Dissatisfied RN

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Mar 13, 2015

You may want to try ER nursing! There can be boring days, but you will have far more variety.

Annie

theRNJedi · Mar 13, 2015

I agree with the PP, ER will give you the greatest variety of patients, treatments, and tasks. Aim to work at trauma hospitals if you crave the sickest and most challenging work. If staying busy is what you need then consider PeriOperative. Then again, ICU can demand high level skills and variety so it may just be your hospital's case mix of patients is less diverse and work can get mundane.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Mar 13, 2015

Transition to the ER. On your off time, perhaps a paramedic class. There maybe some transport nursing in your future?! But you could pick up per diem paramedic shifts.

Have you thought about going back to school for your NP in emergency medicine? Just a thought.....

With that being said, a word of caution. Do not get so jaded in your role that you are just going through the motions. Then your margin for error is incredibly high. It is wonderful that you are confident in your abilities as a nurse. Just remember that things have a way of changing quickly and what presents one way may be entirely different one hour (or 15 minutes) from now. So stay focused, even if your patient appears to be stable, and you are less than thrilled with you assignment at present.

Another way to liven things up a bit is to get into a discharge care plan. What is going to make this patient function when they are discharged? What services are available to them? What is motivating/non-motivating factors? Yes, it is a little less stellar than an acute need, however, could spark the part of your practice that needs to do something complex--and dynamics that are not physically presenting themselves can be and are very complex.

Best wishes!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2015

Has anyone else found they too have a "craving" for action as a nurse?

Nope. I dislike too much action, high acuity, complicated procedural skills, and a pace that's too fast. I'd rather do as little as possible and contend with boring shifts because I enjoy calm, routinized predictability.

You might want to remain at your current workplace for one year to avoid looking like a potential job hopper. Managers pay attention to ROI (return on investment) when making hiring decisions. To be frank, a new nurse with only four months of employment who is already looking for a new job may raise red flags for a manager who is looking to maximize the ROI with each new hire.

Good luck to you.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2015

I am a lot like you, OP. I am also pretty dissatisfied when I get an "easy" assignment. I outgrew my first ICU job very quickly - it was much lower acuity than my current one, and I spent a lot of the time bored. Higher acuity ICUs mean overall your patients are going to be sicker, but I still have a lot of "boring" days.

My favorite thing to do on a boring day (or any time I have down time, really) is being in everyone else's business, and I really do mean it just like that. My ICU is divided into three sets of ten, and there are nights where I have been in all ten rooms in my section and some of the rooms in other sections, too. Sometimes I end up knowing almost as much about my coworkers' patients as I do about my own.

There are a ton of perks to being a resource for your coworkers. You stay busy and avoid boredom, for one, and you always have help when you need it. It makes your job so much easier overall when your coworkers know they can count on you, because they will repay you in kind. People don't forget the nights they were drowning and you were right in there supporting them all night, or even just the nights their patient pooped every two hours and you were there for just about every butt-wiping.

Not to mention you get experience with all kinds of things exponentially quicker. If you are paying attention to what your coworkers' patients' diagnoses are and how those patients are being treated, it can be just as good as having that patient yourself for learning. I feel like I see and experience so much more than those people who just stick in their corner with their own two patients and mind their own business.

I got a thank you letter from a coworker last week. You want to talk about being fulfilled? My heart was full that day. She just wanted to thank me for always being there for her and for always helping her learn new things. Sometimes, our patients' lives aren't the only lives we're making a difference in. Just something to keep in mind. :)

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Mar 13, 2015

my choice, ER

klone, MSN, RN · Mar 13, 2015

I understand, OP. I am that way too (in fact, I think I started a thread about it here a few months ago, I called it "career ADD" and I got some great advice).

People here gave some great advice to you, especially Calivianya. My recommendation, take your certification exam as soon as you can (looks like in about 4 months you might be eligible?), consider going back to school, maybe look into becoming an ACLS instructor.

I agree with others that it's too soon to start looking at other jobs, because you don't want your resume to show that you're a job hopper. Give it at least a year at your current position. So you need to seek out challenges. They are there for you - there is ALWAYS something more you can learn and become an expert on.

Farawyn · Mar 13, 2015

Talk to your manager, but not about "boredom". Present yourself as an eager beaver willing to take on more.

As a long time floor nurse, I'm like The Commuter. I like my ducks in a row. While I do well in chaos and can handle high acuity, I don't like it.

Maybe the ED or Trauma down the road?

RNperdiem, RN · Mar 13, 2015

In the mean time, what about your life outside work?

If there are needs you have that are not getting met at work right now, and you need a little time to build experience and skill, then what do you do after work to get some life satisfaction?

Viictoriaann · Mar 13, 2015

I'm in school for my BSN..planning to sit for my ccrn this summer. I do heavy weight lifting for fun to answer your question RN per diem! and love to travel.. I'm always planning trips! I will wait this one out for at least a year and soak up all of my learning experiences. And like others have said... I am always in my coworkers rooms poking around..and helping out. I go to every code. I volunteer to take admissions in hopes a really sick one comes my way. I'm not sitting by.. I'm like a sponge! I'm currently on vacation and will be out of the country for 2 weeks but when I return to work I am going to speak with my manager

thanks all!!

FlyingScot, RN · Mar 13, 2015

You can learn much even from the "boring" patients.