of nursing where they have finally found "home" after years of hell, or to those who have left nursing and have moved on with their lives.

If you are a student or a brand-new nurse, this thread may not be for you - you are likely to hear about the worst of the worst horror stories, and my intent is not to discourage anyone from pursuing nursing if that is what they truly want.

I would also ask that members not be judgmental about burnouts - please do not make comments about how nurses who burn out are lacking in compassion, were incompetent, or were Martyr Marys or doormats, which are some responses I've seen to complaints of burnout. Also, please do not make such unkind remarks as "do us a favor and leave the profession," or similar sentiments. Many nurses struggling with burnout are already feeling an overwhelming sense of failure and guilt.

And, as always, no medical or legal advice, per Terms of Service, and be sure to observe ethical and legal privacy considerations.

[Scrubby]

Yep I'm definitely feeling burned out right now. There is no longer any proper teaching or support given to people at my workplace right now because of lack of staff members. When I first started we had more staff, there was always time to teach people how to scrub/scout.

I'm struggling to teach others while trying to learn leadership all alone with little support from anyone. I know I'm snappy at those I'm trying to teach, I'm running out of patience and feel constantly rushed by everyone.

I'm seriously considering other career options. I want to work in an industry where it's not ok to be treated like rubbish. dI want to feel valued and enthusiastic about what I do each day. I don't want to go to work and fear being assaulted in an emergency situation by doctors who cannot remain calm and rational.

Anyway that's my

[HonestRN]

I was struggling with bad burnout due to short staffing, getting called at 5 am every day I wasn't scheduled, lack of adequate equipment, bad computers and poor, redundant charting software, looking for meds in the inbox, nurse server, tube system, pyxis and patient home meds, no sitters for agitated patients, etc. I hated going to work so I went PRN/Registry and now I can deal with it all better. I don't work nearly as much and get paid more for when I do work.

[JB2007, ASN, RN]

I guess I am suffering from burnout. I am sick and tired of working short every day, never having enough time to complete my work the correct way, having to work over nearly everyday to complete my work, ect... I could go on for a long time about why I am burnout, but I will not bore you. One of the things that I have found that helps is to journal. I will write about my crappy day and how it made me feel. Other times I will list the things I like about my job or the things that I do very well. Sometimes this will help and other times it does not. Personally I am looking for another job, but I am not sure that will help either. Maybe I just need to get out of nursing.

[Xbox Live Addict]

I worked LTC for years and did the best I could struggling with short-staffing, lack of supplies, hostile, me-first families, hair-trigger physicians, smiling backstabbers, and unsupportive management. One experience was so horrible, I quit and applied for non-nursing jobs all over the place...banks, offices, convenience stores, and retail, even at a video game store (big surprise, eh?) The video game store flat out told me I wasn't qualified.

I then tried to compromise and put in for ambulatory care, day surgery, and doctors' offices, and still had no luck... and grudgingly went to work at another NH and was soon enough back to having migraines and high blood pressure. Don't know how I ever survived without it. :rotfl:

I worked there for a couple of years and then tried psych, which was one of the very few clinicals I really enjoyed. Maybe if I'd started there, I'd have liked it better, maybe not. I lasted two months and left for my current position, where all the familiar signs of burnout - irritation and frustration over the smallest matters, and somatic stress symptoms have recently begun rearing their ugly little heads again. Since I have health insurance for the first time since I finished school and couldn't stay on my father's Tricare as a dependent, I'm hoping to survive until I get my B.A. in a non-health-care related field, as a pre-law option. I will try for management, and if I get it, I'll be free of health care forever.

[Xbox Live Addict]

I was struggling with bad burnout due to short staffing, getting called at 5 am every day I wasn't scheduled, lack of adequate equipment, bad computers and poor, redundant charting software, looking for meds in the inbox, nurse server, tube system, pyxis and patient home meds, no sitters for agitated patients, etc. I hated going to work so I went PRN/Registry and now I can deal with it all better. I don't work nearly as much and get paid more for when I do work.

That's the thing: it seems like the less stress there is involved with a nursing job, the more it pays. Nobody that gets jobs like that ever wants to go back to bedside care, and I don't blame them, I envy them. Why shouldn't the nurses in the trenches receive hazard pay, like other occupations? Isn't floor nursing one of the most hazardous jobs there is?

[Xbox Live Addict]

I'm seriously considering other career options. I want to work in an industry where it's not ok to be treated like rubbish. dI want to feel valued and enthusiastic about what I do each day. I don't want to go to work and fear being assaulted in an emergency situation by doctors who cannot remain calm and rational.

