Feeling Bored

try joining a float pool. Never stop, keep trying new things, don't let yourself go stagnant, be active in shared governance, do as much as you feel comfortable doing without it becoming too much.

I found floating was awesome, the staff was excited to see you there to help, you usually had a fair assignment, you did not have to get caught up in the politics, and when you were done you left for the day knowing you did the best you cold do that day, and the next day you had something new and exciting.

You're feeling ambition. It's a good thing and it's coming at the right time for you.

Take advantage of this feeling and let It push you forward in your career.

You could explore other specialties or go back to school as you have already mentioned.

What feels more interesting?

What kind of facility are you in that you would have hours of free time on a shift??? ?

Maybe you can move to a higher acuity within Peds if you enjoy Peds. Like progressive care, Peds ER or ICU. And if you love your job but just feel the need to do something more “impressive”, stay where you are! It’s great to find a job you love. But if you are truly feeling bored and unfulfilled, the good thing about nursing is there are so many specialties to try ?

Here's the thing that most people don't realize about peds: there is a huge variation in acuity and census depending on the type of hospital you work for, much more so than with adults. In adult med-surg, you'll generally see similar populations whether you work in a community hospital or in a large academic referral center. In peds, your experience is far more dependent on your hospital because the most complex kids are automatically diverted to Children's Hospitals. I've worked in academic hospitals where the sickest kid in the PICU is on ECMO with an open chest and continuous dialysis, and I've worked in community hospitals where the sickest kid in the PICU is on 2 L high flow nasal cannula.

Your post makes me wonder--are you working in a smaller, 'non-Children's-Hospital' with a single general peds floor? If so, you're probably going to see a smaller range of illness and relatively healthy kids. If your hospital has a PICU or peds ED, you could ask to cross-train to those areas; however, they probably still won't have the same variety or acuity that you'd see in a true Children's Hospital. Depending on your hospital, you may find that even in the PICU/peds ED, you see a lot of repetition (GI upset, upper respiratory illness, etc.) because the sicker kids are all automatically transported to big referral centers.

Peds is a very diverse specialty with a huge range of acuity; there's so much to learn about specialized areas like heme-onc, cardiac, neuro, etc. If you have the opportunity to work at a large referral center there are tons of specialties with their own great learning opportunities, especially if you work in an academic facility. Unfortunately, if you don't live near a hospital with specialized services, you may find that the patient population and interventions are relatively predictable and run-of-the-mill, even in the higher-acuity specialties like PICU and peds ED.

If you are confined to your current hospital, you could ask to be cross-trained to the PICU or peds ED (if you have one). However, you may find that within your current hospital, you have more variety and opportunities for growth within the adult population.

Also, are you working night shift? (That seems more likely with the several hours of downtime...) If so, you may find that you're busier and have more learning opportunities on days. There's usually way more going on: more families to work with, more time that kids need to be actively entertained, and more learning experiences during rounds and specialty consults. Just a thought.

On 2/21/2020 at 11:58 PM, jellybean570 said:

At my one year, I quit after I accepted a pediatric nursing job. I THOUGHT it was my dream job. I used to be a preschool teacher and I absolutely love kids. However, it's been almost a year and I'm SO bored as a pediatric nurse. I see the same thing every shift and 9 times out of 10 I have nothing to do on shifts for a few hours.

No offense but if you have nothing to do as a nurse on a peds unit for several hour you aren't really a peds nurse. There is always a kid that needs help with homework, another disease to be studied, an infant that would benefit from holding, and so on.

39 minutes ago, PeakRN said:

No offense but if you have nothing to do as a nurse on a peds unit for several hour you aren't really a peds nurse. There is always a kid that needs help with homework, another disease to be studied, an infant that would benefit from holding, and so on.

Thanks for the input! I’m a night shift nurse on a low acuity med surg floor. Not much to do after midnight when everyone is asleep and parents help with babies...

2 hours ago, adventure_rn said:

Here's the thing that most people don't realize about peds: there is a huge variation in acuity and census depending on the type of hospital you work for, much more so than with adults. In adult med-surg, you'll generally see similar populations whether you work in a community hospital or in a large academic referral center. In peds, your experience is far more dependent on your hospital because the most complex kids are automatically diverted to Children's Hospitals. I've worked in academic hospitals where the sickest kid in the PICU is on ECMO with an open chest and continuous dialysis, and I've worked in community hospitals where the sickest kid in the PICU is on 2 L high flow nasal cannula.

Your post makes me wonder--are you working in a smaller, 'non-Children's-Hospital' with a single general peds floor? If so, you're probably going to see a smaller range of illness and relatively healthy kids. If your hospital has a PICU or peds ED, you could ask to cross-train to those areas; however, they probably still won't have the same variety or acuity that you'd see in a true Children's Hospital. Depending on your hospital, you may find that even in the PICU/peds ED, you see a lot of repetition (GI upset, upper respiratory illness, etc.) because the sicker kids are all automatically transported to big referral centers.

Peds is a very diverse specialty with a huge range of acuity; there's so much to learn about specialized areas like heme-onc, cardiac, neuro, etc. If you have the opportunity to work at a large referral center there are tons of specialties with their own great learning opportunities, especially if you work in an academic facility. Unfortunately, if you don't live near a hospital with specialized services, you may find that the patient population and interventions are relatively predictable and run-of-the-mill, even in the higher-acuity specialties like PICU and peds ED.

If you are confined to your current hospital, you could ask to be cross-trained to the PICU or peds ED (if you have one). However, you may find that within your current hospital, you have more variety and opportunities for growth within the adult population.

Also, are you working night shift? (That seems more likely with the several hours of downtime...) If so, you may find that you're busier and have more learning opportunities on days. There's usually way more going on: more families to work with, more time that kids need to be actively entertained, and more learning experiences during rounds and specialty consults. Just a thought.

I work at a hospital with just one peds floor. So we are super low acuity and just general med surg. I definitely I want to move to an all children’s hospital!

17 hours ago, Jedrnurse said:

What kind of facility are you in that you would have hours of free time on a shift??? ?

A hospital with just a small peds unit! Super low acuity and just basic med surg!

23 minutes ago, jellybean570 said:

I work at a hospital with just one peds floor. So we are super low acuity and just general med surg. I definitely I want to move to an all children’s hospital!

While there are some incredible learning opportunities available at larger referral peds centers, I would caution you that it can be far more emotionally and mentally exhausting. The downside of caring for super-sick kids is that you're caring for super-sick kids. A lot of these kids are slowly dying for no reason (or worse, because of the action/inaction of a caregivers); it's tough to be confronted by that harsh reality on a regular basis.

I personally left a NICU job that I really enjoyed (most of the kids got better and went home) to accept a very high-acuity pediatric cardiac ICU job at a large academic center. I learned more in that one year of peds cardiac than I did in my first several years of NICU nursing. However, within the first six months, I was feeling exhausted, frustrated, and heartbroken. I became attached to plenty of kids and watched them die drawn-out, horrendously painful, traumatic ICU deaths, and it made me want to quit nursing. I know more about hemodynamics than I ever could have imagined, but it came at an unexpectedly high cost.

You mention that you were feeling very burned out in your first adult job. Your current job isn't as mentally stimulating in part because the kids are less acute/complex, but the flip side is that most of them are probably going to be fine. It's possible that you could move to a larger center and learn more, but also feel more burned out in the process.

I don't want to dissuade you from pursuing a job with higher-acuity care. Just be aware that it might come at a cost you hadn't previously considered.