I’ve been a nurse for a little over a year now. I previously worked on a med-surg floor for almost a year and I decided to leave mainly due to the fact that I was driving 7 hours a week. I also began to feel like a pill pusher, we were very understaffed, unsafe ratios, just general issues like that. I was also home sick. Our floor also done inpatient hospice so I decided that would be the perfect thing to do when I found a job closer to home so that’s what I did.
I have been doing outpatient hospice for about 3 months now and I’m so overwhelmed. I do call every weekend (it’s just me, so the company depends on me heavily) and hardly get any sleep. I did not realize we would have patients an hour-two hours away which I think is ridiculous. Being on call every weekend is very difficult, a lot more than what I imagined. There is very little support. I do love my patients and I love being able to spend more time with them and educate them and I do feel as if I'm making more of a difference with this career but I'm also forced into working overtime a lot ever since I first started due to the fact that staffing is so horrible. There is a very high turnover rate with the company and during meetings and surveys we even had two employees recommend that nurses don’t work here at all. We have mostly one medical director over all of our patients and he is very rude to the families and also to the nurses. I had a family member of a patient call me breaking down in tears about how rude he was to her. Management is aware but they continue on like it’s all fine and dandy. I’m overworked. Things are very disorganized. Cant get ahold of physicians to put in orders for GIP patients, number is wrong in the chart and I call my manager about this at 2am, and I still have the wrong number.
I also hate when there is a death or another medical emergency and I’m an hour and a half away, and that’s with no traffic. I feel so bad for the families when that does happen. This job has given me so much anxiety, I have nightmares when I’m on call and trying to sleep. I know they will be very disappointed if I quit but I’m not sure what else to do. I feel very guilty about it but I’m sick of running on no sleep and they are well aware of the issues going on but continue to turn a blind eye when it’s obviously not working and they can’t keep staff. I’m very hurt because I really do love the patients and want to provide the best care possible but it’s hard to do under some conditions. I will have another position lined up which is a travel nurse job that’s actually not far from my home. I’m also looking in to other positions. I’m just not happy at all and my anxiety is crippling at this point. My manager is very nice and I know there will be a big fuss when I do quit. They will have a hard time replacing me because it’s a tough job and feels almost impossible at times. I wanted to give a 4 week notice but I will probably just settle for a 2 or 3 week notice. I’m not a quitter and I hate that I’m giving up after 3 months, but the overtime, staffing issues, and issues with the primary doctor is killing me. They tell me I do such a good job but it’s not worth the stress anymore, especially for the pay cut I took.
I’m just venting and hope someone can understand and provide some insight on whether or not I’m making the right decision, knowing that this will be hard on the company. The nurses who work throughout the week were taking call on weekends before I came along and I hate that they will have to go back to that because they’re already so overworked themselves but I feel like I have to put my mental health first. Wondering how I can make this a smoother process.
Your company sounds horrible, honestly. If you want to stay in hospice, look for a company with dedicated admissions staff, overnight/weekend call staff and more than one physician (they exist, honestly!). Also look for companies that are not-for-profit. I'm not surprised you're burned out, the workload you described is unsustainable. Hospice can be a wonderful career with the right company.
I’ve been in hospice for many years and just now leaving myself as it’s became way too busy to feel like I’m doing my job to the best of my ability. This is with a great medical director that oversees around 150 patients and supervisors that are at least available via text or phone for questions….so I can’t imagine being this stressed and busy and adding those factors in. This company sounds like a sinking ship if someone doesn’t make some changes. You need to feel no guilt as far as I’m concerned. At the end of the day, YOU have a life to worry about also.
FallingInPlace, ADN, BSN, RN
55 Posts
Your company sounds horrible, honestly. If you want to stay in hospice, look for a company with dedicated admissions staff, overnight/weekend call staff and more than one physician (they exist, honestly!). Also look for companies that are not-for-profit. I'm not surprised you're burned out, the workload you described is unsustainable. Hospice can be a wonderful career with the right company.