Anyway that's my

I read your thread where you had witnessed another nurse being assaulted by a physician, only to have the hospital's medical directors flat out tell you that assaultive behavior was perfectly justified since it was an emergency.

That attitude is all too common in hospitals. The hospital isn't going to slaughter their cash cow, now are they? The attitude of "you deserved it because you were being a bad nurse" is also frighteningly similar to one of the traditional attitudes toward "home correction," an old euphemism for spousal battery.

If you worked at a McDonald's and your manager twisted your arm because you weren't getting those fries out fast enough for the lunch rush, you bet the customers would be calling the police and the media. McDonald's would have P.R. people all over the place trying to smooth the incident over, and that manager would be black-balled, not only from Mickey D's, but from every other fast-food outlet. But in a hospital, physician-on-nurse abuse, verbal or physical, is benignly condoned.

You should read "Murder in Little Egypt", a book about a well-loved physician in rural southern Illinois who murdered two of his sons for insurance, to see an example of this attitude taken to extremes. The only reason the man was ever convicted, according to almost every law enforcement official and legal expert, was because he made the mistake of killing his third-oldest son in Missouri instead of Illinois, because no jury in "Little Egypt" would have convicted, even with overwhelming physical evidence and the testimony of his second-oldest son... if any judge in southern Illinois would even agree to hear the case. He had been acquitted in Illinois for the murder of his first son years earlier. This physician had several documented incidents of physically and emotionally abusing hospital staff, but no charges were ever brought

[DeepFriedRN]

I think it varies day to day..for me anyway. There are days when I feel like everything takes twice as long as it needs to because the patient is uncooperative, or a family member is standing over me telling what I'm doing wrong (then why don't YOU do it:banghead:), or I don't have the supplies the I need or the Doc won't call back. There are days when I could weep because management has decided that a survey that asks if I have asked "Is there anything ELSE I can do for you while I'm here?" everytime I leave a room is a valid measure of the kind of nurse that I am, and that somehow customer service is the most important part of this job that I consider a calling. I became a nurse to care for people, and all I'd like in return is a little respect for my effort, and maybe an occasional thank you. As I've written before, lately all I feel like I get is undervalued for my contributions, both by the people I work for and the people I care for. That said, I also know that there are days that I have touched someone's life positively, and they know and appreciate it. I guess the trick is trying to hang on to those moments when you are having the other kind. And THAT can be really, really hard.

[HonestRN]

That's the thing: it seems like the less stress there is involved with a nursing job, the more it pays. Nobody that gets jobs like that ever wants to go back to bedside care, and I don't blame them, I envy them. Why shouldn't the nurses in the trenches receive hazard pay, like other occupations? Isn't floor nursing one of the most hazardous jobs there is?

I do actually do bedside care just not as frequently. I also get paid more because I don't get any benefits and my shifts are not guaranteed. I am usually the first one called off when census is low. Last month all my scheduled shifts were called off due to low census and the only shifts I got I picked up from co-workers who wanted days off. Overall though, it is easier for me this way, I would rather enjoy my time at work than have a lot of hours, stress and money.

Yes, I do think nurses in the trenches should receive hazard pay like other occupations and I really admire all you nurses who put up with the daily grind of nursing for 40 hours a week month in and month out.

[Xbox Live Addict]

I do actually do bedside care just not as frequently. I also get paid more because I don't get any benefits and my shifts are not guaranteed. I am usually the first one called off when census is low. Last month all my scheduled shifts were called off due to low census and the only shifts I got I picked up from co-workers who wanted days off. Overall though, it is easier for me this way, I would rather enjoy my time at work than have a lot of hours, stress and money.

Yes, I do think nurses in the trenches should receive hazard pay like other occupations and I really admire all you nurses who put up with the daily grind of nursing for 40 hours a week month in and month out.

I hear ya, Honest. I'm looking forward to going back to school because it will give me a legitimate excuse to just work part-time. Nursing stress wasn't quite so bad when I wasn't constantly being ground underneath it....

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

I know a nurse who refuses to use the term "burn out". She says that management uses that as an excuse to continue unworkable situations that causes frustration amongst nurses. Kinda like blaming the victim for the problem.

"You're just burned out". It's perfect - administration can appear sympathetic while not changing anything that causes bad situations in the first place. After all it isn't management's problem ... it's your fault.

"You're just burned out".

cheers,

[Acey]

Two years as a nurse and I just feel like giving up. I don't know if it's just my unit but I'm tired of looking for equipment, moving furniture, emptying trash. I'm tired of being expected to appease wacko parents (I'm in PEDS). I'm tired of being disturbed during report when a parent wants their sheets changed or wants apple juice. I'm tired of having to deal with people who don't speak English... Maybe Nursing isn't for me....