I have this ongoing and pervasive thought almost every morning.
Anyone else have to really, dig deep each and every day of work to fight an overwhelming urge to just drive right on by their place of employment, return home and get back into their warm bed for a few more hours of delicious sleep?
I am so tired after 29 years of active nursing, shXtty, sarcastic doctors and mid-level providers, weekends, nights, holidays... Add to that, a steady dose of toxic coworkers and ever-shifting policies and directives and Trader Joe's looks better every day. Oh but those golden handcuffs and few other options! Sorry for the rant everyone!
Add me to the list...I've given my notice to go back to staff nurse (currently clinic manager), as a situation happened while I was off with covid. My manager wonders why I didn't do something about it. Hmmm, I was off sick...I still got *****ED out. Noted that there is a FT staff nurse position near my home. I just finalized the paperwork 10 min ago, online. On 2/15, I'm a dialysis staff nurse again. No loss of pay per hour. No more after hour phone calls about things I have no control over. While its not driving right on by and going home, it's a decrease in headaches. If I could retire though, I would...Walmart greeter is starting to look appealing
thank you Hoosier and keep on keeping on-we'll get to the finish line (retirement) somehow. On a personal note, I've mostly narrowed my post nursing career choices to Trader Joe's and Costco. Having a dedicated USPS mail route used to be at the very top of my list (fresh air, exercise, federal bennies...), but now that the Feds have mostly outsourced all jobs and gutted the benefits, not so much.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
22 minutes ago, morelostthanfound said:
Too funny Davey. It would be even more funny if it weren't sadly true and relatable on a daily basis (no ETOH though).
My mid to late 30's was a rough age for me. I was depressed for extended periods of time for founded and unfounded reasons.
If I had to pinpoint a time of illuminating revelation, it occurred after an incident were I was stabbed by a patient diagnosed with schizophrenia. Upon returning to work, I broke down crying at my desk. Everything seem like a ribbon of darkness over me.
I was sent to a therapist, then I found an art therapist which enhanced my life and turned things around.
But during those years of depression, I was on a quest to relieve the depression. I did both healthy and unhealthy things, from exercise, voraciously reading spiritual and self help books, going to Emotions Anonymous meetings, taking St. John's wort to having an extramarital affair and smoking a lot of herbal jazz cigarettes.
I would encourage you to immerse yourself in an endeavor to deal with your feelings, morelostthanfound.
I've long retired and I guess I was lucky that my career was never quite that bad enough that I wanted to just 'keep on driving' all the time. Yeah, an occ once in a while!
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
2 minutes ago, Hoosier_RN said:
I worked Wal-Mart years ago. Never again. Headaches worse than nursing management
My sister Cat was suspended from her job as a Trainer at a Hell Hole DD program several years ago, and in the meantime took a job for a few months at Walmart.
When she was found innocent of the charges, she returned to Hell Hole, received back pay, and said she'd never work at Walmart again.
Yours and Cat's perspectives, Hoosier, makes me want to treat the Walmart employees with a little more respect.
I think maybe you should look around for something new.
Last year the hospital where I was pretty happy, but probably getting burnt out on lots of things anyways, like the same old frequent flyers in our emergency room, suddenly closed. Plus, being in a hospital that was very poorly run, and in bankruptcy.
That threw me out of the place that I was going to happily retire from, and where I had made peace with my co-workers and felt in my comfort zone.
Last year was a year of upheaval for many people, including me. I definitely had some adventures working a couple of covid contracts, having some time off, starting up a small sideline with my time off. Last Summer I finally landed in the job where I am working.
I'm really enjoying being with a new group of people, in a new environment, and a different types of patients. I really love my new coworkers. They are an extremely down-to-earth group, and the area has a different culture that I'm finding interesting to get to know.
My point is that things were getting stale for me but I'm close to retirement and it took the hospital closing to throw me into something that has turned out to be a blessing. You can always make that choice yourself though with a little planning.
My first job was stocking shelves at a grocery store and I LOVED IT.
I don't feel like turning around in the morning but after a 12 hr shift that went bad I do feel like never going back. I'm one of those weird people that feel refreshed before my shifts (unless I was mandated or had a quick turnover). I told my boyfriend I like mornings because "my day isn't ruined yet".
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
OP, I had the same thought hundreds of times when I worked in the hospital. I'd be driving in and thinking, "Crap it's way too late to call in, but if I miss my exit and keep going I'll end up in Mexico eventually. But then how can I explain to staffing that I'm in another country, on the beach with a margarita in hand." I never figured out a decent enough excuse to give, so I went to work.
OP, I had the same thought hundreds of times when I worked in the hospital. I'd be driving in and thinking, "Crap it's way too late to call in, but if I miss my exit and keep going I'll end up in Mexico eventually. But then how can I explain to staffing that I'm in another country, on the beach with a margarita in hand." I never figured out a decent enough excuse to give, so I went to work.
I like your thinking and while I love Mexico, at that particular moment I would settle for being anyplace other than the hospital!
I generally like my job and I very much like my coworkers. I was off on vacation for almost a full two weeks. Last Tuesday was my first day back, and I sat down at my desk and thought “WTH am I doing here? I am about to answer the phone and get yelled at. Maybe I should quit today.” We don’t need the money and I could even say “I’m homeschooling my child in the pandemic” and nobody would bat an eye. But... we take a deep breath, we clock in, and we focus on our jobs, right? I didn’t quit and I will go in again tomorrow.
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thank you Hoosier and keep on keeping on-we'll get to the finish line (retirement) somehow. On a personal note, I've mostly narrowed my post nursing career choices to Trader Joe's and Costco. Having a dedicated USPS mail route used to be at the very top of my list (fresh air, exercise, federal bennies...), but now that the Feds have mostly outsourced all jobs and gutted the benefits, not so much.