I HATE nursing! (long)

Nurses General Nursing

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I really really really need some nurses' advice. So I've realized something about myself lately...I hate nursing. I think I always knew this in college, but I guess I thought things would get better when I was actually NURSING and making money in return....well its been two years as a nurse and nothing has changed. I think the major problem is my anxiety, I'm just one big ball of anxiety the minute I hit those hospital doors....and its taken a major toll on my mental health. I hate patient care and the bedside...and it has nothing to do with the way my unit is run....its a perfect unit with lots of support....I just can't get away from the fact that I hate taking care of people and just the normal stress of the job!!! I am so desperate to get out of this field, but I feel so trapped, and I'm also saddened about the concept of throwing my 4 year nursing degree away. I've recently decided the best thing to do right now is get my master's degree in Informatics, that way I can take a non-bedside-nursing positon....but this still leaves me with having to work for two or more years as I attend a part-time program. The thought of this scares me! I can't imagine two more years like this! I am really at my wits end, it seems like every idea I have to get out has a problem that I can't get passed. I am willing to take a major pay cut (and barely scrape by paying for rent, etc) and work in a office or telephonic nursing setting, but that leaves me with either 1. working 8-5 M-F, therefore no time to take night classes for informatics or 2. not enough experience to get these telephonic nursing positions! The only thing that is keeping my at my current job is the flexibility that is available for me to attend grad school this fall, and the fact that they will pay a good portion of my schooling....other than that I'm miserable with everything about it! I feel so mentally drained, the anxiety has totally killed me. I show up so early to work, and I'm freaking out the whole time I'm there...I hate this and I'm about to go crazy!!! (if I'm not already there yet!) I'm about to give up my dreams of getting my master's degree and settle for some type of office job that doesn't pay nearly as much as I am making now, but at least I'll have my sanity. I guess I am asking for some suggestions...what type of jobs are out there, I swear I think I've looked everywhere but two years doesn't seem to be enough experience. I currently making about $55,000 a year....I'm willing to take a 10,000 pay cut for any job that does NOT involve patient care. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

Sorry to hear that you are soo sad. i too would strongly recommend a drug rep job, or maybe work as a homeless outreach nurse- that way you might feel less like a bird in a cage. How about being a case manager for chronic illnesses like COPD or some mental health. Maybe you could even think of doing infection control or OH&S? I don't think that you should need to sacrific your salary or take a substantial pay cut, but I'm in Australia and things may be different. ALL THE BEST!!

Rachel

Hi tirednurse. Ya, i understand your delimma. Well, i'm 29 years old, a male registered nurse but i'm not practicing nursing anymore. I joined my country's police force and i became the commanding officer of a special training unit. I used to have a specialty in ICU/CCU and i'm a licensed Intravenous Therapy Nurse but now I specialized in counter insurgency operations, urban counter revolutionary warfare, jungle warfare and small unit operations. I hold the rank of a major and currently here in Kosovo as member of our country's contingent to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo. I renew my nurse's license regularly though and keep tab on nursing matters by attending seminars if my schedule permits. What i'm trying to say is that we nurses are so versatile that if we put our minds to it, we could succeed in whatever we do. I've taken the road less travelled and it turned out just fine. Look for other options, explore new avenues. The important thing is you are happy and fullfilled in what you do...Good luck :)

We have a nursing shortage due to the numbers of qualified nurses that left the bedside. However, you could do

1. Nursing Instructor for LVN/LPN classes

2. Telemetry

3. Research

4. Dialysis Nurse (easy job)

5. Nurse Entrepreneur

6. Pharmaceuticals

7. School Nurse

8. Occupational Health Nurse

9. Work for an HMO/PPO

I know the feeling of doing something you don't like. It will improve once you find your niche. Good luck!! :)

EXCUSE ME... While I love dialysis it can and is not always an easy job.. Overseeing 24 patients and 6 PCT's is by no means easy.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Why is it some say a job like dialysis is "easy"? I can't imagine dialysis being "easy" esp when you are working with chronically ill patients....it must be emotionally draining and exhausting at times. I doubt it is EASY! They say the same about OB, you know, we sit around and rock babies all through our shift.....riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

There are NO 'easy" nursing jobs....but there are many away from the bedside and out of direct patient care. Are they "easy"? I doubt it.

Specializes in Government.

Smilingblueyes said:

There are NO 'easy" nursing jobs....but there are many away from the bedside and out of direct patient care. Are they "easy"? I doubt it.

Thanks for recognizing that! I'm a community health nurse hybrid. I no longer do patient care but plan, case manage and do education for my state's 6 million people. All by myself. I do 100 lectures a year and talk to thousands of families in crisis. I love the job, but you are right...it isn't easy!

