Burn out?

Casper13 · Jul 24, 2013

I've been working for 7 months also && 10 of the 12 days a month that I work, I cry after my shift. I dread going into work. Everything that you do is wrong. If you put the patient safety & care first, than you don't have enough hours in a shift to get what administration wants (not needs) done && get written up. If you get written up 3 times, you lose your job. If you do all the repetitive charting & attempt grant all the unrealistic wishes of administration, then you take time away spent with patients. Patients now complain to administration that they don't see the nurse enough. There is seriously no winning. No one is ever satisfied. I just get frustrated because I know I am busting my butt 100% && really caring for the patients to find out, I care about them more than the patient care about themselves.

I seriously drove myself into depression & anxiety from nursing. It is taking a toll on my physical, mental, and social being. I spent thousands of dollars on a degree to do something I am being driven to hate. In my 10 years of working, no job has made me so miserable and so worthless. My family told me to go see a psychiatrist. I've been giving Xanax. Yup, totally normal to have to take drugs just to tolerate a job.

Jennyc00 · Jul 24, 2013

I think I may ALREADY be experiencing burn out. I'm getting close to the 7 month mark and I am still not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I was hoping I would at least be able to enjoy days off without spending the days dreading returning to work. I like taking care of patients and I don't mind giving meds or performing (most) skills or even doing paperwork but I feel overloaded with having to do it all at the same time and trying to keep up with a slew of patients and everything that is going on with them. Our floor (I am sure a lot of other floors are no different) works understaffed. Two weekends in a row I have been told there's no one to even call in. I keep hearing that we are hiring "x" amount of people, but it takes so long for new ones to get in and trained that someone else ends up leaving in that time putting us back in the same predicament. I am just thinking that floor nursing is not for me. I just don't know which direction to go from here and if I'd even have a chance of being hired into that position with 7 months experience. I love nursing in general, I just can't handle the current situation much longer. Any experienced nurses have any great advice for a newcomer???? I especially welcome the advice that doesn't fall along the lines of "you need to stay where you are for a year" without giving me a good way of coping because I am just not sure I can hold out another 5 months.[/quote']
I feel the same way. Started internship on a busy tele floor in February. I've felt so stressed and fatigued from working nights I asked to go part time and management refused until I've been there 9 months to wait to "discuss" it. I hate being so stressed out all the time and have such demanments and expectations. There's no piece of me that wants to go back for my shifts this weekend. I have no clue what to do. It looks like doctors offices have long term staff they hang on to and are now hiring lots of MAs to cut costs. I don't even know if I want hospital work at all anymore. And I don't know if I can mentally make it through to the year point without continuing to feel very depressed.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 24, 2013

The stress and anguish in OP's post is very evident. What a horrible situation to be faced with. Employers that force nurses to choose between their professional / legal responsibilities & their job - what a crock.

My advice is certainly not rocket science. Jobs come and go, but damage to your professional license is permanent. Make sure you have a very clear understanding of your state NPA. Does your state have any sort of "safe harbor" process whereby nurses can express a formal 'complaint' about risks that have been identified with a particular assignment prior to beginning the shift/assignment? This offers liability protection (related to the unsafe factors that were identified) for that individual nurse. If not, your options are more limited. Objectively document the issues and use your employer's grievance process to pursue your case.

DO NOT involve any co-workers or try to assemble a group effort because this will push everything into an "organized labor effort" area that would only confuse the matter. Keep the discussion & communication focused on your own experiences and problems. It is a purely legal boundary, but crossing it would probably shut down all avenues of communication, so you don't want to trigger it.

If all else fails, take your excellent skills, top-notch professionalism and expertise to another employer.

Best of luck to you!