I'm burned out...what to do...

Nurses Stress 101

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Specializes in PCU med/surg/podiatry/Nursing home.

I became a nurse out of family pressure. I thought it would make my husband happy. It has, but I'm miserable. Not just miserable, but I thought about leaving him for this reason.

In nursing school, though, I realized I had a skill that not many have. I can build rapport quickly. I love giving comfort. But, I've tried med-surg, nursing home, then I went to an office thinking the hours would be better. I ended up staying way passed office time just to catch up. I became even more disillusioned. I have never made my patients suffer from my unhappiness. On the contrary, if I can make someone feel better-I feel like I've made a difference. I am very good at finding resources for patients. I am famous for mending rapport between Doctors/midlevels and their patients. I am good at building trust with my patients and quickly put them at ease. I often end up with the difficult ones, because I usually can calm them down. And no....I don't threaten their lives and drug them like elephants.

I feel I can no longer be effective and I'm so frustrated. Playing CNA and nurse is too much. I can't bath and clean everyone, do my meds, assessments, deal with acute issues, etc. I'm so exhausted I can barely keep my head up. My husband and children feel like a world away anymore.

On my days off I can barely roll out of bed d/t the panic mode I'm always in. I have developed health issues. I keep having palpitations, dizziness, severe fatigue, SOB, can't eat or sleep. I've been in the ED 2x already. Once while I was at work. Can't focus to save my life. I'm only 34 years old. I have always been healthy and fit, but feel like I'm really suffering. I'm thinking about leaving the profession. It just keeps getting worse. What do I do?

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You sound like you'd be a good fit for psych or hospice.

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Do home health nursing private duty pediatrics, Like Maxim. You can do 8 hour shifts, and try different patients until you find a low stress one. They will often let you do meet and greets or just change patients if its too stresful. If you can find a kid thats not too sick, its kind of like you're just playing with the kid. There's a lot of trached and g-tube kids that go to school, etc and need a nurse to go with them. It doesn't pay a ton but your sanity and health can be attended to while maintaining a job.

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Specializes in PCU med/surg/podiatry/Nursing home.

You all may think I'm nuts, but I want to study Botany. I would love to teach as a park naturalist. I don't need a lot of money. I need a job that feels meaningful to me and allows for great creativity that nursing just does not allow for. I have enrolled in my community college and plan to start this fall for any pre-refs.

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Corrections and jails pay very well and the work load is very laid back. Have you ever thought about that kind of nursing. The OR is not as stressful as other parts of the hospital.

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doing some yoga would help :)

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

With passion comes excellence so I say go for your dreams! In the meantime find a job to pay the bills that allows you to regenerate on your days OFF and make sure that you have enough days OFF. In other words try not to work full time. It still amazes me how much more energy I have when I am off for a few days and can rest and take care of my needs. I personally have not found a low stress job in nursing.....they all take their toll unless you you take control of your schedule and do not overwork yourself. You sound lke a giver and givers burn out fast unless they integrate routine self care into their schedule and realize it is not being selfish to do so.

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Specializes in PCU med/surg/podiatry/Nursing home.

So right. I was once told how can we take care of others if we can't take care of ourselves. I plan on dropping to part time soon. I think this will help. I like the floor I'm on but it can really wear on me. I find it really chaotic most days.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

I'm not going to give you advice.

I know a woman and when she was not much older than you she experienced a couple of difficult life events while working in a stressful nursing job. She was rocked. She had symptoms similar to yours. She was so unhappy. She cried sometimes when she was alone. She went to her doctor and got a diagnosis and a short term leave of absence (she was paying for a short term disability benefit and she took advantage). During that time she met intensively with a counselor. After a spell she started a regular biking routine with her husband, my friend. She dusted off her resume and updated it as she started to feel better about herself.

It sounds like her situation was a bit more acute than yours, but burn out can be either/both. She was able to get herself into a position, mentally and emotionally, to be able to collaborate with her husband to make good choices for them AND for herself.

I don't know how much time she took off, but it was short term and it seemed to really help her.

There was a hospice nurse a while back in my career who got real burnt out and also took some time off. She didn't change jobs but her employer was pretty accommodating as I recall.

I agree that your skill set would be a big advantage in hospice.

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Specializes in PCU med/surg/podiatry/Nursing home.

I have really enjoyed all of your ideas. For now I would like to drop down to part time. I will have to pay off a few bills first. I wish I could give care to all our nurses who need it. God knows our job is hard and thankless. We need attention and an ear to listen too. That's not selfish.

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Specializes in PCU med/surg/podiatry/Nursing home.

I was supposed to get PTO off this week. It showed that I had PTO and then the manager put me on for this week without asking me. I/m so angry. I really needed some time off. I will be working almost every other day the way she has scheduled me. I can't do this anymore. I am looking for alternative employment. My husband had already asked off this week to spend time with me. I'm DONE!

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Community health nursing is an option too :) If there are positions in your area I think it'd be great to look into. I'm not a community health nurse but I followed a public health nurse in my community. Herr program followed up with high-risk infants....we would build rapport with parents and do a little teaching. The PHN would set up her own appointments for home visits so it was flexible with her schedule and she worked Mon-Fri 8-4:00!

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