Don't like nursing at all, what can I do with my BSN?

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I've been an RN for 6 months working in acute care. After working for 6 months I'm dreadfully burnt out. Nursing is not what I thought it was. Nursing school just prepared us to do nursing tasks but it didn't show us the real world behind the scenes of nursing. Dealing with admits and discharges and orders upon orders and providers losing temper always stressed running from room to room having IV bags passing meds on time cleaning up a bed fast patient and falling behind providers yelling because they orders Stat labs an hour ago but I didn't see them because I was busy with another patient. I can't deal with that type of situation anymore and I'm just burnt. My family has seen a drastic change in my demeanor and have noticed I've been depressed and quiet and not who I used to be any more and frankly it's because of this job.

Not just that but I'm really just tired of the whole bedside / direct patient care. Techs never doing their part so I'm picking up all their tasks at the same time while they text on their phones in the utilities room.

I'm not really sure where to go now or what to do. I've had multiple panic attacks prior and during work due to the stress and responsibilities bestowed upon me. Nursing school never prepared us for this and I had no clue this is what nursing was so now I am regretting entering the field.

I'm in debt nearly 35k for school and Idk what else I can do with my BSN. I really want to go back to school and go into telecom or computer engineering where the level of responsibility is not as high and the stress level is at a minimum.

Any advice at all? I really been thinking about this for a few months now and I just don't like bed side/ direct patient care at all. Idk if I should try and find an outpatient position or something that doesn't involve doing bedside nursing care. Or if there is something else I can do with my BSN.

Thanks guys

yeah you need to go to grad school asap. You won't have enough experience for a good staff nurse job like PACU for a few years. If you don't like it now, you never will.

Don't abandon your job; abandon that facility.

Find one where teamwork is valued. You shouldn't have to do that all by yourself.

I am a retired diploma RN. Worked 44 years in various areas of nursing, and loved every area. I believe there is an area for everyone. It sounds like you have been given too much responsibility too soon. What kind of training program does your hospital have for new grads? Do you have a mentor? What were your expectations for going into nursing? What did you see yourself doing after graduation? I would encourage you to stick it out for atleast a year. You need some good general experience before going into a specialized area. Have you talked with your supervisor or mentor? Have someone evaluate your work for a day and give you some positive feedback. Most of the areas I worked in required a good year of general experience. My favorite areas were Insurance Case Management, ER, Home care and Hospice.

I hope you can talk with someone and see if you can get some guidance. Please admit your insecurity before a patient is harmed due to you not seeing the STAT orders and not getting the work done. I am so sorry you are struggling so much. We older more experienced RN's need to help the new young RN's out and be a mentor. Nursing school is not the same as it was for most of us. More bookwork and less on hands training now.

Best of luck to you!

I have a question did you have any experience in healthcare at all before you went to nursing school? Sometimes people on the outside paint pretty pictures of nursing but don't really know how ugly it can be. I've been a nurse since 2007 and worked as a CNA several years before going to nursing school. Yes, they are different but being a CNA prepared me for the good and sometimes bad of healthcare. My advice to you is don't give up! If you are positive that your calling is to be a nurse don't let your training go to waste. If I were in your shoes I would request a transfer or find another area of nursing that you would be more comfortable with. Take time out and write down what you may be comfortable doing. You may have to do a little research but there are a tremendous amount of nursing professions out there that may make you more comfortable and happier.

Please don't give up after only six months. You are NOT alone. I remember one night early in my career, breaking down in tears in a stock room thinking, what have I done, I've wasted 2 years of my life, and I hate this. Your right, nursing is not an easy job, but is can be so rewarding. You have to let stuff roll off your back and try not to take it personally. Keep your chin up, prioritize and do the best you can. No provider has the right to treat you disrespectfully, speak to your supervisor about that. If this type of nursing isn't for you, try something different. Praying for you :)

I would exhaust all nursing options before totally giving up on the career!

One year as a bedside nurse was enough for me. I then spent 25 years as an OR nurse and loved it. Maybe this would be an option for you.

Look into Case Management it saved my nursing career

I think it is perfectly OK for you to admit you dont like nursing and good for you for having the courage and honesty to say it out loud. But you have definitely only experienced one type of nursing so to say that you "dont like nursing" may not be true. The basis of nursing is caring and nurses can do this in many ways. We can do it at the bedside, in the operating room, in a health department, at an elementary school, in a health clinic etc. The things you are saying are pushing you away from your career choice are things the are definitely experience in bedside hospital nursing careers. I myself (a nurse with three years of experience as a nurse virtually all in critical care at the bedside) relate to your frustrations and I have spent the last 8 mos looking for other work - other nursing work. I just finished my BSN and during my course work I kept my ear open to the different nursing careers available to BSN nurses. I loved learning about community health nursing and have been focusing my job hunt there. I just got hired at a health clinic run by an insurance company and they have both an immediate/urgent care clinic and a chronic care/frequent follow-up/primary-care"ish" clinic. They are only open M-F and are not open on holidays (can I get a hallelujah?). I have been not-so-patiently waiting to find a job that felt like it met my career goals and could keep me away from the frankly grueling 7-7 that comes with bedside hospital work. During my job hunt I saw job openings in utilization review and pre-service review (both are desk-jobs), research nurse positions, IV therapy positions, positions at physicians offices, school nurse, community health nurse, and case management positions. All of which appealed to me and sounds like they maybe would appeal to you as well.

One thing I anticipate and must warn you though is that a lot of these positions are looking for nurses with a minimum of 1 year experience and sometimes a lot more. I recommend two things to you as both someone who decided 8-10 mos ago I NEED to get another job, and someone who has suffered from generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks. 1) start job searching, start applying, and start interviewing - you never know who you may be able to charm into giving you a chance at a job that you are slightly "under-qualified" for. 2) Find some help for yourself with your anxiety... Maybe therapy with a professional, or maybe just check out the guided meditation videos on youtube - but find some way that works for you to manage your stress. Help yourself to learn a healthy way to cope with this job stress because the tools you use to help you cope with this can be used for any overwhelming life stuff in the future.

I wish you very much luck on your Job Search - you have sooo many options as a nurse and a BSN (trust me, you really do). It may take some patience though so be prepared for that. In the meantime make sure you use your free time to stay up with the activities that bring you peace of mind and happiness this will help reduce your overall stress and counteract some of that burn-out! Good-luck!!!!

Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

How about medical case management for an insurance company?

Not necessarily I just got a job in a clinic and will be making as much there doing M-F dayshift as I make doing saturday night shifts ... I guess it just depends on your area and the clinic ....

Informatics in my neck of the woods requires many years of experience. Most of the away from the bedside jobs do. Just look around and apply for anything that interests you. But try to hang in there for that 1 year if you can, it will make you more marketable

Does informatics require years of direct acute patient care, or some acute patient care and maybe clinic, dialysis or SNF?

This does sound like a good option for the OP....being all techy and all.

To me it sounds like something I'd rather gouge my eyes out rather than do...so I'm glad someone likes it. ;)

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