Bored, Burned out?

[Mr. Nightingale]

Almost hitting my first year mark as an RN and it has been a wonderful experience. so far had 3 jobs since.

I first worked in a small rural hospital doing med surg and staffing was really low so I left and worked in as SNF to have some income- the mgt was super nice to hire me fulltime knowing i was looking for a hospital job and finally am working in a stepdown unit.

First realization: Nursing is no joke and it is challenging.

Second: after 12 hours shifts i feel like i just want to be quiet and not care or attend to other peoples needs.

third: safe and effective care always first but i feel a little bored doing M/S or stepdown.

Im still not fully accepting if nursing really is for me. Im able to do the whole routine and keep my patients safe and needs met but I honestly genuinely don't really super care. I don't know if im becoming selfish or lazy.

I show empathy and build rapport. I also look out and assess each pt and do everything to the dot but deep down sometimes in those "nurse style talk and work" im like *** am i doing....

i honestly think this stems from

me not being fully healthy myself but the hospital truly isnt a happy place:)

im not really sad or emo about this. I jus want to know how all the other nurses truly feel about their work.

one thing more is that im really heavy like almost 400 lbs. im working on it but the same way i need to make money and damn the stress in nursing makes u wanna eat and sleep after 3 12hrs!

how do you guys feel after 1 year,3-5 or 10+ years in nursing?

[Buyer beware, BSN]

You have mentioned two things which seem contradictory in nature. One is that you feel nursing is challenging. Two is that you are bored.

Which one is it?

I'm gonna tell you the truth about nursing the way I see it. I only speak strictly for myself.

Even though I do respect the skill and knowlegde base of some nurses, after years of practice I've come to the conclusion that you could get a trained primate to do what many veteran nurses do.

So the real challenge in anything you do in life is to keep it interesting and keep learning or if that's impossible make as much money as you can and hope that God will judge you in the afterlife the way people do in the real world by your net worth.

Now that's a win/win to put the wind back in anyone's sails.

[Double Dunker]

I think it can be both boring and challenging. Some days it is super tasky and list checking. But if your patient's condition is constantly deteriorating, your brain will be tired from all the assessing, evaluating, and advocating you do in a short amount of time. Other days interactions with patients, families, other staff, can be emotionally draining and challenging. Since I've joined the float pool, I find it less likely I will get bored because I never know what type of patients the day will bring ahead of time.

I don't mind my job, but I don't get up every day thinking "I love this job, it's truly my calling." It pays the bills. And right now, that's enough.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Three jobs in one year? That could be part of your problem. If you're constantly changing jobs before you have a chance to become competent (about two years), you're not really growing as a nurse. You're just getting four months of experience three times. And if you're bored, you're just not doing it right.

Given that you have four months of experience three times rather than a full year of nursing, I suspect that you're focusing on tasks rather than critical thinking. If you change your focus and truly LEARN about your job, your patients, the drugs you give and the tests in their charts, I suspect you'll be neither bored nor burned out.