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Discussion

Burned out!

I have been a RN for about 1 and a half years now. One year of this time has been in LTC and I honestly think it is sucking the life out of me. I have been on the most difficult units to work on the entire time I have been working at this facility. The part time nurse that fills in on my days off told me she hates working on my unit so much that she is physically ill when she finds out that she has to work my unit. There are alot of family problems (just waiting for one of them to try and sue), behavior problems,demanding residents, huge med passes, and the treatments takes 2 hours in of itself. I work at least 1 hour (usually 1 and a half to 2 hours)after my shift each day just to finish up paperwork. Add to this, the fact that I have a new unit manager who really tries to help, but she is trying to learn the ropes herself.

I just do not think that I can take this anymore. I stood at my med cart this morning and I just about started to cry. I love working with the elderly. I love the facility and the staff that I work with, but I do not think I can take going to work one more day. I worked as a CNA and I loved the work, so maybe I am just not cut out to be a nurse. All of my co-workers tell me that I am a great nurse, but most days I feel like I am not doing my job good enough. I have to let too many things go because there is too much to do.

My question to all of you wise nurses out there is this: Is it too early in my career to be burnt out?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Featured Replies

  • Experts

It's time for a change of scenery. Not all LTCFs are the same.

For the first 2 years of my career, I worked at a beautifully upscale LTCF. This place had chandeliers, wood flooring, flat panel TVs in every room, pretty furniture, nice artwork, a grand piano, an internet cafe, and restaurant-style menus.

The family members at the pretty LTCF were hostile, demanding, always threatened legal action, and treated the nursing staff as if we were servants. The workload was unreasonable and downright scary. The patients were needy and demanding. My pulse would skyrocket due to the stress, and I even had chest pains on several occasions.

I now work at a small, old, dingy nursing home where my stress level is much lower. There's not much family member involvement, and the ones who visit are usually respectful to staff. The patients primarily come from lower-class and working-class backgrounds, and are generally appreciative of the care being provided. The workload is manageable.

I personally find that patients and families from upper-class backgrounds are difficult to deal with. In addition, their expectations are entirely unrealistic when the front lobby of the facility resembles the Healthcare Hilton Hotel.

  • Experts

By the way, I think that nursing home rehab/subacute units can be little hellholes on earth if the staffing is skeletal and minimal. I will not accept a job on a nursing home rehab unit unless I needed the money to prevent from going homeless. I have had 30 of these higher-acuity residents by myself. It is not the same as having 30 traditional geriatric residents.

In subacute, I dealt with many central lines, IV antibiotics, CPM machines, feeding tubes, suture removal, surgical staple removal, complicated wound care, ostomy appliances, diabetic management, casts, braces, splints, cervical halos, and so forth.

Most of my patients had recently underwent surgical procedures such as laminectomies, knee and hip arthroplasties (joint replacements), kyphoplasties, CABGs, hysterectomies, limb amputations, colectomies, thromboembolectomies, and abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs.

The non-surgical patients were typically admitted to our unit for recovery from CVAs, acute MIs, debility, various cancers, fractures, status post pneumonia, deconditioned states, failure to thrive, status post falls, generalized weakness, and other afflictions.

  • Author

Why do the upper management treat us nurses like we are machines? I have 2 hours to do my morning med pass for 30 people. That means 2 mins. to look at the MAR, pull the meds (some of the res. take 10+ pills), check the five rights, open each pill up and crush it, then give the med. Heaven help us if I have to spoon feed someone each one of their pills one at a time. I have several of those. No, spending more time with a resident does not make me upset. what makes me upset is the fact that management or the government will not make the changes that are needed to be made in so that I can do my job safely and to the best of my abillity.

Sorry about my little rant, but like I said in my original post I feel a major burn out coming on.

  • Author

Sorry my math was a little off, that is 4 mins per resident.

You have enough experience to move on to another job with no problem. If you can afford it I advise you take a month off (at least) before you start a new job. When ever I left a unit due to unacceptable conditions I always gave myself at least a month to get my head together. Sometimes I take a lot longer than that off even.

I think its time for a change.. You need to look for a new job and do enough research..LTC can be hard but im sure some are not as stressful as others..like somone said..take a break and take time for your self. Im sure you are an excellent nurse. I believe its time to move on..I wish you the very best!

Don't you dare quit Nursing!

Change your scenery and find a mentor/ confident that you can confide in and vent to.

Legally- You are allowed to skip lower acuity procedures if time and staffing is critical. For instance- a pt's bath could be missed if you had to pass meds for all of your patients and simply did not have time. I am not suggesting this is desirable- it is not. However, we as nurses, tend to keep making a system work when it is broken. The answer isn't to stay over, or work harder, or work until we drop dead. The answer is to say- Hey Management! This is too much darn work for 1 person to do! Make a choice: 1) hire more staff or 2) Decide which procedures/points of care are going to be omitted, because currenty there is not enough human resource (ie: Nurses) to get the job done.

Then fill out short staffing forms to document that you voiced your concern. Also- be kind to yourself. You know you are doing your best. Keep doing your best, but please don't shoulder the responsibility of providing all points of care when clearly you are not being given enough staff to carry them out!

Mostly- please stay in the profession. We want you here! Don't let this job rob you of your life force. Start looking for other opportunities that feed you rather than deplete you.

Best of luck.:)

I am there too, have been since about 6 mths in. It comes from the expectations, the short staffing, the nurse on nurse violence, the disrespect from every angle, the shift work, the OT, the denied vacations, the lack of full time positions with benefits.... and on and on.

I would love to tell you that it will be better somewhere else, but I have worked about 7 different places in 4 years looking for a better environment and haven't found one yet. Every place has it's issues, most are related in some way to the nursing shortage.

When I went to nursing school I was looking for a Profession with respect and collaboration amongst peers, management and the physicians. I was looking for a way to help people while using my brain to solve problems and help with decisions and diagnosis. Instead, I find I am a warm body to fill a shift, and at the end of the day, it is guaranteed that someone will find something wrong with what I did, said, etc. and no matter how many times I say "yes" to a shift, the only time it is remembered is when I say "no".

By the way, I think that nursing home rehab/subacute units can be little hellholes on earth if the staffing is skeletal and minimal.

This is SO true. Things will slip between the cracks, and lack of teamwork makes it worse.

  • Author

Thanks for all of your kind responses. I would like to say that I feel better about things today, but sadly I do not. I have a lot of thinking about what I want to do about my situation. It helps to know that I can come here and just let my feelings out in the open.

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