I think I am suffering from "Burn out" syndrome.

Nurses General Nursing

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I think I am but Im not sure.I'm so tired and I am worn out. I love being a nurse but I just dont know.. Started in the ER..Worked there for about three years..just got tired of it. Could never let go of work when I was off work. Waking up at night thinking of work. Unappreciative management. You work ur butt off but no one cares about you. U get sick one day..truly sick and ud rather go to work and pass out for people to believe u really are sick. Staff was ok but the stress was tooo much to handle but I stayed for 3 years. Switched hospitals and moved to the ICU..1 1/2 years and counting ..staff is great but I just dont feel like I belong. Its Dejavu again. I hate going to work.I feel like i have not find my niche yet but dont know where to start looking. Dont know where to start. Where I am is not the least bit fulfilling for me but I love being a nurse...Soo confusing..Is it just me????? Its like its a taboo for me to say Im not happy. I have taken vacations thinking it will help but then Im back there and the misery starts............

DaretoDreamRN

105 Posts

Specializes in here and there.

Hugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it sounds like burnout to me and its okay to feel that way. A lot of nurses have been there. Some find that making changes in the same job helps or switching jobs to something else helps.

It seems like u have been working in high paced and intense environments.. ER then ICU..not saying the floor is any easier ..maybe try Telemetry or PACU where you can still utilize your critical care background without the intense stress level the ER and ICU has..maybe that will help

Hey and if it that does not work for you..its okay..nursing is very diverse...there are various options out there...

Cranmans

28 Posts

Sounds like you need to take a long vacation...or get the hell out of there.

Nursing is a challenging...hard...and demanding field. It has a BIG turn over rate. Have you thought about going to work as a school nurse...health department...clinic, instead.

Take some time for yourself...find something that makes you tingle inside...and you feel overjoyed to go to work daily. Life is already a stress ball...but you just discribed it has hell.

CathyLew

463 Posts

Specializes in MSP, Informatics.

I agree with DaretoDreamRN. Try something totally different in nursing. There are lots of different areas of nursing. Try home care. Dr office. Ambulatory. Or try a management position. Infection control, education.

if that doesn't work, then get out of nursing and find something that does make you happy. we work so we can live. But life is too short to work at something that makes you miserable, or that you carry home with you like baggage.

Specializes in ICU.

I think I may know where you are coming from, especially since you choose the higher acuity areas of nursing. You go to work, and it's like hanging on a cross. You're doing a tremendous good, but you are completely unappreciated for it--in a way, kind of tortured for it. My guess is that you like working where you are at your highest level of capability, so I'm not sure you'd be happy working at say, home health/hospice, or as a school nurse. You might, and those are distinguished fields of nursing, but if you need the buzz of critical care, like I do, then you have to work less.

This may mean getting your finances in order and possibly living well lower than you are right now, but if you could work PRN two days a week, you'd probably find your balance of doing what you love (and what is in fact the greatest possible profession), and not burning out.

Nursing is very tough, and it's actually a little unreasonable to think people can work it more than an absolute max of three days a week.

How much are you working now?

dishes, BSN, RN

3,950 Posts

Maybe you could do somethings to rejuvinate the feelings you have about your career. Things I have done to keep interested in my career are; complete a BSN degree, join speciality organizations, participate on conference planning committees, mentor staff, attend non-nursing workshops and read non-nursing healthcare journals, seeing healthcare from other professionals point of view helps put things in perspective when I am fed up with nursing. I enjoy working as a nurse but sometimes it takes an active effort to keep my job satsifaction alive.

QT3.14RNinCA

22 Posts

I'm so sad to hear you feel burned out, even though I completely sympathize. Critical Care is such a high-stress environment. We're expected to be vigilant, near-perfect (miss something and your patient can die), be gracious, compassionate and yet sometimes we take so much abuse from patients, families, management and even each other. I guess I can't blame anyone who gets burned out in this profession but I'm sad that not more people appreciate what we do at the bedside. I know nurses are among the most trusted profession out there but it sure doesn't feel like we're appreciated. Sometimes we even have to "fight" with the patients to help them be better. I have a patient who refuses everything (except his Q2h IV push Dilaudid) but then threaten to sue all of us for "not helping him get better". Then there are management issues. It's nursing's fault for this and that, but we're so short staffed and over worked that it's hard to do everything. Some days updating a careplan is the last thing on your mind because your patients are so ill.

Rest assured that you're not alone. This site is awesome for the support and just being able to vent when needed.

Best of luck to you -- maybe you could try another aspect of nursing for awhile. How about School nursing or something not hospital based?

Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.

I would find something else. The good thing about nursing is you can do something else. It sounds to me like you haven't found that area where you belong.

Take a break and don't be hard on yourself. The problem isn't you, its where you are at. :icon_hug:

SurvivorRN

35 Posts

Thanks for the encouraging words..

I actually work 3- 4 days a week.. I pick up overtime sometimes

Thanks a lot for all the advice..There is something out there for me..I just need to find it....soon

nurseforlife

113 Posts

Specializes in telemetry, medsurg, homecare, psychiatry.

Ok, i know exactly what your feeling, cause i went through it myself. to be honest i worked that fast paced, high energy critical care enviroment for many year. I never ever looked forward to going into work, and i hated that feeling. Maybe you should take a look at working in Psychiatry. I worked critical care for years, and would never go back.

I am very happy in psych. Yes, i get told i am a f-----B----, and i have had pizza and chicken wings thrown at me. Usually when we have a code, the patient has a very strong heart beat, and is breathing just fine. Although, there is the occasional suicide.... that is very sad. I can honestly say i still don't miss critical care. LOVE MENTAL HEALTH!!!!!

Ruby Vee, BSN

17 Articles; 14,030 Posts

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

sounds like burn out to me! i've been there a few times. it usually improves with a change in shift or specialty. in these economic times, it's probably not a good time to change employers, but maybe you can find a different unit in the same hospital or, failing that, a different shift. good luck!

Ms.RN

917 Posts

have you ever thought about going back to school for higher education, like to become a nurse practioner or anesthesia? if not then i think you need to change to different specialty that are completely different from critical care like ob, pediatrics, or, or telemetry? i mean i think after doing same kind of working everyday, it just becomes same old same , doing same thing, and it becomes less interesting. so i think it might be helpful if you tried different kind of field.

so funny i was about to post a thread about hating my job. after working in the same company for about a year i always get bored with my work and start hating my job and start looking for a new job. even though i have never worked in critical care (bless your heart for working in high acuity area cause i can't do it) i thought i was a nuts because i cant stay in one job for more than one year when other nurses i have worked with have been there for years and years. maybe i thoght instead of thinking of it as just a job to pay my bills, i'm trying to identify who i am as a person from what i do at work? maybe i'm trying to fulfill my emptiness of my life (lonely single girl) and my self esteem by working days and nights and by wanting to be accepted by people at work?

i'm sorry if i'm not making any sense at all, but thank you allnurses for saving my sanity!!!!! i've cried, laughed, vented and you all have been so kind and helpful and gave me lot of support and encouragements. i love you all allnurses!!!! :bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::[anb]::[anb]::[anb]::[anb]::[anb]::lvan:

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