Burnout??

[chrty_knox]

This may sound repetitive with all the nurse burnout posts and comments on here. I get it! I worked so hard to become an R.N. I was a CNA for about 6 years and worked in every setting. I was compassionate and HARD working. When I worked agency hospitals requested me because I was efficient and reliable. I graduated with honors from my R.N program. Now I dread going to my med/surg job. I do my job and love my patients but it's just a job that I really hate. The politics and all I don't feel as if I'm making a difference. I feel as if my empathy has turned into apathy and I have no passion. My heart is in mental health and I live in a small area where the jobs are far and few between. I can't work like this forever! I am going to school to continue to MSN and pray that I will find a job in mental health where I don't feel like a "walking dead" nurse with no passion. Life is too short to waste on a job that takes more than I can give. Have you experienced nurse burnout? Was it really greener on the other side? What did you do to cope?

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

We can all get the feeling of burnout now and again. If your passion is mental health, then I can see how med/surg can be draining. Get the experience you need, look into certifying as a psych nurse, and rock on. Do what you can to learn what you can on Med/Surg. It can help you to be able to assess well, clinical skills, charting and the like.

Then move on when you have put in what you need to.

Psychiatric–Mental Health Nursing Certification Eligibility Criteria