Does anyone recommend.....

[askater]

a certain type of nursing. That's not intensely stressful, but you have contact with families and patients.

I love the concept of nursing, but don't like the matrix's and demands of nursing.

I currently working a step-down unit, and that's the type of nursing I've mostly done in the past 5 years.

Any recommendations???? Thanks in advance!!

[babs_rn]

Hmmmm....

Maybe...a doctor's office? Or a health department? If you want low stress you can forget anything in a hospital, home health,or nursing home arena. I've had over 12 years of it all and I am exhausted and burned out beyond anything that could be considered healthy. Good luck to you. The winds in healthcare have been changing for a number of years now and with the profit-based corporations taking it over, it ain't good.

Be well

Babs

[MollyJ]

I don't think there is such a thing as stress free nursing. You're working with humans, who are ill or under some sort of stress or they wouldn't be in your domain. I have worked public health and the stressors associated with that vary depending on what type of public health nursing you are doing. I did high risk mothers (primarily teen moms). That was stressful because thesse kids were screwing up their lives and bringing new lives into the mess and they just kept doing what they were doing, without a lot of insight developing. So that can be very stressful. Did some HIV/STD clinic work. Ibid. Worked in a Family Planning Clinic. Liked it the best and really liked the whole public health nurse gig, but again stressful to see so many young women giving themselves away to guys, I guess so they'd have a date, and getting so little in return.

Doctors office: I know an office nurse who took on the average of 50 calls per day, plus put patients in rooms, plus did follow up calls on labs. The trade off can be no week ends or nights, but again health care is a stressful field. You pick what you like and develop some coping. My personal worst job for stress was case management of chronically ill children. The families resided in my head and I couldn't find a safe haven anywhere.

I admit that some days being a Wal-mart greeter looks tempting. But I like people and I like complex problems. Guess I just continue to whack away at it and try to keep my boundaries in place and enjoy the people I work with. Good luck on this one. I'm muddling through this one myself AGAIN at this time.

[nursedude]

Heck,

The only thing I can suggest is to be a case manager. Different kind of stress and you get to help people/familes but also on a different level.