After five years of nursing, continuing my education, and hoping for a better day than the last one, I decided to quit my nursing job. Nursing is very demanding, psychologically challenging & most of the time frustrating due to the lack of respect from other employees. Even with a BSN and supervisory positions I could not find any happiness in this field. The hard truth is, no matter where you work, the nursing position you fill, there will always be pressure from up top (management). I started as a floor nurse at a local hospital, putting in long hours, taking in experience, just like most graduates. After three years of work on a medical-surgical floor, I was already burnt out. High acuity, understaffing, long-hours, will make your life miserable. I decided to switch positions into a supervisory role. The hard truth about supervisory position is that you are a management (bit..h). Management controls everything, from keeping the floors understaffed, preventing from hiring enough people to have adequate staffing, as-well-as drilling me to deliver teachings left and right. I felt bad for my few co-workers that worked with me prior to my management position that now I drilled about some documentation that nobody even looks at. The hardest truth to take in is that some business, clueless, worthless education individuals set rules for hard working professionals like nurses and don't give a crap about them. An RN is an aide, nurse, occupational, speech, physical therapist, a medical advisor, housekeeper, electrician etc. I decided to leave once and for all and be unemployed. I shared this just to see what you guys think about the move, was it a mistake?
"The hardest truth to take in is that some business, clueless, worthless education individuals set rules for hard working professionals like nurses and don't give a crap about them."
Somewhat true. The bottom line is.. profit driven corporate america has taken over health care. YOU still have options in order to succeed. I work for an insurance company, from home in my jammies... making 6 figures. Rethink your position.
i am an ICU nurse also work in CVR. I too feel administration does not help nor understand us in any way. HCAPS are breaking us for sure. We do everything possible to ensure our patients are well cared for and still receive low scores for petty things beyond our control.
I am a nurse paralegal working for a defense law firm. Making well over $125/hour from home I do participate in video depositions but do not have to go to court. It's sad I have to take on a second job just to make ends meet. But that's nursing today. Burnout and poor job satisfaction are the norm for most nurses who want to do bedside care. I see no relief in sight. It's only getting worse and the pressure becoming greater on nurses.
The only reason I haven't left nursing is because there is no comparable job out there that can offer me the flexibility of scheduling that I need with the pay that I want like per diem nursing. I need flexibility for family life, and I get paid an excellent hourly wage. If I could find a non nursing job that fit my requirements, I'd walk in a heartbeat and not look back.
Why are we assuming most experienced nurses lack higher education?
Sorry.
Maybe it's a regional thing. Of all the experienced nurses ( of those who are left ) I know of, they have 20 + years , and either came from hospital based diploma programs , or AAS /ADN programs. Some have no desire to return to school. and they aren't being mandated at this point.
I know that the local hospitals have all been hiring BSNs only the last few years. Very rarely do we get an ADN anymoreAll but one of the local colleges offers BSN now. Our market is saturated with BSN's.
Firstly, this is my first post on this site, so hello everyone!!
Second, I might not be a nurse yet, but I am a professional at hating your job, so I absolutely feel your pain! I've been a court reporter for 11 years and if I have to do this job one day longer than absolutely necessary, I will jump off a bridge! (note: currently working through nursing school!)
But this is what I've learned from my experience of career loathing: It's only irreparable if you hate the job itself. Corporate policies, managers, workload, etc., those are somewhat easily fixed by moving to a new environment. Now, if you hate nursing, you're in trouble. There's really no remedy to that. Disliking the job itself can't be fixed even with great pay and fabulous managers.
With my current career, I find myself in the second category. I don't find court reporting to be challenging or intellectually stimulating in the least, and every day I can almost literally feel the folds of my cerebral cortex drying up from boredom and underuse. I work for a great firm with caring managers and an enviable paycheck, and yet, I'd rather chew my fingers off than continue this job.
So, if you like/love the job, find a new facility and keep doing it. If, bottom line, you don't like nursing itself.... don't walk, run!!!
Maybe it's a regional thing. Of all the experienced nurses ( of those who are left ) I know of, they have 20 + years , and either came from hospital based diploma programs , or AAS /ADN programs. Some have no desire to return to school. and they aren't being mandated at this point.
Why are you assuming that experienced diploma nurses are less educated? Many of the diploma nurses (and I was one) I work with have certifications in and are considered the experts in their specialties. Many are published and teach on a national level. One does not need a BSN to be highly educated. Sorry to join the pile-on but these kind of blanket statements really get my goat.
