Emotionally drained

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I've worked at an inpatient peds psych facility for the last 3 years and I want to preface saying I LOVE working with the kids and my coworkers. However, I've been feeling burnout emotionally. I tried talking to my nurse manager but she always has an excuse of not being able to meet with me. She just took on the role so I get that she is very busy. I feel like I need a whole day just to recover and sleep after a shift. I do see a therapist and psychiatrist for anxiety and I don't have depression. I've always tried pushing through but now I'm questioning everything.

I LOVE my job but how do you know if it's just not mentally healthy to stay in that position?

Specializes in Peds ED.

How much do you work? Do you take vacation time? What do you do for yourself to feel good on your off days?

I couldn’t tell you if you’re burned out and need a break or if you’ve just reached a limit and need to try another job/specialty, but I know for myself that how I care for myself when not at work (and how much I work, OT burns me out so fast) makes a big difference in how I feel at work. Some specialties come with more secondary trauma than others and sad stuff in pediatrics can be especially sad (I work in a peds er and our psych patients have often experienced so much trauma it can be really hard to bear witness to that, to see how it’s impacted their lives, etc).

Have you worked other places or is this your first job outside of school?

I tend to start to feel burnt on a job around the 2 year mark, and often have periods of time where I just can’t connect with my work, but so far I’ve always eventually been able to respark what I love about my work.

2 Votes
On 5/29/2020 at 3:11 PM, HiddencatBSN said:

How much do you work? Do you take vacation time? What do you do for yourself to feel good on your off days?

I couldn’t tell you if you’re burned out and need a break or if you’ve just reached a limit and need to try another job/specialty, but I know for myself that how I care for myself when not at work (and how much I work, OT burns me out so fast) makes a big difference in how I feel at work. Some specialties come with more secondary trauma than others and sad stuff in pediatrics can be especially sad (I work in a peds er and our psych patients have often experienced so much trauma it can be really hard to bear witness to that, to see how it’s impacted their lives, etc).

Have you worked other places or is this your first job outside of school?

I tend to start to feel burnt on a job around the 2 year mark, and often have periods of time where I just can’t connect with my work, but so far I’ve always eventually been able to respark what I love about my work.

I work 36 hours per week and occasionally work OT. I have not taken PTO in at least a year because I've had to take off work for health reasons that didn't count at short term disability.

This is my first job out of school but I know I have a passion for psych. I think it's very much going to come down to boundaries. I feel like I carry the burdens and stories of each child. I definitely absorb the feelings and vibes of others. I should have mentioned in my previous post that I do have struggles in my past and I think that definitely affects me. But I know that I always need to work on myself in order to help others

Thank you for letting me vent ❤️

2 Votes
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

1. You definitely need to take some real time off. To at least recharge your batteries, or maybe even realize you need to be somewhere else. It's impossible to get the kind of clarity you need from inside the emotional hurricane.

2. Check out The Empath's Survival Guide by Judith Orloff to see if you relate to any of it and if it has anything to offer you.

Good luck!

2 Votes
Specializes in Peds ED.

Trauma Stewardship is also supposed to be an excellent read and is on my book pile right now.

1 Votes
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