Burned out Nurse or just need a change of environment

suebird3 · Jan 15, 2006

I have heard this aaaallll over (the closing of floors), and not just here in Illinois. A friend of mine has licensure in 3 other States, and she had heard that same thing elsewhere....

Suebird

Dragonfair · Jan 15, 2006

I know we arre not the only place to do what ever is going on. rumor has it That people can afford to get care anymore and are staying home. I know that the peddies are treating in the office more and more which take from the hosp.

Trauma Columnist · Jan 15, 2006

I work in central IL and we are seeing a big resurgence of home care, same day surgery, etc.. This is the name of the game and what patients/families/insurance companies want. I know you say you are only 7 years from retirement, but have you considered going back to school. More education = more opportunities.

Dragonfair · Jan 15, 2006

Trauma Nurse

I have been working on my NP in Peds. Had to take a break for Family medical problems. I just think something different after 28 years might work. Believe me I don't get bored. I also transport ground

romsy · Jan 16, 2006

Hi Dragonfair, though I have more than 2 decades to go before retirement, I have been an RN for 10 yrs and have more or less been thru a couple of major burnt-out episodes. I was going to suggest taking a really long vacation but i guess that would just be addressing the symptoms, not the cause. ..maybe you can ask your hosp to grant you a 3to 6 month leave (I've known nurses who did this) of absence and you can do some traveling in the meantime and hopefully come back with a clearer pic of what you want, or if that's not going to work, maybe shift to perdiem temporarily ( in my hosp, you dont lose your yrs of service shifting from ft/pt to pd then back again) and try working in another hosp just for a change..or you can cut back your hours in your old job and get some agency shifts working in other hospitals again for variety....if you weren't so close to retirement, I'd say go for traveling without a second thought but i guess your situation does require some degree of contemplation..myself, every time i'm faced with a difficult decision, I ask myself "what would i do if it was the last yr of my life?":) which my drives my mom crazy (she thinks life consists of working towards the ultimate goal of retirement then enjoying it ) because I am so restless i jump from one hosp to another every couple of yrs or so (I tell her I might die before I retire)......but hey you gotta do whatever it takes to make you happy and find the best place for you to work and thrive at and will treat you right so you can be the best person/nurse you can be....i used to live in chicago, now living in ca for almost 5 yrs. the whole state is practically unionized. say what you will about unions, i will never work in a non-union hosp again..maybe your hosp , if its part of a corp., has other branches somewhere in the state which you can explore and still keep your yrs of service towards retirement..this is how i traversed orange county , LA and SF---I got myself transferred from one hosp to another owned by the same corp. in different parts of the state....

..anyways, i still think a long vacation is in order:)

best of luck