I have been a LPN for over 16 years. For 14 of those 16 years I have been a MDS Nurse and have just accepted a job in a LTC facility as a floor nurse with more pay and better benefits. I am so burned out and so tired of the other "stuff" that comes with the MDS Nurses' job. Nurses who have never touched a MDS think it is a fluff job and as all you MDS Coordinators know, this is very far from the truth. In addition, I am tired of looking at four walls five days a week, the office politics, the cliques etc...and am ready to get back out on the floor. I will be working the Rehab floor so will be busy and I like that.
I enjoy interacting with residents and staff and am at peace with knowing that I will no longer be responsible for everything the MDS position entails. I have given up the Mon-Fri., weekends and holidays off thing, but honestly I will be thrilled to have weekdays off to do things that are impossible to do working five days a week, then running around on Saturdays trying to cram everything in, being exhausted on Sunday and going back to do it all again on Monday.
With that said, I do enjoy the actual MDS process but all that comes along with it? Not so much anymore. Am I crazy for giving it up? Or just really, truly burned out? I may very well end up going back to doing MDS 3.0 in the future but for now, I need a break.
Just needed to vent and appreciate all of you "listening."