Why are you assuming that experienced diploma nurses are less educated? Many of the diploma nurses (and I was one) I work with have certifications in and are considered the experts in their specialties. Many are published and teach on a national level. One does not need a BSN to be highly educated. Sorry to join the pile-on but these kind of blanket statements really get my goat.
I never said that they are "less educated" Heck, some of these long timers are so much more "educated " in experience I dont care what " credentials " are behind their name. They have experience money can't buy.
And that's my point. Some shirt says I, or whoever, must now have these " credentials" to be hired. They will hire a higher degreed person over experience because they think the public thinks then they have better nurses.
The shirts have pushed out so many lesser degreed and more experienced nurses, and it stinks.
I m only going by current hiring practices that I see.
I didnt mean to offend anyone. I'm an ADN , and fat chance in you know where that I will get another job despite 10 + years experience. The 25 year old BSN/MSN with no experience will get the job before me. Then the hospital can boast " Look, we have all BSN's !! come to our hospital!"
Experience means nothing to the corporation.Saving money does.
I never said that they are "less educated" Heck, some of these long timers are so much more "educated " in experience I dont care what " credentials " are behind their name. They have experience money can't buy.
And that's my point. Some shirt says I, or whoever, must now have these " credentials" to be hired. They will hire a higher degreed person over experience because they think the public thinks then they have better nurses.
The shirts have pushed out so many lesser degreed and more experienced nurses, and it stinks.
I m only going by current hiring practices that I see.
I didnt mean to offend anyone. I'm an ADN , and fat chance in you know where that I will get another job despite 10 + years experience. The 25 year old BSN/MSN with no experience will get the job before me. Then the hospital can boast " Look, we have all BSN's !! come to our hospital!"
Experience means nothing to the corporation.Saving money does.
I get you! We had an effective and much-loved director of nursing pushed out because she wouldn't go back and get her MSN just 5 years out from retirement. Total loss for the hospital the patients and the nursing staff. She was a staunch supporter of nurses and was exemplary in how she managed us. All this to get Magnet. Her replacement was a buffoon and lasted only until we got Magnet and then poof she was gone.
I too have left all the reasons you left and others, I think many of us have the same experiences but of course with differing circumstances. I felt that our problems as a profession are deeper than even we realize. Everything goes back to being understaffed. Even, on the rare occasions when I have been told that a facility is fully staffed, it is just not good enough. The middle managers are not allowed to hire enough staff, RN's, LPN's and CNA's. Instead we absorb the work with what we have which is a very stressful way to work and more importantly, to live. So we all snap at each other, there is almost always the feeling that someone is working less than another and mistrust. I read the CNA's blogs and they complain about us. I am amazed at how many think that we are not helping, but in truth, even they are not properly staffed. The top management does need to make money, but it doesn't stop there. The institutions are at the mercy of insurance companies and the rising costs for so many factors or everyone loses their jobs. We are stuck there without any power, giving more and more for less and less each time. There are so many factos that have turned health care into a huge, inefficient , bloated system and no one is happy, not the patients, not the nurses, doctors, cna's, we are all complaining. I don't know if I will return, on the practical side, try to figure out what you are going to do short term for yourself as to employment. As to the long term, i think the system is at a breaking point and don't see it getting better quickly. I think it will probably implode. I don't agree with going to single payer because i don't think the government should be given that much power since they tend to do things horribly. But the system we have now is not sustainable nor is it doing what it is suppose to do. I wish you well in your journey.
Happiness in your career sounds like nonsense. I've been thrilled, challenged, had my breath taken from me, been content, and had a lot of positive feelings, and a lot of negative ones. But happiness implies you get to rest on top of your big old pile of happiness laurels forever. This isn't a realistic view.
Some people will interject that happiness isn't about the destination, but the journey. Frankly, without a goal or destination, it's nonsense. Without a destination, you're not Frodo with Sauron's ring, you're just a homeless guy wandering around with jewelry.
These traits and problems are not exclusive to nursing, every profession deals with this and most people don't like their job. That's why it's called work. I do hope you find something you enjoy though.
Yes, but in other professions, you are not responsible for someone's life with one hand tied behind your back.
Kssrn404
68 Posts
i am an ICU nurse also work in CVR. I too feel administration does not help nor understand us in any way. HCAPS are breaking us for sure. We do everything possible to ensure our patients are well cared for and still receive low scores for petty things beyond our control.
I am a nurse paralegal working for a defense law firm. Making well over $125/hour from home I do participate in video depositions but do not have to go to court. It's sad I have to take on a second job just to make ends meet. But that's nursing today. Burnout and poor job satisfaction are the norm for most nurses who want to do bedside care. I see no relief in sight. It's only getting worse and the pressure becoming greater on nurses.