Can we start a new thread on tips to manage/prevent burnout and compassion fatigue?

I would love to see these stories and advice as well. I haven't worked long enough, I don't think, to start feeling this way. So I would love to know a way to prevent it if it does start to happen!

I don't like to label what may well be a passing feeling Everybody gets tired of their job from time to time. What is great about nursing is there are so many different jobs you can do as a RN.

I always floated a lot. I worked 4 different units within the same hospital. Maybe it is just time to try a different area of nursing, apply for a different unit? Or take a nice long vacation, even a stay at home vacation?

What helped me was learning how to say no...

No, I can't come in on my day off, cover that shift, make it to that total-waste-of-time meeting or whatever.

I have also learned how to ask for help at work when I need it.

I repay my co-workers by going out of my way to help them.

I've experienced burnout more than once over the years. You can prevent it by taking care of yourself -- eating well, sleeping enough, exercising and saying "no" to overtime shifts -- unless you have some particular goal that you're saving for and can tell yourself that you're doing it "for that trip to Paris" or "so I can buy that designer handbag."

Burnout is insidious though, and sometimes you don't recognize that you're getting crispy until you ARE crispy. Sometimes, a change of shift is all you need to do to fix it. I've gone from nights to days, from days to nights and from rotating (or not) to non-rotating (or rotating.) Sometimes you need a different job in the same specialty -- from telemetry to CCU, from CCU to Cath Lab, from Cath Lab to CCU. Sometimes you need to change hospitals -- a longer commute for more money, a teaching hospital from a private hospital (or vice versa), a BIG hospital to a small one where everyone knows everyone. Sometimes you need to change specialties -- Med/Surg to oncology, Hematology to MICU. And sometimes nothing but quitting your job and moving across the country will help. I've done that one four times. (Although to be truthful, not always for the same reason.) It's drastic, but it helps.

Burnout happens, but it needn't be the end of your career, or even the end of your time at the bedside.

I would love to see these stories and advice as well. I haven't worked long enough, I don't think, to start feeling this way. So I would love to know a way to prevent it if it does start to happen!

Same here. Haven't been a nurse long enough to experience it myself, but would love some tips to keep it from happening!

What helped me was being a float nurse. I only saw the patients for that day so not that didn't care about them I only got myself involved with things that happened on my shift. This helped me a lot with burnout. Also my my off days if I was called to work I would say no. I worked my required shifts and if I want to work more then I would, if not then nope not working today. Practice saying "no" in the mirror.

On my days off I never focused on work I took the time to do something fun and focused on me.

I once worked for a hospital that had staffing issues, getting called every day to see if I could work can become tiring. the staffing ratios of 6 to 7 patients to one RN and 12 to 15 patients to aid were hard to deal with. I found my self dreading going to work. did not know I was burned till I took a travel Nursing Job and went to a hospital that had 5 to one patient to RN ratios on nights. I found that travel nursing changed my outlook on nursing, and I learned to love it again.

Learn to say no in all areas of your life. People pleasing is a fast way to burnout.

For example, I need quiet after most work days. No phones. No texting. Not every day, but easily this applies to 3 out of 7.

Some of my friends don't understand my need for quiet, even after I have explained that I'm on the phone/ email all day. Oh well. I need my peace of mind at the end of the day.

Long ago, I learned to stop caring what others think. Someone will always have an opinion. This has resulted in my overall happiness.

I'm not a nurse yet but what helps me in general is to never take anything personal or to not be so harsh on yourself. When you're having a bad day or you feel like you're not doing "well enough" it is always great to remind yourself that you are human and that you are allowed mistakes here and there and that you too need a break or need a slower day. Take it easy and if something is really stressing you out, try to change it :)

I'm not a nurse yet but what helps me in general is to never take anything personal or to not be so harsh on yourself. When you're having a bad day or you feel like you're not doing "well enough" it is always great to remind yourself that you are human and that you are allowed mistakes here and there and that you too need a break or need a slower day. Take it easy and if something is really stressing you out, try to change it :)

It's easier said than done when you haven't experienced the stress a nurse faces. Being a pre-nursing or nursing student just going through clinical is a different world from nursing. It's not so much as not taking things personally as it is just caregiver strain in general. Nursing is physically, mentally, and emotionally (even if you don't let things get to you) exhausting.