Growing bored of med-surg repetition

[lady_jezebel]

Sure, the diagnoses may differ from pt to pt, but I do the same types of tasks every day -- start IVs, blood draws/labs, empty foleys, wound care, change dressings, remove staples, empty hemovacs, JPs, give meds, ambulate pts, hang IV fluids/drugs, assess pain, work PCA/epidural pumps, do rudimentary head-to-toe assessments, make phone calls (to MDs, radiology, pharmacy, social work, nutrition, etc...), set up meals, bathe/toilet pts, change suction cannisters, take vitals, etc...

I FEEL SO BORED! I do the same general stuff every day. This is my first nursing job & I've been doing it for about 7 months. It's just so darn task-oriented, but now that I've learned how to do all this stuff, I'm no longer interested in it. Sure, I talk to my patients & try to show them compassion or understanding if they are going through something difficult, but most of the time I find conversations with pts to be tiresome. And I hate hearing the call bells on our unit go off every 30 seconds. I'm just so tired of the routine.

Are other areas of nursing different? Do they also become routine after a while? Are they also heavily task-oriented? Does anyone feel like they are THINKING and PROBLEM SOLVING most of the time, or generally just carrying out orders (and making sure that the correct orders are written)?

I don't feel fulfilled, and can't wait until my one year of med-surg is up.

[suzanne4, RN]

If you don't like med-surg, why are you waiting for your one year to be up?

Have you looked into other areas in your hospital or are you wanting to change hospitals entirely? In other words, if you weren't working M/S, where would you like to be, or where do you see yourself?

Have you tried shadowing a nurse in some other areas? Thar may help give you some insight.................

:balloons:

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I'm afraid what you are growing bored with is nursing! I dont know that moving to another area will give you any different insight, for another unit has their own set of doledrum repitious regiems just like med/surg does. An office might offer some variation for a while, but eventually it will be the same, BP/history/chief complaint/pharmacy phone calls/calls for consultations/calls from hospital units/ etc. etc. Probly would find yourself bored there also after a few months.

You might find a little difference if you went into some type of administrative position in health care. Dont know, maybe that might be an avenue you could explore.

[suzanne4, RN]

I'm afraid what you are growing bored with is nursing! I dont know that moving to another area will give you any different insight, for another unit has their own set of doledrum repitious regiems just like med/surg does. An office might offer some variation for a while, but eventually it will be the same, BP/history/chief complaint/pharmacy phone calls/calls for consultations/calls from hospital units/ etc. etc. Probly would find yourself bored there also after a few months.

You might find a little difference if you went into some type of administrative position in health care. Dont know, maybe that might be an avenue you could explore.

I definitely don't agree with this. You will never find the specialty units boring, especially the OR. Or a Level I trauma center. The days are never the same, nor are the patients.

The office can be more boring..................it depends even on the type of med-surg floor that you are working. Sure if you have only a few docs that admit to that unit, and you always seen the same type of patient, then yes that is boring, but work in an environment where you see a little bit of everything.....................and then it is never a dull moment.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

If you are bored in 7 months I think you are not looking for learning opportunities. Try problem solving, figuring out why the pt is on a particular road, what could be done to help them long term, why did the doc order this med instead of that one. However every job you have is going to have routines, and crappy tasks that you do over and over again. That's why they have to pay people to do the job.

[memphispanda, RN]

Maybe it's the floor you are on? I am on a med-surg/oncology/peds floor (although our peds are few and far between) and it's rarely dull. I've only been there 5 months as a nurse, but was there for about 9 months as an extern before that. There's always teaching to be done, things to learn, people who have unusual diagnoses that I need to learn about, etc.

Anyway, I don't know of any job in any field where you'll not have some repetivite tasks. Maybe I don't know of enough jobs. LOL Hope you find a position that suits you better though.