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.
Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc.
I felt this way too. I went into Postanesthesia Recovery, which was nice because I could still care for patients but it wasn't the continuous punishment one gets working on a unit like yours. You could also try OR or an Outpatient setting. I might wait a year to get the experience, or look in house to see if there are any other positions open. If you have Critical Care classes at your facility, ICU/CCU might also be an option.
Med/Surg is also not for me. I am a Radiology Nurse and patients are mostly outpatient or just diagnostics. You can be a clinical nurse instructor (you deal with student nurses), school nurse (you deal mostly with children/teenagers), occupational nurse, company nurse (my favorite!). There are also clinic nurses, derma nurses, optha nurses, airport nurses, forensic nurses (you deal with dead people which is more likeable for me), legal nurse and others. If you don't want anything to do about being a nurse, try being a medical representative, or work in an insurance company,or medical encoder/medical transcriptionist. Hope this helps.
I would suggest addressing your health first. Then get some more experience as a nurse somewhere else such as ambulatory nursing, long term care (if you like working with elderly folks) or other places which is slower and less stressful than a hospital. You can also pursue MSN and become NP. Becoming NP will take you away from bedside and put you in a provider role. You will be working with physicians and fellow NPs. But you need at least 1-2 years of nursing experience before you can apply for most NP schools.
I have been a nurse since 2014 and have had 1.5 years of experience in a skilled nursing home. I just left it and searching for a new job now. It was not easy as you do lot more than just your nursing duties. But your problem seems more serious. Try to find a different job or different floor which is less stressful (Nursing = Stress!).
I don't know if I would suggest LTC since most nursing homes seem to have ungodly nurse to patient ratios. I've heard in some places it's 50 pts to 1 nurse. That would be even more stressful IMO.
While it is true that nurse to patient ratios are higher than the hospital, in LTC most patients are either relatively stable or on hospice. I haven't worked in hospital but I think LTC can be a good change plus you develop good rapport with your patients and families.
you can become a nursing research coordinator, or do ambulatory care, or work for medical equipment companies. There are lots of potential for a nurse besides patient care. Your education is very valuable and I am sure you will find your niche.
You've got a degree that took 4 years to get (or close to it) give yourself at least half of that time to decide whether you like it or not. Definitely try other aspects of nursing. Many insurance companies offer nursing positions taking phone calls and reviewing charts. Also consider home healthcare. This is my profession and area of choice. Home Healthcare allows you deal with a limited number of patients (in my case I have 1 patient for 40 hours a week). Home Healthcare also allows for more autonomy, which is fabulous because there is no one breathing down your neck barking orders.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I've been an RN for 6 months working in acute care.
Acute care is not everyone's cup of tea. To be perfectly honest, I'd be content if I never set foot in a hospital for the remainder of my nursing career because other jobs exist that mesh more optimally with my personality.
You should definitely try the OR. Maybe apply to an ambulatory surgery center. A lot of the nurses in the OR that I know have had the same experience as you and now that they are in the OR they absolutely love it and wouldn't do anything else.
There are a lot of things you can do instead of bedside nursing. You don't necessarily need a BSN to do them, but you do need at least one year of experience to be able to do them. Wherever you are, there are always state jobs available, like working for the Department of Children and Family Services or your local health department. See what's available at your local school district. You can start out as a substitute nurse to see if you like that. You can work for your local sheriff's department as a nurse at your local jail. You can look into industrial nursing. You can do home-based chart reviews for insurance companies or work as a nurse consultant in a variety of fields. If you still want to work as a bedside nurse, look into home healthcare.
There are a multitude of options for nurses. The key is having at least one year of experience on a floor. I have been an RN for five years and I have multiple lumbar spine injuries from a bad car accident 18 years ago. Floor nursing has aggravated my injuries to the point that my pain is no longer controlled by previously effective treatment and meds. Three months ago, I had surgery to place a neurostimulator implant. While this works better than any treatment before it, there is no longer any possibility that I can work as a floor nurse. I am in the process of taking courses to get certified as a legal nurse consultant. I will have my own business consulting with attorneys on medical-related cases. I can work either part-time or full-time. The best part is that I can work in my own time. I can schedule meetings around my own medical appointments and my family life.
SororAKS, ADN, RN
720 Posts
I felt this way too. I went into Postanesthesia Recovery, which was nice because I could still care for patients but it wasn't the continuous punishment one gets working on a unit like yours. You could also try OR or an Outpatient setting. I might wait a year to get the experience, or look in house to see if there are any other positions open. If you have Critical Care classes at your facility, ICU/CCU might also be an option.