I HATE nursing! (long)

allnurses Guide · Mar 23, 2005

Hey there Tirednurse... I read your message and just wanted to offer a big *HUG*. I feel for ya. However, as much as you may think that you hate being a nurse in general, I want to concur that there REALLY are other areas of nursing, even direct patient care nursing, that you may really like a whole lot more. I like the NICU idea that one person suggested earlier.... because you are doing such a great thing in saving those little babies, plus you aren't really dealing with a typical patient; their personality and all that.

Let me tell you my VERY RECENT experience and feelings. I've been a med surge nurse for almost two years; was a tech for four years before that. And just in the past couple of months, I have been VERY ready to get out of patient care and take a desk job. I mean, there have just been times when I was thoroughly convinced that I hated everything about direct patient care nursing.

Then, a position opened up in our Outpatient Surgery department. I am interviewing for it tomorrow, and I'm very excited!!!!!!! It's still direct patient care, which I THOUGHT I desperately wanted out of, but after really thinking about it....

I currently work 7pm-7am, with the occasional 11p-7a shift. I have been doing this for several years. I now have a toddler. It has become rather hard to get good sleep during the day. =) So, to say that I'm sick and tired of working nights would be an understatement. (Working day shift on the FLOOR really isn't an option for me though. Way WAY too much going on.)

My hours in outpt. surgery would be SO nice. 8:00 am-4:30pm with occasional mandatory on-call. No weekends or holidays. =)

The outpt. surgery department has very low turnover, and everyone seems to like each other. On the floor, you have lots of turnover, and lots of people constantly gossiping about each other, and this and that.

Your patients typically are not sick. They are typically there for fairly minor ailments and they "walk in and walk out". That's why it is also called Ambulatory Care nursing.

To top it all off... I don't have to take a pay cut for a better job. Well no, I take that back... I won't get shift diff's anymore, I don't suppose. But I will get more hours because on the floor I get my hours cut a lot because of having to take call due to low patient census.

So.... to make a long story short... I've realized that I don't hate nursing; there are just certain ASPECTS of my current job that..... I just HATE so much, that of course it makes me feel like I hate nursing/taking care of people in general. There REALLY IS so much more to nursing than working on a med surge floor! Med surge REALLY TRULY is a great place to start, to get good experience. And some nurses really do love it and choose to stick with it. But for me... my experience working as a (mainly) post surgical nurse has been great because I feel like that gives me an EXCELLENT chance of getting this job!!!!

Wish me luck, y'all!!! :)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2005

You could also be an infection control nurse. They come up with strategies on preventing nosocomial infections and then ensure their plans are fully implemented.

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!! :)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2005

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.

I apologize. I didn't intend to undermine any job. One of my instructors (a former dialysis nurse) said her job was simple. I was basing my statement on her words. :stone

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2005

Why do so many nurses seek employment away from the bedside? Why do many nurses throw their hands up and leave the profession altogether? :rolleyes:

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.

PC · Mar 23, 2005

Rather than stay doing something you don't like - GET OUT!

Find something you do like - don't worry about "throwing away all that education" - it won't do you any good if you truly hate what you are doing!

Meanwhile, some suggestions -

1) Start going to school NOW in a field you think you would enjoy working at for the rest of your life. Don't wait, in spite of having to work at a job you hate for a while longer until you get the skills/degree you need for a new one. For 2 years you could go to school, then get out of a career you hate - or NOT return to school and in 2 years still be doing a job you hate, and be 2 years older...

2) There are a LOT of jobs out there for RNs that do not involve "traditional" hospital type nursing.

Community Health

Industrial Health

Medical sales

Pharmaceutical sales

Coding

Nursing education

School education

good luck!

EDValerieRN, ASN, RN · Mar 23, 2005

tired nurse,

I have to say, from my own personal experience: please don't teach. I have had professors in nursing school that came from situations not unlike yours, and they didn't last. The pressure of nursing is at least doubled when you have six to ten unexperienced students working on your license. Possibly theory would be fine, as long as you promise not to run the students off with horror stories =).

Do you have a history of anxiety in other areas of your life? I'm wondering... if you don't like nursing, that's one thing. But if you are having anxiety in other areas as well, I'm afraid that you won't like the next position either, and the cycle will continue. Please seek treatment. My first semester of nursing school, I had two full-on panic attacks during clinicals. I nearly quit. Thanks to my nursing instructor's advice, I went to my MD and learned how to treat the anxiety with both pharm and non pharm measures. I did have anxiety in other areas as well.

I always smile when CPAs or HR people ask me why I'm so stressed, and why this job is so hard....

Be sure to find something you love. You only live once, and you shouldn't be miserable in the time you have on this earth. Don't worry about what you've wasted, or what you could have done. That isn't important now. What is important is to find where you belong, either in nursing or something totally different and new. Best wishes!

julieK · Mar 23, 2005

tired nurse,
I always smile when CPAs or HR people ask me why I'm so stressed, and why this job is so hard....

