Burn out?

Well I have only been an LPN for 4 yrs. I still love nursing and am going to continue my education in Jan. I can see where some nurses do get burned out have to constantly work long hours, extra shifts, short handed, etc. etc. I just try and make sure that I leave my work at the door when I leave. You have to be able to seperate home and work. I am sure there are more veteran nurses out there that can give you more advice but this is just my 2cents worth.

Angelia

A lot of us come to the site just vent about our lives, so it might be slanted to the negative.

I can't imagine doing anything else. I'm pretty sure I'll always be a nurse. I sometimes I feel I'm a bit burned out from working 15 years of night shift as I'm fatigued a lot. I'm very tired of the 8:1 ratio while we are working on a mandatory ratio law. Our day shift fought for and won a better ratio.

So anyway, no I'm not burned out. I like the money, the four days off a week, the vacations, helping others knowing I'm making a difference.

i like 'being' a nurse, it's all the other stuff that gets in the way. we deal with so much bull**** . but i guess everyone does at their job (ours is worse though!!) while some may not agree, there are advantages to this profession. but do they outweigh the disadvantages? that is the million dollar question.

i too, cannot see myself doing anything else. a few years ago, i was ready to throw in the towel. but then i though, what will i do? and i couldn't come up with anything. i'm over that phase now.

Just last night, I was talking to another aide and she wanted to know why I wasn't in school to become an LPN or RN. She feels that I am wasting my time plodding along year after year in a job that offers no challenge. (Quite frankly, I am very bored at my current job.) I'm a little leery of nursing, now that I've read others' horror stories about psycho nursing instructors, poor staffing ratios, very long hours, having their licenses on the line every day, the constant stress of dealing with belligerent doctors and demanding families. I don't know. Do I really want to move into all that? :uhoh21:

Well, aside from all the "scary stuff"....what is very nice about nursing is the variety of jobs you are able to do with a nursing degree. You just have to look for them. I never would have dreamed I would be doing my current job. I am no longer a bedside nurse (I am an RN and do chart audits) so if bedside nursing scares you, there are certainly other things out there to do. I have also worked as a DON at an Assisted Living and have taught at a vocational school. So a person who does not enjoy or gets burned out on hospital nursing does have alternatives.