Beyond stressed at the bedside

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Hi everyone!

I really need some guidance. I am a BSN nurse on a Tele Unit in and I have a little bit more than a year of experience. The Unit I work on is extremely busy with very, very sick patients - and I'm seeing things and doing things I've never done before almost on a daily basis. I am challenged by the amount of charting to do intertwined with patient care and feel completely overwhelmed with my anxiety through the roof. We may have one or two CNAs on a floor of 30 beds if they don't get pulled to float or sit, and we may or may not have a break or charge nurse.

I love taking care of people and that's why I chose nursing as a profession - but this is not what I thought it would be... at this point - I don't even know what I thought it would be. I miss the patient connection - there's little to zero time to make that connection when you're at the bedside because there's just no time. I just don't feel like I'm cut out for this and I worked so hard to get here.

I'm a self-starter, prefer to be given a task and left on my own to make it happen. I like to work autonomously but happily help my coworkers when they need it. I love people. I like working 12s for the flexibility but am ready even to give that up and trade in in for a 9-5 to preserve my sanity. I prefer to focus on one patient at a time. The direct life/death responsibility of nursing - knowing that one wrong mistake could take my patient's life completely stresses me out - and I'm on a Unit where that could easily happen. I'm so fearful of causing harm (and it's never happened that I'm aware of) that I am hesitant and untrusting of myself and my own judgment. When a patient has a BP of 103/56 and has three or four different BP meds all due at the same time... what do you give and what do you hold in the absence of clear parameters so the patient doesn't tank?!

I'm at my breaking point and ready to throw in the towel. I've lost a significant amount of weight recently and my anxiety is at an all time high. I absolutely DREAD every single next shift. Thoughts and ideas please??

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

To answer your question about the BP meds...you are supposed to call the provider and let them decide.

To say that I haven't been guilty of practicing medicine - i.e. giving some meds and holding others - would be a lie. But I would only do that if I knew the patient and the indication for a particular medication - i.e. - metoprolol for rate control vs BP. And the extended release meds - usually safe to give. But the real answer to the questions is ....notify the physician and have them reorder the meds with parameters and then document your conversation.

Your other issue about the stress of nursing - it really sounds like you may like doing home health - one patient at a time, risk of causing harm is lower, and being independent is important. If you get over your fear of causing harm - it is a legitimate fear but know that mistakes do happen to the best of us - you may want to venture into ICU.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Try a different area of nursing. Life is too precious to be that stressed. Nursing has so many different practice areas and you can find a better fit for you.

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I’m currently in the same boat you were in and am wondering what you ended up doing? If you left bedside, what type of nursing did you go into? I’ve just never had anxiety this bad before and I believe it’s related to the life-draining world of med-surg.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, Home Health, Corrections, School Nurse.

Time for another unit or hospital, or a different type of nursing. No one needs to endure that type of daily stress.

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