Specializes in OB, Telephone Triage, Chart Review/Code.

Tirednurse, you have company. I reentered nursing 2 years ago after a 5 year break for personal and health reasons. Nursing has changed a lot since I graduated in 1989.

I currently work agency because I can't find a permanent full-time nursing position! I work along side of other staff nurses who complain about short staffing and are grateful for me coming in. I worked one hospital last week that was so busy and short staffed (and I don't mean nurses only) that I refuse to work there again! I WANT to be there for my patients, but hospitals make it very difficult for me to adequately take care of my patients. One hospital told me they couldn't hire me because they have to hire new grads. Another said they had to hire those from within (even though they didn't have the actual experience required for that floor). PLEASE don't tell me to learn another area...I have been doing OB since I graduated. And PLEASE DON'T tell me I made my bed and now I have to lie in it.

For instance, I was assigned to 5 couplets (one was a recent C/S c/o nausea). That made 10 assessments for me to do. I started with the C/S first. During the first 2 hours, I was able to take care of her needs as well as finish 6 assessments. That left 2 for me to do and the charge nurse caught me in the hall and was upset because I hadn't done my last 2 assessments and that patient was due to be discharged! I ended up with 4 discharges and 1 new admission. Meanwhile, we are responsible for picking up trays on all of our patients (so for a 12-hour shift, I have to pick up for all three meals!) This unit is not staffed with CNA's, PCA's, etc. I did not see any teamwork because all staff are busy with their own patients! Get this, NO ONE knew how to do the PCA pumps on this unit!

I recently called on a position offered in the newspaper for a RN-Medical Reviewer. I was told I needed to have actual experience.

It is nice to suggest alternative nursing positions, but many require actual experience or there are no current openings. Some require some sort of "travel" between offices, etc. Most require BSN, which, unfortunately I do not possess, and I am not sure I would want to obtain it because there is no guarantee that I would find a better job.

I really don't HATE nursing....I hate the way nurses are treated!!!!

I worked with a nurse who was truely terrible at bedside nursing. She obviously just didnt have the compassion and took it out on her patients. She left and worked in a few other hospitals for a couple of years. Then, she came back as a nursing supervisor! I thought she would be really bad at it........However, she is terrific! It is a great job for her. She is a great trouble shooter, she works hard at it and she manages the nurses really well.

Dont feel as if you have failed, failure is staying in a job you hate and making yourself and your patients unhappy. Success is realising it is not for you and moving on to something you will be great at!

They say the same about OB, you know, we sit around and rock babies all through our shift.....riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

The same gets said about NICU, all we do is feed and rock babies and hey - no heavy lifting. :rolleyes:

Well the babies may not be as heavy as your standard 200# ICU patient, but the equipment that has to be moved around the unit is not exactly light. Besides, if you choose a specialty based on what you think is going to be "easy" versus what makes you happy, you are bound to be disappointed. Nursing is not easy. Period.

Please arrange for some stress counselling and life workshops ASAP. There is more going on here than meets the eye. I cannot imagine how you have been able to manage to work for the last 2 years under the stress you describe. I will not give you a pep talk, I will not suggest other forms of nursing, I will ask you to please get some counselling. I will pray for you.

How about a Nursing Instructor at a college or even in a hospital setting?

They say there is a shortage of nurses and that there are plenty of people that want to go into nursing, but not enough Nursing Instructors.

Hey! I'm just preparing to take on nursing as a second career and I'm glad to see this side of it. My thought is that you would not be the first to get a degree and then do something totally different nor would you be the first to leave a profession because you hate it. People do that all the time but people also stay in professions that make them unhappy.

Looking at it as a situation that has you trapped will only make it worse but if you look at 2 more years as a bridge to where you want to be, then it's only a temporary sacrafice you're making. But if you knew in college that nursing wasn't right, do you now know that the contining education isn't right either?

Life's too short to waste time. If your workplace is great and supportive then you've got a good thing. You have no guarantee of that in any profession or workplace. Ask yourself where you want to be and chart a path toward it. Treat it as having taught you something and use that in the future.

I've been there and had a job that made me physically ill. It was a great job but my boss was an absolute ***. The best thing I did for myself was to leave it! I wouldn't be where I am today were it not for that experience and it taught me how to deal forcefully but professionally with a difficult boss. That was more than 10 years ago and I'm still in the same profession. We have to work together from time to time and he respects me. I still consider him a friend and mentor.

Good luck! MJ

have you possibly thought about assisted living? i think that my be more of a supervisory position.

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