Anyone successfully leave nursing?

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Hey everyone!

Has anyone ever successfully transitioned OUT of nursing and into a new field?

I experience compassion fatigue very easily (about 1 month into any assignment, if I have to work 3 days in a row or even 2 days in a row followed by only one day off in between). I'm very sensitive to energy and the like and while nursing has taught me SO much about the human condition, about tolerance, and about the boundaries, and letting go, I would like to see what else is out there for me.

so, has anyone successfully left?

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If they have they may not be posting here anymore!

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Considering there are about 23,487,602 nursing specialties including both the clinical and non-clinical specialties why in the world would you leave because you are having human "energy" issues?

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

Good luck, A!

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Considering there are about 23,487,602 nursing specialties including both the clinical and non-clinical specialties why in the world would you leave because you are having human "energy" issues?

Personal choice, really. I love how people think about their profession, like there isn't anything else in the world they COULD be doing. And I think it's great and I really admire that in some people. I'm just not like that. My mind is always looking for opportunities and other things I could be doing. I COULD be a psychiatrist (different from psych nursing) or in business.

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Don't leave. Just reduce your work hours while you try to figure out what else is there that you will enjoy doing. After that, you can decide whether which one you will make as your way of earning a living. You just don't leave Nursing because of the shifts as there are other fields of nursing where the work hours are 9-5. It is a vey flexible field. So what got you to Nursing in the first place?

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@Solilioquy - If it's just compassion fatigue (and not being burned out from working in general - for which I'd give a different answer) instead of leaving nursing, why not try to find a job that doesn't involve direct patient contact? Thus, there'd be no compassion fatigue because there are no patients to be compassionate toward. Ideas that come to mind are insurance claim processing, legal/law firm review, triage phone lines for either a clinic or a health insurance company. Teaching is another one. You don't say if you have a Masters, etc., so you may need more schooling. Perhaps you could be a "travelling" nurse while you earn another degree, if you find that you need one to switch careers: There would be less compassion fatigue if you're always moving around.

There are also tangentially related careers such as working at a university's career or undergrad nursing school as an administrator. Really, though, it's hard to advise without knowing what you like to do.

A book that I always recommend to my coaching clients is called "The Pathfinder" by Nicholas Lore. This guide is for adults looking to switch careers and choose one that will be fulfilling. Good luck!

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