Soo tired of bedside...

Nurses General Nursing

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It has been 10 years since I graduated nursing school and have been working at the bedside in a hospital setting. Needless to say, bedside nurses experience burnout on all different levels, emotionally, spiritually, and physically! I'd say that I love my job and love helping patients and families in times of great need. Its perhaps the purest form of helping people in an occupation which is why I was drawn to nursing in the first place. However, while doing this for 10 years, it becomes so draining when having to deal with staffing issues, micromanaging, pressing demands from hospital administrators, as well as workplace violence from patients. I feel at a crossroads where I know staying in the hospital will eventually eat at me alive the way things are going. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have guys have similar views? Did you feel bedside is for you anymore?

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
That image is way big and I can't get rid of it, sorry!

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Yeah, thats seems to be me as well. I just kind of shut down when I get out of work and will sometimes even forget faces of patients that I've taken care of the following day or two...Everyone has there own way of coping with the stressors of work I guess

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Yep, I was thinking the same thing. There are many avenues and different fields within nursing. Thats why I chose it!

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Specializes in Case manager, float pool, and more.

I use my drive home to decompress if I need to. I can crank up the music or use as much profanity as I need to. But once I am in my house, that is it. Work does not come home with me anymore.

But, nursing has many options, especially when you have some experience. Explore different areas and see what else is available where you are.

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If Im not dead at the end of my shift, I'll go out for a run. I find that exercise helps clear my head in the best way, especially if I go hard. Nothing like working up some good endorphins.

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If Im not dead at the end of my shift, I'll go out for a run. I find that exercise helps clear my head in the best way, especially if I go hard. Nothing like working up some good endorphins.

I can't full-on run, but I walked like a maniac and sometimes would jog until I felt like my boobs were going to fall off.

It also help me to tap into my creative side: drawing, writing and crocheting.

At bedtime, I'd meditate along with some YouTube videos. It really helped with work anxiety that I had trouble shaking off.

One thing I also did was I reminded myself that my job could be stressful and psyched myself up, thinking, "Oh, just break it all down and manage it as best as you can as you go, dumbass... you've got this..." It usually calmed me.

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

I've been doing bedside at a LTC/rehab for 5 years - it's a late second career - but I was thinking somewhat similar thoughts last night at work, and not for the first time. I may or may not do this for another 5 years, but although I like parts of it, and it's definitely rewarding, at the same time, I don't think I would've wanted to do it for 30 years.

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Wow this thread has the most posts out of all the threads I posted. It seems that I'm not the only one that feels this way and that people feel the most passionate about this. I think there is a bit of truth in that taking work home is a fast track to burning out quick. We all have lives outside of work and I think the secret is to leave work life out where it was in the hospital the moment you clock out.

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yeah, I find that the youtube meditation videos have helped with ruminating thoughts, stress and anxiety too.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
It has been 10 years since I graduated nursing school and have been working at the bedside in a hospital setting. Needless to say, bedside nurses experience burnout on all different levels, emotionally, spiritually, and physically! I'd say that I love my job and love helping patients and families in times of great need. Its perhaps the purest form of helping people in an occupation which is why I was drawn to nursing in the first place. However, while doing this for 10 years, it becomes so draining when having to deal with staffing issues, micromanaging, pressing demands from hospital administrators, as well as workplace violence from patients. I feel at a crossroads where I know staying in the hospital will eventually eat at me alive the way things are going. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have guys have similar views? Did you feel bedside is for you anymore?

Forty years in, I've been physically burned out a few times, emotionally burned out once or twice but never spiritually. I don't put spiritual energy into my work, and try not to invest my emotions in it, either. I've never felt that staying in the hospital would eat me alive. I've retired from the bedside once, and I probably will again.

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I look at what I do as a profession. I'm a well educated and highly trained professional doing the best I can by my patients. I think this whole spiritual calling notion is starting to fade & that's a good thing. Nursing is what I do not who I am. It provides me with a good living and a chance to help folks. If you are tired of your job get a new one doing something in or out of nursing but don't personalize or mystify this because at the end of the day none of us would do this without the check every two weeks. Its a job

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Floor nursing was not for me at all. I knew it would not be sustainable for me. I went back to school and I have found that I very much prefer being a provider.

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