Finally decided to quit nursing

Nurses Professionalism

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Hi everyone. I have been a nurse for over 7 years and for the past year I have debated getting out of the profession for good. I had just finished the week long hospital orientation for a new job and was to start clinical orientation Sunday. Between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon I was having big doubts about the job, then I realized that it wasn't the job itself that I didn't like. I hate hate hate being a nurse. I called the unit manager on her cell phone Saturday afternoon and told her my decision and that I would not be coming back. I am scared to death because I have no income at this point but at the same time I have a sense of relief and peace about the whole situation.

the best thing that ever happened to me was when I took a voluntary lay off at a job that was eating away at my soul. I was unemployed for 6 months - over a MN winter- and within 2 days I had started sleeping through the night again and felt like a whole different person. Good for you for taking care of YOU (which those in the helping professions tend to put on a back burner) and I wish you good luck

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i will say that bedside care nursing is probably one of the most despicable jobs exists. bunch of people with feeling of over-entitlement, unappreciative scums, my expectation of human race has dropped so low since i became bedside nurse. the medsurg is worst of all worst grounds. i plan to become an np or md in the near future. nursing is a right career choice if you're okay being treated like a slave, no one recognizes, no reward, no nothing but taking care of bunch of fools

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I have been a nurse for the past 6 years; and, have also seriously contemplated leaving it for good. I'm not sure exactly why I became one in the first place anymore. I used to be idealistic and positive, but find myself now to be frustrated with many issues regarding nursing & hospitals.

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I read this threat and I cant believe how many nurses feel the same way..."hate nursing"? I definitely dont hate nursing, I being a nurse for over 6 years now, and working as a nurse had made me stronger, and proud. I love taking care of patients and some how give something, but I have to say, lately being a nurse is being more challenging. Every nurse i talk to is either going back to school for their NP, or trying to get out of bedside care, I am so glad that we have choices here and we can keep moving foward.

Also, with so many schools of nurses, and new grads coming out looking for jobs, taking any pay rate is offered, is a little scary for the experienced nurses.

I only work travel assigments or local agency when i am home, but even working agency is a challenge in my state, sometimes I am happy to get cancel and missing the pay of the day, because working in this hospitals had became very challenging, especially in the floors when you ended up taking care of 8 patients!

Now that i am expecting my first baby, omg! i am really wondering what im going to do here, my hubby doesnt make much to support the both of us, he thinks i am ready to quit too sometimes... he keep saying go and retrain to do something else, yeah like is that easy. I still work agency 2/3 days a week, sometimes I cant work more that that 2 days because there is no work and then I am happy to be canceled, I got to the point that I dont care about how much money i can make, but I wanna be happy.

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Although I am one of those 'new nurses who can't find a job', I understand your frustration and can very clearly see why one would want to get out of the profession after x amount of yrs. The way you did it though, almost mirrors throwing oneself in front of oncoming traffick. No notice? No other job lined up? I belive that working under the harsh conditions many nurses do can lead to PTSD, depression, and anxiety. It almost HAS TO, doesn't it? Please get help caring for *you* & best of luck to you :)

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I am glad you listened to your gut. Most of us who were successful as nurses know that the gut feeling is important. It helped me help many others over the years. I entered nursing in the early 80's as a single mother. I love people and I love science but was always an introvert. Nursing helped with the introversion but that was the biggest stress I think. Not the physical part which is tough but I was a farm kid so knew all about hard work. Medicine started changing in the late 80's (that is when the DRG's took affect and effect). I have seen what insurance companies have done to Medicine. I hit a wall somewhere in my 15th year and kept plugging away. The money was good. But for another 15 years I kept going back and "plugging away". My last year of nursing I took a leave to provide Hospice care to my sister who was 15 months younger than me. We had big plans together for our retirement years. Watching her die along with my plans I took account of my life. For the last 15 years I was miserable. Every day was a struggle to get through. I was exhausted when I got home so the whole day was gone. Weekends all I could think about was that I didn't want to go in on Monday. But I noticed on Friday and Saturday night I actually slept. I finally quit nursing against the advice of many to follow my dreams as a starving artist . Boy do I wish I had those 15 years back. Yes, I am living on a shoe string. Where as I used to not really think about what I spent. Now I have to consider every penny. But I am content. Content has its price and I am willing to pay it.

One of the things I do now, is make pretty lanyards for nurses and teachers to carry keys and thumb drives and sell them on Ebay and Etsy. Here is a link if interested:

Purse Phone Charm zpr pulls, Keyrings items in Merritts Jewelry and Art store on eBay!

So listen to your internal dialogue. If you are only responsible to yourself take care of yourself. If you are a supporting a family then plug away until you can find something else. But be active in your pursuit of something else. Don't look back and say what I did "I wish I had those years back"

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Specializes in Float Pool, Hemo Dialysis.

Thanks for your post. I too have been struggling with this. Nursing has change in many ways, many that make me shake my head in disbelief. Manager's no longer have a connection to the floor nurses because of their own positions & responsibilities. No longer can you "care" for patients because you are so busy taking care of "other things". God bless everyone for doing your best. I pray for everyone in the occupation daily.

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Ha! Dave you are funny. Think you wont have to deal with icky politics and miserable work conditions as a nurse? Think again. We all got into this field because we love.to help and we love the idea of health care. We end up hating it and being miserable for nearly the same reasons why you hated your last career.

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It is so brave of you to quit. Ive been considering quitting and giving up realizing nursing is not the best for me and I am actually very unhappy at the thought of it. Its hard to quit. People on the outside look at you with respect for being an RN and quitting makes one think that.maybe they cant hack it or arent.good enough. But to be honest and say more to nursing is incredibly brave. I dont know if I have the courage to take that step. I applaud you.

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Specializes in ICU.

I wonder how many people became NPs because they hated nursing?

You quit your job with no notice, and no financial back up?

Yeeks.

I seem to recall some study back in the nineties that found the average professional life of an RN to be six to seven years.

Indeed, it seems the hardest years are the first two, and then again about year seven.

I don't "hate" nursing in my current role, but there have been a couple positions that I hated; made me want to jump off a tall building rather than face another day.

I think there is a huge disconnect between what we think it's going to be like as a student, and what the reality is.

Good luck to you. If you hate nursing, but love medicine and treating people, ever thought about advancing your education to a practitioner role?

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Life like nursing is dynamic, things change all the time.

It is good that you recognize that you are ready for a change.

Sometimes changes needs to be facilitated, and as I am and have always been very conscious about money, I know it can play a big part in whether one can go ahead with plans.

I am still hanging in there, coping relatively well with the job, but I also feel satisfied with that I am able to live well below my means by keeping my needs simple, finding low cost creative solutions to just about anything. Therefore I can stash away a good chunk of money, which lowers stress level, gives me freedom to think about what I really want instead of a panic like decision.

Just a thought for those nurses out there that feel trapped. Half of our time goes to making the money, the other half should go to how to hang onto it. The reward is peace of mind and freedom.

If you want to quit a job, do it well, the quitting that is. Like nursing it takes planning, if you want a good outcome.

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Good for you! I'm an older person but a new nurse. I love nursing, but realize it isn't for everyone. You are never too old to change careers - so long as you are still breathing - go for it!

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