in the wake of this tragedy do we really know our breaking point ?

[rudecat]

How many of work.to the point of exaustion, see such pain and sadness in our workplace (its not all perfect) and think we are dealing with it quite well? At what point do we stop and reflect . That we look at us.without feeling the caregiver guilt. This is not saying we don't love our jobs but are we loving it to the point of our own wellbeing ?

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

I don't love nothing or nobody more than I love myself and God. It's not selfish, it's survival. You have to love and take care of YOU first, not your patients, not your children, not your spouse. We all have to keep that in mind. It can become so easy to become enmeshed into the pulls of life and society, but we have to keep ourselves and our sanity first.

[Farawyn]

Anybody

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

This is not saying we don't love our jobs but are we loving it to the point of our own wellbeing ?

I've never loved any job I've ever had, nursing or non-nursing. I view work as simply a means to an end and a way to generate money to fund the more pleasurable aspects of my life.

As nurses, we must learn to effectively compartmentalize. Yes, our patients and their families experience pain and misery, but we must learn to develop a sense of professional detachment from their issues. If we personalized all of their problems, we'd become basket cases. I think this is where many burnout issues originate.

To be honest, I put myself first. It might sound selfish, but it's part of the unwritten social contract, which dictates that you cannot effectively tend to others unless you've fulfilled your own basic needs first. So according to the unwritten social contract, my needs come before others.

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

Anybody

Petty.

[Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN]

Petty.

It's Farawyn. I doubt she meant harm by it.

[cracklingkraken, ASN, RN]

Anybody

It took me forever to figure out what your post was referring to.

[Farawyn]

Petty.

Dislike.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

I don't break. I bend.

[Farawyn]

It's Farawyn. I doubt she meant harm by it.

I fall off pedestals all the time, Adele, but thanks!

[rudecat]

I meant no harm . Sorry if I upset you RC

[CountryMomma, ASN, RN]

It took me forever to figure out what your post was referring to.

I still don't understand. ..

Back to the OP, I see it often, even on my own floor. I have a coworker whose marriage is coming unraveled, has started two antidepressants and an anxiolytic, but has been a Daisy nominee three times in one year, is first pick to precept students, and is on three committees. She defines herself through her work, is over - involved, and is consequently falling apart while convincing herself it is anything but how she copes with her job.