what else can I do? (burned out)

[soybeck]

Hello all, I think this may just be me venting, and not so much a question.

I have been a nurse 15 years next month. All my nursing experience has been in long term care. (except for a foray into acute care/med-surg that ended after a few weeks)

Recently, most days my 25 minute drive home from work is spent in tears, and sometimes the drive TO work includes tears. I am frustrated all the way around. We are in the midst of a managerial upheaval at work and the new young administrator and DON each have less than 2 years nursing experience. I personally have a hard time being told what to do by someone who has never actually shown that they can DO my job...the company for which I work sees only their degrees (BSN) and apparently that excuses not having actual on-the-job experience. I am sure things will work out "in the end." But I sure do not want to be the teething ring these girls cut their careers on.

How do you know when it is time to move on? I have been at this job over 5 years now and my pay scale is really decent, high enough that I would likely have to take a large cut in pay (which I might not be able to afford) should I go to another job and start over again. Is there anything out there for an old LPN other than LTC? I feel like I am at the end of my tries with LTC - pills all day, family members taking their stress out on me, CNA drama, etc. But would anything else pay me what I need to make to support my family? I live in a rural area and the cities with large hospitals are 30+ miles away, farther than I want to drive every single day.

Will this get better? I hope it is just a passing fancy, has anyone else ever had this conversation with themselves? I feel pretty alone.

Thanks for bearing with me.

[NurseMellie]

I think we all experience similar frustrations and feelings at some point in our careers. Sometimes what can help is just changing carts or units or shifts can help. When I've felt the same way you described, I usually asked for a change of scenery. There was one time I left to do somewhere else and was not happy at all. The drama was worse, so I ended up going back to my old company and have been there since. Where I work, we have been feeling the pinch of extreme shortages in nurses and NACs, so its been very frustrating. Not to mention the ones that call off atleast one day in every rotation.

You might also try picking up a new hobby to relieve stress, something that you really enjoy.

Hope things settle and you find your groove again!

[bluegeegoo2, LPN]

Sounds like you could use a vacation at the least. If you have any time available, I would make arrangements and take off for awhile ASAP. That's my plan, to be executed very, very soon. I plan to take my time and not only "forget" my place of employment, I plan to "forget" that I'm a nurse at all.

As caregivers, we often fail to take into account how the daily stress, the emotional stress, takes a toll on us. IMO, vacation time should be spent taking care of ourselves as much as possible so that we can re-center ourselves. The hope is that when we return we are mentally rested and again able to handle the load we carry. Until next time...

As a side, I preemptively apologize to anyone that dares asks me a medical question while I'm on my vacation.

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

You've been around long enough to know the grass is not always greener somewhere else, especially LTC. My hospital 'let go' of all the LPNs last August, just one day announced they were being laid off in two weeks. There were maybe twenty LPNs, and quite a few had been there longer than any DON or before the hospital was bought by a corporation. Just -- goodbye.

My RN and degree have not prevented me from feeling exactly like you say you are feeling. We just get tired, after so many years, you know? We get used up, and have to replenish ourselves or else we become some casualty, blow out our knee or lower back and then enjoy disability and pain instead of the rest of our career.

I agree that it might be worth a change of scenery, even a slight (hopefully) pay cut. You use your whole self as a nurse, and dammit, it wears you out. You have to take care of YOU, no one else will.

[darkbeauty]

Vacation mama. Take time out *in a good way*

Consider volunteering, perhaps in a third world place where you'll be appreciated.

[alt_one]

I agree with the other responders. Take a vacation. Your mental health is the most important thing. I work second shift and have had 4 DONs in the past 2 years. I get a lot of useless suggestions from people I never see on the floor. Staffing is so bad I started keeping track of the actual number of days I had a full staff. Last year we were fully staffed 43% of the time. Takes it toll on you after a while. I scheduled vacation time of one week off a month for 3 straight months. It helped. Good luck