Nursing BURN OUT!!

Nurses General Nursing

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Do nurses "burn out" as quickly as most people say or is it just a rumor meant to scare everyone off!

How do YOU personally avoid getting burnt out??

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

It's true. For me...I just simply take a vacation or time off.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

Weeeeellllll...I actually *did* burn out about 19 months ago. Went down in flames, right there on the job. Ended up on a psych unit on suicide watch. Eight weeks of intensive therapy. How's that for some burn out?

What I came to understand in my recovery is that I had stopped taking care of myself about 20 years ago. I was taking care of everything at home and never had even 1 day to myself. I was all care-giving all the time. And then my body and my mind just shut down. It has taken me over a year to recover, but now I have some coping skills. I understand the importance of support systems, therapy, medications, exercise, diet, and sleep and how all those things work together to keep me mentally healthy. I have learned that I have to limit my hours in order to stay healthy. So I have a new job now, working part-time as a school nurse and it's a match made in heaven! I feel so much better, alive and enthusiastic, better than I have felt in the last 15 years. I no longer contemplate suicide on a daily basis--that's gotta count for somthing!

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/LTC/geriatrics.

Nurses have a huge rate of burn out. Know when not to take extra shifts. Take care of yourself, eat well, exercise, and take regular vacations. Know when you are starting to get burned out, and take some time for yourself. I have quite a few vacations scheduled for myself this summer to help with nurse burnout.

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Specializes in ER, Critical Care, Paramedicine.

I am burned out right now. I recover by taking vacation when I can, which is NOT often enough

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Be realistic.

Don't expect to save people from themselves.

Do your best, but forgive yourself for being human. You can't be the savior of the world.

Take care of yourself FIRST.

and last, be realistic.

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Would any of those who say they are burnt out not be a nurse if they could go back in time...or would u advise someone else to really reconsider?

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Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.
Would any of those who say they are burnt out not be a nurse if they could go back in time...or would u advise someone else to really reconsider?

If I had to do it all over again, I would not choose nursing as a career. Here's why.... Gone are the days when:

1. Patients and FAMILIES were grateful for every little thing you did for them.

2. The "powers that be" genuinely cared about their staff, and defended them to the max.

3. Liability...enough said..........

As for encouraging nursing as a career, it is a "NO" vote from me.............:down:

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Specializes in Everything.

Small VACATION!!! That usually helps me. My family and I get away as much as we can, even if it is going camping for one night.

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
Would any of those who say they are burnt out not be a nurse if they could go back in time...or would u advise someone else to really reconsider?

If I could go back in time and speak with my younger self, I would still have made the decision to become a nurse. However, I would have done several things differently:

1) I would not have gone into an AD program right after high school. It was a good experience in many ways in that I grew up very quickly but I think I would have had better coping skills had I gotten the chance to have a "real" college experience for a couple of years. Sometimes I regret my choice when I hear my husband or sons talk about the opportunities they had in college to attend sporting events, social events, take arts and humanities courses. None of my peers in the AD program had the time to socialize or get involved with school activities; for some people maybe that wasn't necessary but I think I would have benefitted from having more of a "real" college experience. I was an RN at twenty and in retrospect, that was a LOT of responsibility at that age. Maybe it was too much responsibility because when I burned out, I burned out badly.

2) I would have developed better coping skills to deal with the stress of nursing. I would have started journaling, taken up a hobby, something that would have helped me to take my mind off work. Once I graduated, I did have a fairly decent social life, but I ended up in some fairly dysfunctional relationships---probably because I was into the "caregiver" mindset---and I had trouble coping with my love life as well as my work life at times.

3) I would tell my younger self to grow a spine. I was not terribly assertive in my twenties---or my thirties---and I sometimes found myself saying "yes" when I wanted to say "no". Or, honestly, "hell, no!" I was so quiet and so meek when I was younger and I let people push me around. Part of the reason for my burnout was that I didn't speak up for myself and I bottled up my resentment. I definitely missed out on opportunities because I was so quiet. I had the knowledge, I had the skills, but I didn't have the confidence.

I have spent time away from nursing and pursued another career passion for several years. I don't regret that at all because I achieved my dreams in that field but eventually grew tired of it and felt a tug to return to nursing. Now I have a new dream and new goals. I have considered other fields but realized that the areas in which I was interested all were helping professions: I did consider switching to occupational therapy and I seriously thought about entering the ministry to become a health care chaplain, but those fields just seemed "second best" compared to nursing and for me, nothing is as good as nursing education. I thought about going into education back when I was a nineteen-year-old student but after I was out of nursing for a while, I put that dream out of my head. Now it's time to make that dream reality.

I try not to waste a lot of time on "coulda, shoulda, woulda". Yeah, if I had to do it all over again, I would have pursued an advanced degree at a much younger age (and I would have avoided meeting my toxic ex-husband!) But what's the sense in living with regrets?

Burnout happens in many professions, from teaching to the ministry to law enforcement to retail. I think things are particularly tough in nursing right now, in part because many nurses are socialized, either in their educational programs or on the job, to put up and shut up and not make waves. Nurses DO get treated better by administration when there's a shortage and, while things are pretty bad now in terms of employment, there will be another shortage. And then administrators will furrow their brows and wring their hands and treat nurses better for a while---until the cycle starts over again and there's another oversupply and they treat us like dirt again. The thing is---how does nursing become proactive rather than reactive and how do we claim our personal and professional power so we don't get dumped on when things get tough?

We're just going to keep on in this endless loop of administration alternately kicking and kissing our butts until we start to come into our personal and professional power. And that is probably the biggest lesson I would take back to my younger self if I could.

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Try and leave work stuff at work. And for me, PRN is the way to go. Picking and choosing my days to work holds a lot of currency for me.

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Burnout happens in many professions, from teaching to the ministry to law enforcement to retail. I think things are particularly tough in nursing right now, in part because many nurses are socialized, either in their educational programs or on the job, to put up and shut up and not make waves. Nurses DO get treated better by administration when there's a shortage and, while things are pretty bad now in terms of employment, there will be another shortage. And then administrators will furrow their brows and wring their hands and treat nurses better for a while---until the cycle starts over again and there's another oversupply and they treat us like dirt again. The thing is---how does nursing become proactive rather than reactive and how do we claim our personal and professional power so we don't get dumped on when things get tough?

I have to admit..I started this thread because I am a little nervous about the prospect of burning out. I dont know if it is this website, or not, but a lot of people on this thing --more than 50%-- seem to think nursing ultimately makes every burn out and in the end it is not worth it as a profession. It scares me as a student to think that, and makes you undoubtably reconsider your decision. Obviously no one can tell you if you will burn out or not ahead of time..but it scares me to wait and wait to see if it is for me, only to burn out, break down, and end up in a psych unit like someone said..

I am just looking for a little assurance that the career has its rewards & is worth it to some..It would be good to hear that some LOVE their job..Im starting to get the vibe that most nurses hate it..

I KNOW, and have KNOWN, that nursing is absolutely no glory field..but with that being said it would be nice to know that people still enjoy their career.

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