Burned out and hate nursing

Nurses Stress 101

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Since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to help people. I wanted to heal. Now 4 years out of nursing school, I HATE nursing with a passion. I am a med/surg nurse with a BSN.

Reasons I hate nurses (in no particular order)

1. Most days I feel like a pill-pusher. I don't feel like I make a difference.

2. Doctors feel they are perfect.

3. Patient satisfaction scores.

4. Patient sense of entitlement. (see #3)

5. Family at the bedside dictating what they want...like I am their personal servant. I have to comply (see #3).

6. Lack of appreciation mized with how much more work can they give us.

7. Nights, weekends, and holiday. I don't want to give everything I've got only to see no return in work satisfaction.

I don't want to be a case manager. I don't want home health nursing. I really want to be outside of the hospital. Quite honestly, I want to be away from people. I would be quite content to work on a computer and have email interactions. Preferably work from home. Any suggestions?

Umm, the phone is one you carry on you...

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RN1023 - nursing is a huge and diverse profession. Before you throw your BSN out the window try a different setting. I manage a pool of 30 nurses. One nurse I hired 2 years ago was ready to walk away from nursing after a year in the hospital. She hated working in the hospital, for many of the reasons you state. I'm so glad she tried a different setting as is she. She is an absolutely fabulous nurse and she loves her work and profession now. I'm a great boss and that makes a huge difference as well. A great boss should always be looking at how to help you grow and increase your skill and satisfaction. A great boss looks for opportunities for you, opens doors and helps you walk through them. Don't give up on nursing just yet.

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Umm the phone is one you carry on you...[/quote']

Yes. And I wish the unit clerk would call me first and say so-in-so is on the line so I could tell her that I am in a position to take a call. I hate it when they just directly transfer the call to you and you're either trying to answer family questions while you're taking a pee or you're elbow deep in poop during a bed change. It gets very frustrating!

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Umm, the phone is one you carry on you...

We don't have mobile phones. I wouldn't carry it if we did, lol.

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Hey RN1023, I just switched to a insurance job and feel like it is a great field to switch into. I'd recommend learning medical coding if you are heading in this direction. Message me with any questions.

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I am so glad this a thread on this website because I know exactly how RN1023 feels. I have had enough of all it . I am just biding my time until I can leave bedside nursing. Patients think we are their servants and doctors are bad at communicating with anyone that is not a doctor. most of the time they are wrapped up in their own egos to recognize that they work with other staff members. I have had doctors think I am the CNA, echo tech, physical therapist, and everything else, but my real job position , A RN. I am sick and tired of having to tell doctors about labs and vital signs that they should be monitoring. one doctor i encountered was so wrapped up in his world that he gave a verbal order to a student nurse, and when I told him, his response was , "I assumed she was the nurse because she was in the room and wearing scrubs." Other health care workers call doctors " Dr. ( insert last name), but yet they call us by our first name . We as nurses worked hard for our license as well, but yet no one calls us Nurse ( insert last name). I will not drop what I am doing to help you find a chart that was no put back in the right place by one of your fellow doctors, I don't care how long you are on hold when you call and ask to speak to me about a patient when I am busy in another patient's room. My time is just as valuable and precious as you doctors think yours is. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH !!!!

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LocaW8ta,

how did you get into research nursing, and do you have an advance nursing degree to do it?

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Market saturated? WHere the heck are you located? Come on down to Texas!!

Nevada is totally over saturated. New grads have a very hard time getting hired.

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LocaW8ta,

how did you get into research nursing, and do you have an advance nursing degree to do it?

I don't have an advanced degree and I was told about the position that was posted on Monster. I do phase 1 clinical drug trials. I'm sure phase 2 and up you would probably need experience though. I'm actually considering a research degree now instead of getting my BSN. It would be a whole heck of a lot cheaper to go that route than to continue my education with the for-profit school I went to for my ADN..

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I hate floor nursing. I'm a Case Manager and have more of an appreciation for it than direct patient care, though sometimes I wouldn't mind being a Women's Health NP in a clinic that's closed nights and holidays. Try Case Management...there are positions you can do from home. Aetna Insurance has such positions. Also, try worker's comp insurance companies. They use nurses all the time. Hang in there.

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Specializes in Ambulatory care.

good luck! try a bit of everything perhaps weekends, vacation time, per diem work and maybe ... consider branching out to non nursing - you know medical software, pharmaceuticals, legal, all have nurse consultants. Ex: there's forensic nursing, travel nursing, writing etc etc. OR switch out completely if that's what you want. volunteer in areas you're interested in and see if its something you want to get into. Anything is better than going to work miserable for 8 hrs a day for the next few decades

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I am so glad this a thread on this website because I know exactly how RN1023 feels. I have had enough of all it . I am just biding my time until I can leave bedside nursing. Patients think we are their servants and doctors are bad at communicating with anyone that is not a doctor. most of the time they are wrapped up in their own egos to recognize that they work with other staff members. I have had doctors think I am the CNA, echo tech, physical therapist, and everything else, but my real job position , A RN. I am sick and tired of having to tell doctors about labs and vital signs that they should be monitoring. one doctor i encountered was so wrapped up in his world that he gave a verbal order to a student nurse, and when I told him, his response was , "I assumed she was the nurse because she was in the room and wearing scrubs." Other health care workers call doctors " Dr. ( insert last name), but yet they call us by our first name . We as nurses worked hard for our license as well, but yet no one calls us Nurse ( insert last name). I will not drop what I am doing to help you find a chart that was no put back in the right place by one of your fellow doctors, I don't care how long you are on hold when you call and ask to speak to me about a patient when I am busy in another patient's room. My time is just as valuable and precious as you doctors think yours is. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH !!!!

When people ask my name I give them my last name. I'm fine with people knowing my first name, but professionally I've used Rank and Last Name so long that I'm not accustomed to going by my first name because work is not a casual environment.

I recall a doctor calling early on, when I was still in orientation, and asking to speak with a patient's nurse. I was it and in the room with another patient starting an IV, and another nurse comes bouncing in, saying "Dr. Whoever wants to talk to you." I remember asking if Dr. Whoever asked for me personally, and she said no he wanted to talk to so and so's nurse. I'm sure I replied, "Tell him to call back. I'm busy" or something similar, and her jaw hit the floor. "I said it'll be ok. You can use my name." I could have only cared less if Obama had been on the phone. She said, "Maybe I can just take a message." What breeds this fear? We're grown men, and as I understand it they're not anywhere in my chain of command.

I've never had one become surly in person. I'm grossly unexcitable and very thick skinned, but I'm adamantly against being spoken to like a child.

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