I burned out of hospital nursing after 14 years...At that time I looked into all the other nursing options out there...and, ya know, very little appealed to me or fit my life for various reasons. So, I've been doing private duty nursing since then (almost 4 years now). Essentially I am "underemployed", but it is easier nursing work and it fits my life at this time. It is nice to be able to give one-on-one care. I have gained a handful of new skills, but for the most part I am losing my skills, but, ya know, I don't really care.
Recently...I have been pursuing some non-nursing educational endeavors for purely "personal enrichment" purposes. But I have just realized that these endeavors will very likely open up some non-nursing job opportunities for me in the next 2 or 3 years, even though employment was not my initial goal. At some point, then, I can completely leave the nursing profession! AND...I can't tell you what a tremendous sense of relief I suddenly feel!! I can phase out of nursing all together in the next 2 or 3 years. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!! I feel set free!!!!! Sad, perhaps, but true. I'll be another nurse leaving the field...
Looking back, I don't even know how I hacked hospital nursing for 14 years. I think one of the only reasons I did hack it was I was only prn/part-time hours. I was just sent an article link by a relative from their local paper that stated that 1 in 5 new grads burn out of nursing in less than ONE year and leave nursing! One in five in less than a year! I was surprised, but not really. I started hospital nursing back around 1991 and left the hospital setting in 2005. I saw so many changes for the worse in those years...in regards to the nursing working environment. Primarily: the patients we had to care for became more and more acute, yet our nurse to patient ratio stayed the same. And I noticed patients and families becoming increasingly demanding (which I blame on the hospitals starting to promote themselves almost like hotels.) So...with the way things changed, I am not surprised that some new grads aren't even lasting a year.
here is a link for that article: http://www.buffalonews.com/nationalworld/national/story/581007.html
Thanks for listening...All power to those of you staying in nursing! I don't know how you do it. You are needed!