Boy, do I agree with you on this point!!! I think all nurses should have a "bring your family to work" day and set up little bleachers and let them watch you run around all day for 12 hours and then wonder why you're so cranky when you get home. MY MIL has the nerve to tell me that her job as a receptionist is "busy." It's all I can do to stay calm.

-Julie :Crash:

rach_nc_03 · Mar 23, 2005

I'd never thought of this until last night at work- one of the women I work with in the neuro ICU worked for a number of years as a nurse on a cruise ship. Don't know if that appeals to you, or how difficult the positions might be to find, but it would certainly be different than what you're doing now!

also, i want to concur with the others who say you shouldn't continue doing something you hate- i did it for years in my last career because the money was so good. but i left work every night feeling like crap, and dreaded going in every morning. i was becoming a mean, bitter person, and i really disliked myself for it. go with your gut- whether it's a different area of nursing, or a different career altogether. i 'threw away' my BA in music/journalism and went back to school for nursing. there's absolutely no shame in starting a new career!

good luck!!

dlmrn · Mar 23, 2005

I have been a nurse 14 yrs, in all settings, hospital, home care, utilization, insurance case mgmt. I currently do telemetry nursing. I feel bad that you are so miserable. There are a lot of anxiety producing elements for you: Hospital setting (Everybody's anxious and it's contagious), sick, sick patients, juggling technical skills, building a clinical foundation and finding the right care priorities for your patients are by no mean easy tasks. You sound like a really good, conscientious nurse and I would hate to see you walk away from it. We need you. I can really relate to the anxiety. I still felt very anxious in my second year and still do, at times. Until you come up with a plan may I suggest a few things that may make your current job easier. First and formost if your health is being affected, maybe you need a short medical leave to rest, recharge and regroup. If this is not an option, here are some suggestions: Buddy up with nurses you trust and ask them for help when you need it (It's been a very valuable lesson for me to learn how to ask for help from other nurses. I can be comfortable in the fact that I'm not expected to know every chapter of the nursing book and how every piece of equipment operates and all signs and syptoms of all pathologies. I'm only human and so are the people I work with. I am the first one to ask some really "stupid" questions whose answers increase my knowledge and reduce my anxiety. Try to clarify what specifically is causing the anxiety, make a list if you have to: New technical skills, contact with patients and families, contact with rude docs, or worse, disinterested ones, learning the systems structure of a hospital and who actually does what (took me a long time to learn who gets called when). When you are at work and you just can't take a certain pt. or family or lab draw or bm cleanup anymore, try and trade tasks with some other nurses you trust. (It really helps to have someone else do something that you are just totally sick of doing and that person usually feels the same way about some task they don't feel like doing). Find people at work to talk to privately about your feelings so they can help you relax, (by helping you feel supported in an extremely difficult occupation at a very stressful time in the health care industry (not enough staff, beds, money, linen or glucerna). You have the great option of working anywhere in health care, but, believe me, whether you're on the phone, or in the home or at the hospital, nursing can be stressful so I think the anxiety you are feeling is part of your professional development, as you are recognizing the complexities of human interaction and the general chaos of the health care system. I wish you the best of luck, hope anything I said helps.

Care&Joy · Mar 23, 2005

Hi! Have you ever thought about becoming a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC) :) ? I've been looking into it myself lately! The pay is awesome too. Check out a website... http://www.LegalNurse.com w/ the Vickie Melazzo institute. They'll send you a neat packate telling you about it! :) Just a suggestion :) .

allnurses Guide · Mar 23, 2005

A job like an infection control nurse usually requires either years and years of experience, or an MSN. However, my hospital does employ one young lady who is kinda like an assistant to the infection control nurse. She is only an LPN.

I wanted to comment on what EDValerie just said also... I too suffer from pretty nasty anxiety and in the past year I have gotten to the point of not being able to function, at all. Not in my home life, and certainly not in my job. I am much better now, partly because I began taking medication. :chuckle

I don't mean to scare you, but in my opinion I sense anxiety in your post that really is rather abnormal. I mean, you even acknowledge that the floor that you work on isn't even that bad and that you have lots of support. I think you even did acknowledge your severe anxiety. I would perhaps suggest talking to a doctor and possibly getting a referral to see a counselor. You may really have a problem that is going to have to be treated somehow. You may truly truly hate med surge, and that's OK. A lot of people do. :rolleyes:

But like a previous poster said.... you may be someone who is going to be anxious and miserable no matter WHERE you are working... unless you seek treatment.

Good luck!!!!!!!

payday · Mar 23, 2005

You may have an undiagnosed medical problem which is causing a lot of anxiety.

You may need a different area of nursing.

You may need another career. I know a nurse who worked six months, then went to school for an accounting degree. She's had a great career as a CPA and is very happy. I know a doctor with a law degree who never worked as a lawyer. She decided it wasn't for her but she still hangs the certificate in her office.

I wish you well in your search for contentment.