Burned out already

Nurses General Nursing

Published

It's been a year. And I'm already burned out. Is it wrong of me to think of switching to part-time??

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I absolutely hated every minute of being a floor nurse until I quit the other day! It stinks and I am not a waitress now nor ever. I am hoping that I will enjoy my new role as a FNP in a couple years. If not I will hang out in my husband's pharmacy.

These posts have helped me so much because I am feeling the same way. I am wondering what else can I do besides beside nursing. I have a business degree along with my nursing degree. I am thinking there has to be something I just dont know what. Any suggestions?

Specializes in ICU, BURNS, TRAUMA, TRANSPORT, HH.

Ok...

Nursing is hard!

It involves physical, mental, and emotional work.

It is the most accountable and responsible job in the hospital. Patient outcomes depend upon nurses.

It is also a very rewarding profession.

You have to find the things that put wind in your sails.

You have to have the personal support and discipline to fill your bucket at the end of long shifts, difficult assignments, and bad management interactions.

Nursing is no place for sissies...funny that there are not more of us guys!

I have been a nurse for all of 5 years. I am looking for something out of the hospital or a job out of the nursing field. In 36 years of working I have never felt like this about any job. I absolutely dread going in and dealing with the BS. It is certainly not patient care that is driving me away because there is very little of that but rather it is the responsibility of being responsible for EVERYTHING!. If the meal did not come up it is call the nurse. If the cable is not to the patients liking it is call the nurse. If the light in the room is not working it is call the nurse. I swear the other departments are useless. Can a phlebotomist not call maintenance if a light is not working? Instead of wasting my time they can just call themselves. It is not rocket science!

I can understand being burnt out after a year. My burnout did not occur until the 3 year mark. It is not unusual. There are not many nurses who enjoy being run into the ground and not having time to eat and then hearing about overtime even though it was impossible to stop and chart within the 8 or 12 hour period.

Yes I totally agree, being so responsible is exhausting, I envy the nursing students, the PCAs, the people that come to the bedside to do an EKG because they get to leave and not give a second thought about the patient. I feel like many workers in all departments are allowed to drop the ball on an issue they dont feel like dealing with because it will ultimately be left for the nurse to deal with. For example, PCA: "this thermometer isnt reading the pt's temp...I dont have time to find another thermometer..." I dont care, its your job to do vitals go find another thermometer! Phlebotomist- This patient is a hard stick, you can try or I can come back later- well come back later then I have way more I have to do, you are probably more proficient at drawing blood than I am since you do it ALL day. I had a pt volume overloaded coughing up handfuls of frothy sputum, Dr wants me to have RT NT suction them, I call RT, RT says well I dont really have time right now you should be able to do that... Ive never done it and I feel a lot more comfortable having RT handle it...she ended up doing it but why cant specialties just do what they have to do? I cant do it all. My hospital has a policy that MDs are supposed to draw stat blood draws...psh yeah do they even learn how to do that?

Specializes in Psychiatry.

Correct me if I am wrong. What you are terming "burn out" is actually, "this is not what I had expected." You cannot be burnt out in a year. I am not sure if switching to part-time is the solution. You'd still be "less burnt out", I think.

Specializes in Psychiatry.

You said it like it is bro!

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
I absolutely hated every minute of being a floor nurse until I quit the other day! It stinks and I am not a waitress now nor ever. I am hoping that I will enjoy my new role as a FNP in a couple years. If not I will hang out in my husband's pharmacy.

Hi Mom to 4,

I am so envious. I wish I could quit and go back to school full time but I am single without any other means of support. Good for you! I am 47 and I work with quite a few nurses in their 20s who already want to go to school for that advanced degree. That right there tells you that working at the bedside is a terrible stressor.

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
These posts have helped me so much because I am feeling the same way. I am wondering what else can I do besides beside nursing. I have a business degree along with my nursing degree. I am thinking there has to be something I just dont know what. Any suggestions?

I am in the same boat. I have a finance/business degree and my nursing degree. Would love to be able to combine the two and get away from the bedside. I would never be a nurse manager because I do not like asking the impossible of people.

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
Yes I totally agree, being so responsible is exhausting, I envy the nursing students, the PCAs, the people that come to the bedside to do an EKG because they get to leave and not give a second thought about the patient. I feel like many workers in all departments are allowed to drop the ball on an issue they dont feel like dealing with because it will ultimately be left for the nurse to deal with. For example, PCA: "this thermometer isnt reading the pt's temp...I dont have time to find another thermometer..." I dont care, its your job to do vitals go find another thermometer! Phlebotomist- This patient is a hard stick, you can try or I can come back later- well come back later then I have way more I have to do, you are probably more proficient at drawing blood than I am since you do it ALL day. I had a pt volume overloaded coughing up handfuls of frothy sputum, Dr wants me to have RT NT suction them, I call RT, RT says well I dont really have time right now you should be able to do that... Ive never done it and I feel a lot more comfortable having RT handle it...she ended up doing it but why cant specialties just do what they have to do? I cant do it all. My hospital has a policy that MDs are supposed to draw stat blood draws...psh yeah do they even learn how to do that?

I know. It is like no one can problem solve but the nurse. I had to deal with a patient's broken cane a few days ago. That is not in my job description but you bet that fell into my lap to deal with. Never mind I had a patient with rapid a-fib at the same time.

Specializes in Orthopedics, and Home care.

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who feels this way .. I'm a surgical tech for 10 years but always thought that I wanted to get into nursing. I have only been a floor nurse for one year and I hate it, in ready to go back to the OR..

Specializes in labor & delivery.

Hated it after about 1.5-2 yrs. Switched specialty and still hated it. Just left the bedside. I don't care what you call it--burn out, not what I expected, whatever. It was not for me. Loved my patients, loved caring for them, hated the BS politics, unruly family, ridiculous expectations, not being supported by management, back-stabbing co-workers, and being treated as the hospital pee-on. Granted, the grass isn't always greener on the other side, but I'm willing to try something else to see if I can make this nursing degree worthwhile. OP, do whatever you have to in order to be happy. Best wishes to you!!

Scary! I have not even started working as nurse and I read your posts on bed-side care burnout. I guess I am lucky to read them because I am conditioning my mind on what to expect. What I usually do when I get burnout with work, ( I was a certified public accountant and now I just finished my BSN and reviewing for the NCLEX now). I meditate and listen to Eckert Tolle's audiobook, "The Power of Now". Try that and let me know if that helps. I think it is more difficult if not impossible to change our environment that surrounds us, but how we look at our environment makes a big difference in dealing with it everyday. Peace!

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