Advice Needed: Do I Stay or Go?

[GeriRN2010]

Hi all,

Long time reader of posts looking for advice. I am currently a hospice nurse and have been at my job almost a year. I really liked it, despite the stress, until last week when I was sent to the ER during the work day with extremely high BP. I followed up with my doctor who took me out of work for the week and put me on medicine to help with the anxiety because they think I had a panic attack since my BP has been perfect since I have been home. I am supposed to return to work on Monday but I get anxious thinking about it.

Since I've been home, I've been doing a lot of thinking as to leave my job or stick it out. I would leave but I don't know what I would do next. I have been a nurse for almost 9 years. My background is LTC/sub acute care. I have no interest in working in the hospital and I don't think it would be the right environment for me. I have a MSN but I don't want to do Advanced Practice. I have debated leaving the bedside for a while and taking a break from nursing in general, except I would not even know where to start. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated as maybe there is something I have not thought of yet. Thanks!

[llg, PhD, RN]

If you really like your job, why did you have a panic attack? I would determine the cause of the panic attack and address that before quitting my job on the assumption that your job was the cause.

[TriciaJ, RN]

First of all, how stressful is your job? Do you usually feel stressed at work and even after you get home? Or is this just an assumption because your blood pressure is unusually high? What is it that's making you anxious about returning to work?

Do you have any other risk factors for high blood pressure? Family history? Other health issues? Possible sleep apnea?

How doable is it for you to take a break from your job and see what happens? Do you have vacation time? Sick leave? Do you need to quit altogether and take a breather? Do you have another source of household income?

If you're feeling fine other than having high blood pressure, you might just need to make some lifestyle adjustments to get it under control. If you're identifying your job as a major source of stress, then of course you need bigger changes. If you can, take an additional week off, give yourself time to think about things with a calmer mind.

Good luck.

[Forest2]

Maybe hospice is the problem. Is it inpatient hospice or at home hospice? Try home care as it's not quite as emotionally draining. Not that it's easy, nurses who haven't done it often believe it is. You pack around a lot of stuff and have to make decisions on your own without back up and the rules and regulations are outrageous. Every nursing job has some kind of draw back. As far as an MSN, I couldn't get a job anywhere with one until I got into rehab. NOT what I had in mind but I'm stuck with it. I took a break from nursing because I couldn't get a nursing job in a hospital, this made it even harder to get a job. Like they suddenly thought I forgot everything or something. Well, Just move into something else, See if you can find something a little calmer to do.

One nurse I know just works 4 hours at a time in a nursing home. I think she passes meds or something.

[Golden_RN, MSN]

I also have an MSN and love LTC. A great job that I had was nursing education in a hospital that had a SNF in the building. I got to work with the SNF and with acute care.

Even a nurse educator in a LTC facility might be great for you. It can be busy but I found it very enjoyable.

[amusedRN750]

Maybe you haven't found the right type of nursing where the stress level is appropriate for you. I have felt the same in the past. I do not have the personality that thrives off of stressful emergent situations. I didn't know that about myself until during nursing school. Some nurses seem to just flow with things where I would always panic, second guess and judge myself even though I was always told positive things by my supervisors. I started with psych because I knew I would like it and I did! But then I felt that I needed to gain skills so off I went to Med/Surg, Home Health and Insurance Nursing. Now that I am back doing psych I feel so relaxed. I am sure some might find psych nursing stressful but it was my thing. I hope that you find your thing!!!