Burned Out and Have an Interview at Dillard's This Week...

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.

to work in retail sales. I know that it won't be all fun and games, that I'll make much less per hour, and that the holiday season will be very crazy and busy, but the very idea of working somewhere that people actually want to be and where no one is sick is...amazing!

So do you all think I'm nuts? Am I the only one who needs to walk away from nursing for at least a while, if not forever? I don't even care about the pay cut, I just need a break from being a nurse after over 24 years.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

If you get a decent employee discount and first dibs on the good sales, it sounds great!

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you're not nuts! :) and you're definitely not the only one who needs to walk away from nursing for awhile/possibly forever!

best of luck at the job interview; i hope you get the job and make crazy amounts of $$$ this holiday season! :)

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Specializes in Nephrology, Dialysis, Plasmapheresis.

I can understand where you're coming from. My friends that work in retail are pretty unhappy- Michael Kors, Macy's, boutiques. I don't really know why... Seems like it would be nice..

I am finding that people everywhere are pretty unhappy with their jobs, not enough pay, more and more responsibilities, with less and less resources. My mom works in real estate and is miserable .. the last 15 years have changed everything.

But hey, there are no patients there and no bodily fluids!!!! How bad can it be!!!!! And you can get a discount I'll bet. ?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Woo Hoo! I LOVE Dillards! It wouldn't work for me... I'd end up owing them money because of all the shopping temptation.

We all need a break once in a while. I would strongly advise you to remain PRN somewhere - so when/if you decide to return to nursing, it will be much easier than having to deal with the dreaded "inactive" issue.

LOL - the assumption about no bodily fluids is sadly mistaken. My offspring worked in a major department store to earn extra cash while she was in college. You just wouldn't believe what she had to clean up in the dressing rooms - UGH!

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I think you are far from nuts. Better to work at Dillards than to be slowly stagnating at home, or seething, waiting for a call back. The break should be good for you. I have met more than one former nurse working in retail. They did not always complain about the situation. Come back in January and tell us about anything great you got on sale!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.

Thanks, all. My interview is tomorrow, so I guess I'll see what they have to say. Do you think they'd let me wear scrubs to work? ;) That's one thing I will miss about nursing if I do decide to try something else. Cheap, comfortable scrubs!

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

Wear black. Tres chic. Put some fabulous piece of jewelry on lay away for the after Christmas sale.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Cool job challenge. I hope you get it. Nope, I don't think you are nuts either. Enjoy!

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Specializes in Emergency.

I was a bank teller prior to nursing. I worked many a payday Fridays after I became an RN because it was a nice change and seemed "mindless". If I screwed up in banking, I gave someone an extra $20. If I screwed up in nursing though........ No, your not crazy!

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Specializes in BNAT instructor, ICU, Hospice,triage.

I am with you. I want out too. I have found a bit of a change for the time being and its working right now. I am teaching CNA classes. Do you know what I would like? I would really be happy being a CNA but working 3-4 hours at a time. I don't need full time work at all, everything we have is paid in full we have no debt. But I enjoy being a CNA!!! Are there RNs that do CNA work? I know I still will get yelled at by nurses and patients but the unbearable responsibility of being an RN and the stress is too much anymore for me. I have been an RN for 25 years.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice.

I don't know how that works, but i once asked if it would be possible for me to get hired as a unit clerk and was told that I couldn't because as a licensed RN, I had the obligation to fulfill my duties as an RN while on the job. The example they gave is if someone collapsed in the hallway and needed CPR and a code called, I would be bound by my professional licensure to jump up and respond as an RN.

Does that make sense to you? I think it's a little fuzzy, but I think that there are also pay issues. Like you, I didn't care about the hourly rate pay cut, but I think that facilities have certain pay scales for certain disciplines that they must abide by, and paying an RN CNA or unit clerk wages would be out of the pay scale and possibly open up a big Pandora's box of issues.

But hey, you could always ask around, it wouldn't hurt. I know there have been times in the past when I was working and having a particularly stressful day when I would think, "Hey, I want to be the person who just tells the RN about a big problem and then goes on with my day, as opposed to being the RN who has to deal with the big problem!"

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