Which Nursing Jobs are the Least Stressful? - Page 5

Hi BurntOutRN,

I hear you and sympathize as well as empathize. If you have a nursing degree, why not consider becoming a lab (not clinical) instructor at a community college or university? It's VERY low stress, and the pay is excellent (well, I'm in Canada -- I can only speak about my own experience). I find teaching students very rewarding, and I really enjoy the mentoring aspect of it as well. Think of all the years of experience you have and how you can put this experience into practice by imparting your knowledge to student nurses.

Best of luck to you!

I am an LPN at a federal medical correction facility and most days are very relaxed and fun. We do respond to emergencies as needed and have a 12 bed long-term care unit and two mental health units. There is also a dialysis unit. I have worked nursing homes, home care, immunization clinics and psych hospitals. I enjoy my work at the prison and will probably continue there once I have my RN next year.

I went to work on a Med-Surg/Oncology floor straight out of school, then moved on to a long term care facility, then lucked out an got a job as a Life Skills School Nurse for an elementary school. By far my best job/lesser stress was the life skills school nurse position. The school I was at had a school nurse and I was responsible for the life skills kids (ADHD,MR,CP,etc), about 20 kids. That was the best job...it had it's stress issues...I had a baby shaken syndrome child, who had multiple daily seizures...so since I wasn't use to dealing with seizure pts...I was stressed daily for awhile...the kids were great...the problem was dealing with their parents, trying to get them to do things. Unfortunately we bought a house in another county and I had to leave that job due to the long drive I would of had. The only problem school nurse jobs are hard to come by and the pay isn't the best.

I don't know where YOU worked, but it was not that way in any of the PP units I worked on! We often had mothers that wouldn't do ANYTHING, either for themselves, or their babies, and families that did nothing but issue demands. Did I mention that social services often had to be contacted, as so many of the mothers had used crack during the pregnancy? Then there are the ones that are NOT happy, as it was not a planned pregnancy, and we were all awaiting the "mothering hormones" to kick in. Since, for the most part, they are healthy, many of the women had us running ragged, under the "customer service" model so many hospitals have gone to. Meaning, if the apple juice wasn't brought immediately, count on your supervisor being notified in the AM.

Most any position has it's stressful moments, but in my experience the two least stressfull areas are, 1) Private duty, only one patient, get to know them as family, no buzzers going off, no Dr rounds to contend with, lots of other pros, however, does have it's moments, if the pt is contrary and you are having a bad day, if your pt is admitted to the hospital you have the stress of no work, dealing with your pt's family. And the second least stressful is homehealth, the pace is slower, and pro's similar to privat duty, however con's your agency may not be the best at scheduling, and your schedule gets all screwed up daily, or your pt is admitted to the hospital, you are out of work for that period of time, may or may not have another pt to pick up. This is for the staff nurse who "sits" with a pt for a daily or nightly shift.

What it all boils down to, is what do you consider a stressful situation. Not everyone has the same level of stress, you may fall apart on a busy Nursing home unit where I think it's a slow shift, whereas you may think it's a slow shift in a busey ICU and I think it's busey as a beehiver.

Try different areas. Also an area that might be slow paced, may be too slow paced for you and you become bored to tears, and go stir crazy.

Try psych nursing. It's not as stressful as critical care. Also nursing informatics, research or become a clinical instructor.

You are exactly right! Last night my pp unit had a mom who delivered at 26wks w/ hgb of 6, mom with pp depression, pt w/ kidney stones, pt. w/ fetal demise, 2 fresh post-op, etc... these nurses provide intense emotional support as well as nursing care...

I worked in Public Health and loved it! It is nurse driven for the most part. No life or death situations for the most part. Also, you can do so much client education like we are taught in nursing school and see a lot of times the same patients over time and time again. You really build up a relationship with the clients. I worked in public health for 9 years and would never have left if it hadn't been for my health. Good luck....

Be a nurse at a day care for disabled kids. Pass a few meds, give some tube feedings, occasionally suction a trache, fix a skinned knee, that sort of thing. Pay is generally low; comparable with a physician's office. Also consider working in a Juenile detention facility. That's a clinic setting and you are passing meds to basically healthy kids awaiting trial or transfer for juvenile delinquency. That environment may include State Health Benefit packages.

How about clinical research? I have the office setting, yet see patients. I draw blood and insert IV's, administer injections, so I am able to maintain my clinical skills. I am on the phone frequently, and do a lot of documentation. But, I absolutely love it and will never go back to the hospital!