Should I stay or should I go now?

Published Feb 26, 2016

1 Post

I am having a hard time deciding if I should leave my current position or stay.

I currently work in a REALLY rewarding and REALLY stressful unit. I work as a nurse in a pediatric cardiac ICU. So good days include saving lives and watching babies who we were unsure were even going to make it get better, through our diligent care and our surgeons amazing work. Seeing a baby smile for the first time, or the relief on a family's face when their child is well enough to go to the step-down unit. Educating a family on their child's heart defect and the treatments is so rewarding. There are so many aspects I love about my job.

So bad things...there are also a lot. Some (not all) of my co-workers are burnt out and not very nice ...it's not fun trying to work with people who you don't feel like have your back. There are politics over having "better" assignments. The stress is VERY real. I have seen babies and children die. A bad day at work for me means someone dies. :'( I have watched patients who have no surgical options left languish in our unit attached to tubes and machines without a real plan moving forward. (They are kept alive but is it living?) So there is this ethical and emotional stress and burden that takes its toll on me. The hours are bad. I work on a rotating basis from 7am-7pm to then a few days later (or sometimes the next day) 7pm-7am. It messes with your sleep schedule and energy levels and your appetite and your mood and your health. I work more night shifts because I find being in a more consistent sleep schedule helps me to some extent. I was going to switch to consistently nights to see if that helps with my sleep patterns. There are no day shift only positions available. I also have to work weekends and holidays. To make matters worse, we are short staffed recently and I feel like I am running every shift. I feel like it is harder to provide truly excellent care to my patients when the unit is so tight. (I also feel guilty leaving the unit when we are this short staffed)

Enter the new job posting at my hospital. It is in the PACU. It is all days, no weekends or holidays (besides being on-call) The hours sound amazing. I would be taking care of patients before and after surgery (still kiddos which is awesome because I love working with kids) I think it would still be somewhat challenging as patients would be recovering from anesthesia and sedation. But I've talked to coworkers who have transferred there and they say it is VERY easy. This means less stress, like practically stress free in comparison to what I am doing. I would only see patients for a short period of time and would not get emotionally involved. I would get to sleep on a normal schedule which would be better for my overall health and life outside work. On a negative note, I would have to work 4 10-hour days a week (hehe I only work three 12-hour days now) I would get to be with my family on holidays

My fear is I will be bored in this new role or just not like it as much as my old position...that's what my current manager mentioned as well. I think I will miss my heart warriors. But I feel emotionally and physically drained from my current position. I feel so torn. I am currently applying to the new position (after talking to my manager) and will find out more information about the job itself. I'm hoping this will help. I will also shadow on this unit and see what it is like on a day to day basis. Any thoughts or nurses who have experienced the same dilemma?