What is more exhausting - floor nursing or SAHM?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in L&D.

I worked full time (3 12s) in L&D on a busy, understaffed floor. It was exhausting and I was definitely feeling burnt out towards the end.

I left 16 months ago to stay home with my son.

I love it but it's definitely exhausting in its own way. He doesn't sleep through the night, is very active and into everything and the tantrums are definitely trying on my patience. There are days I think working would be easier!

But I'd still say my worst days on the floor were much more exhausting than my worst days at home.

Now I'm considering going back to work per diem, so am curious - to those who've done both, which did you find more exhausting?

Do your days at work feel like a nice break from being home?

Or does being home feel like a nice break from work?

Or do you feel like you never get a break? Lol. (That's my fear!)

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

They are both exhausting and there really is no comparison for me between working and taking care of my kid full-time.

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Definitively both ! It is just in different ways .

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Can't compare. They're different.

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I did both. SAHM for 10 years including a child with complex medical needs. Now I am a floor nurse but of course still a mom full time when I am not at work.

The good thing about a hard shift is that it eventually ends. You get to leave the stressful environment and hand off the work to someone else. Most days you probably feel satisfied that you did your best and helped people. Maybe it wasn't a perfect day and maybe you didn't get to do everything you wanted, but you helped people, and you also earned money for your family.

Being a SAHM was hard. I loved it so much, but there was no break. Day or night. Sure there was date night, or dropping the kids off to the gym childcare to work out. Preschool-- took a LOT of time and planning to get two young kids to preschool on time, then ran errands while they were gone, then turn around and get them and they are tired and hungry and the work goes on.

We made do on one income but again it was hard. There was a lot of pressure to save money, do without some things in favor of other things. How would we afford lessons, replacing the broken stove, the auto insurance, the unexpected orthodontic surgery?

I found a happy medium. I work part time. When I am at work I see my co-workers, use my brain in a different way than at home, and get paid. Takes the stress off our family. When I am at home I have time to drive the kids to things, cook dinner most nights, and all that stuff.

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There is a difference in kinds of tired.

A busy day at work leaves you tired. A day with small kids leaves you weary.

Going to work per diem brought in enough money to keep ourselves financially afloat, kept me in interesting, important work, and gave me interaction with adults. Work was something outside of the home that was mine. To see people with real problems gave me the perspective that my own problems were small.

I still combine per diem work with home.

Yes, you will get a break eventually. If you have a baby or toddler, it won't be for as long as you might want, but they eventually do sleep at night, go to school and go play by themselves.

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They are just different. I think working part-time or per diem would be perfect.

I was a SAHM for about seven years until I went to nursing school. Now I work full-time, 3-11 or 3p-3a, and the kids are still ages 4-10.

It's a little grueling, but I wouldn't want to go back to being a SAHM, that's more grueling, IMO. I would like to be part-time, but that's not financially possible for us right now.

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The beauty of nursing is that you can work part time. I worked 2-3 eight hour shifts a week all while my kids were young. I could be at the community pool on Tuesday afternoon, enjoying the time with my kids and on Wednesday working swing shift at the hospital. It gave my husband lots of one on one time with the kids, which I think is a great thing for kids and dads. The hardest thing for me was getting home at midnight and having my early bird kids up at 6:30. However if it was a weekend day my husband got up so I really only had to do that 1-2 mornings a week. Yes staying home with your kids is hard work, there aren't set work hours, you are on 24-7. Though if I'd have to say 8 out of 10 times my shift at the hospital was more trying than my shifts at home. When my kids misbehave I could put them in a time out, can't do that with family members, doctors, co-workers or patients, lol ;)

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Well, if I screwed up and gave my son his bologna sandwich with mayo (instead of dry, as he preferred), he wasn't likely to fill out a Patient Satisfaction Survey declaring me to be incompetent, or threatening to sue because he felt that the sandwich was an indication of overall poor treatment.

Different kinds of hard, but answering "because I TOLD YOU TO DO IT, THAT's WHY!" isn't going to cut it with a hospital patient ;)

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