Are you bored at work?

RunBabyRN · May 31, 2014

I don't handle boredom well, either. Do what makes you happy! :)

amoLucia · May 31, 2014

What kind of facility gives you only two pts?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 31, 2014

Would you rather be bored or busy for the same amount of pay?

I'd rather be bored and underwhelmed than busy and overwhelmed at work. I like the feeling of walking into a predictable workplace routine.

And I know this sounds terrible, but the bored nurse is paid exactly the same as the overwhelmed nurse who is hopelessly falling behind and running around like a headless chicken.

NOADLS · Jun 1, 2014

I don't mind having spare time to play candycrush with.. not that I don't already do that.

RNperdiem, RN · Jun 1, 2014

My sister has an xray job that can be slow sometimes. When she does not have patients, we have long chats on the phone, her vacation planning gets done, and her Facebook page always has some cool links. A dull job can be good for long-term survival sometimes. Maybe an occasional PRN shift at a faster-paced facility might bring you some excitement and extra money.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2014

The only jobs I've had where I've had two pts are ICUs. Boredom is pretty rare. It does happen sometimes like if I have one pt who is on stepdown status but couldn't transfer because stepdown didn't have a bed, and one admit bed but no admit. Or at one hospital I worked at, every peds pt with a trach went to PICU. Well this one night the PICU was full, so I had a rock stable 15 yr old boy w/ a trach--seriously he was on barely any scheduled meds, he didn't need prns, heck he didn't even need suctioning. He just sat in his chair all day and played w/ his Xbox. I was going around begging my colleagues to let me help them w/ stuff b/c the time was dragging so slowly.

Now every once in a while I don't mind it, because I figure I work my tail off enough that I deserve some easy money to balance things out. :uhoh3: But if it were a regular thing, I wouldn't be working that job. I would go batty--and not the cool Crusty Old variety!

nurse3131, RN · Jun 1, 2014

I do not like boredom but neither the craziness LOL I wish we could find a job that is not too slow but not too insane! In between would be awesome! :yes:

bdbrdb · Jun 1, 2014

I work private duty nursing with a peds patient that has a feeding tube. He's up and about, we play with toys or read books. I work 10 hours with him and he naps for 3 of those hours. The mom is great, it's nice not being so busy running around wishing for more hours to get everything done. I use to work LTC for three years and had 40+ pts. I don't plan on going back to that. I get paid more and I am not as stressed as I was before :)

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jun 1, 2014

I've had my fair share of slow & predictable jobs, so I would much rather be busy.

PDN comes to mind when I think of slow. Most of the patients I had didn't need much done. Then I worked at a drug rehab for teens & unless the kids needed -medical- attention or it was med pass, it could be very slow.

Fiona59 · Jun 1, 2014

I've done both and prefer boredom. Less chance of a career ending injury to my back or knees.

SWM2009 · Jun 2, 2014

I'd prefer a happy medium, a reasonable workload that keeps me busy enough but not too busy. I have to admit though that boring sounds good right now from my side of the fence in LTC.