Changing career fields

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So I have decided that I am completely going to change career fields. I've been a nurse since 2010. I have been in pretty much every field an LPN can be in my state. I have been harassed by patients, faced the BON and fined for some stupid HIPPA violation, I have been severly over worked and underpaid. Other nurses attack me because they find some joy in it (nurses eat their own?).

I feel as if I no longer have a real enjoyable future in nursing. I have lost the passion and excitement for it like I had several years ago. The pay just downright sucks and I get treated like crap. So now I am going to become a Police Officer. I know to expect to be treated like crap in that field. Previously to becoming a nurse, I served in the military for several years as law enforcement and have been deployed etc.

I just don't feel the same way anymore for nursing as I used to. Is this normal?

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

Not really

for he most part nursing has changed a lot in the 44.5 years I have been a RN

i have found dr office employment, a lot more enjoyable

i really have loving concerns for law enforcement.....in "these time"

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So you're going int Law Enforcement because you don't like being underpaid, judged by superiors, and looked down upon by your customers?

That should work out well for you.

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Yes ...if you're unhappy with anything in life, it's normal to try to change your circumstances.

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So you're going int Law Enforcement because you don't like being underpaid, judged by superiors, and looked down upon by your customers?

That should work out well for you.

Wow thanks. At least in law enforcement I think of it as enjoyable versus being a nurse. No need to get all negative. Most of my family is either police officers or military. Thanks for your negative support.

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So what does your family think of your plan to get into law enforcement for the higher pay and greater admiration from all?

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So what does your family think of your plan to get into law enforcement for the higher pay and greater admiration from all?

My family is very supportive. They encourage me to do it. Remember I have a law enforcement/military family as I mentioned. They have been through everything that nursing has thrown at me. I'm just not happy being a nurse anymore. I'm sorry if becoming a police officer is such an adverse thing for you but it makes me happy and excited. You are entitled to your opinion. I'm sorry.

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You've given nursing six years of your life, that's plenty of time to know it's not for you. You may find there is some cross over from your nursing career and may find it easier to draw on your communication skills to de-escalate a crisis while working as a law enforcement officer, because of your prior nursing career.

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Specializes in Float Pool - A Little Bit of Everything.

I changed settings when I was unhappy. Sometimes a new facility, hospital, or unit type can change everything for you. Good luck in what ever you choose.

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My family is very supportive. They encourage me to do it. Remember I have a law enforcement/military family as I mentioned. They have been through everything that nursing has thrown at me. I'm just not happy being a nurse anymore. I'm sorry if becoming a police officer is such an adverse thing for you but it makes me happy and excited. You are entitled to your opinion. I'm sorry.

No need to say "sorry" .Get it out of your vocabulary, cops are never sorry.

Best of luck!

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If that job is preferable to you, I wish you all the best! Not every job is suitable for everyone at all periods of their lives. Not sure why people are giving you a hard time. I would never want to be a police officer but I am not you.

But I think in general, enthusiasm for your work waxes and wanes. I actually was pretty not enthused about nursing right after graduation, but I am liking it more now. I imagine in the future I may go through another funk but I know I do not want to start over in another field and that the funk will pass.

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I left nursing two years ago to do personal training full time....and ....I started to burn out, just like I did with nursing. The job of my dreams! I burnt out! I am back in nursing and enjoy it much more. I think I need to just go with the ebbs and flows. I don't think it's the job, I now believe it is me. Not that there is anything wrong with discovering new things about yourself. I sometimes look back to that test i took in the Army at 18 that determined what job I would have for the rest of my Army (and civilian days!) and sometimes wish I had never taken it. What would I have chose if I went to college instead of the Army?

Well, no use in looking back. Only forward. I also want to be more than my job. Now that I am getting older(ok, I am just 40!) I realize I need to stay put. If you are young, more power to you. Personal training didn't work out for me but I learned alot and met great friends but I am already thinking that I have hardly any money saved for retirement because I was busy finding myself. Heck, I still am. I am getting my masters in a completely unrelated field. I am still trying to find out what I am meant to do. In the meantime I am going to stick with my LPN job while finishing my masters instead of constantly wondering if the grass is greener on the other side. As soon as I graduate, all bets are off! Good luck to you.

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