burning out in acute care

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Specializes in Dialysis. OR, cardiac tell, homecare case managem.

I have been doing acute hd nursing for 3 plus years now. I am getting so tired of the long shifts. I have not worked chronics and am wondering if I should make the switch. Any advice. Thanks!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Dialysis, Plasmapheresis.

About half of the nurses that leave acutes to go to chronics come back to acutes within a year. That has been my experience, but then again, about half never come back, so my advice is go for it! You can always come back to acutes if you don't like it.

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I hated chronics with a passion and couldn't wait to get to acutes. Then the unpredictable long hours of acutes started to wear on me. So, I went back to chronics on a PRN basis and I find doing both helps me. It makes acutes less grinding and chronics less irritating.

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Specializes in Dialysis. OR, cardiac tell, homecare case managem.

Thanks, I think I might try that. I would like to cut to part time with acute and maybe do chronics prn.

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I work in chronics and am looking to leave because of the schedule I have. I work 5 days and take turns staying late with other nurses which results in overtime for me that I do not want right now. I have been there almost 2 years and still do not have a set schedule which makes planning a life difficult. The patients are awesome and a tight knit group. It seems schedules vary per clinic, I think it is a good fit for someone looking for a more predictable schedule. I have heard stories about the acute scheduling and chronics usually allows for a more predictable schedule.

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