Higher incidence of depression among nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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I was just wondering if anyone has noticed a higher rate of depression among nurses. With the job, there is alot of stress, death and dying, dealing with angry doctors and bullying coworkers, etc. Alot of my coworkers are on antidepressants or antianxiety meds, including myself.

Specializes in ICU.

I became quite depressed in my first six months of nursing. The stress of nursing school then made worse by a busy tele floor and some of the most horrible personalities I've ever met in people, patients or nurses anywhere, kind of pushed me over the edge and for the first time, I went to an MD and got Rxd Lexapro and Xanax. It helped.

However, I couldn't stay on the Lexapro, at least not if I ever wanted to have sexual relations with my wife again. And the Xanax, of course, knocked me out, so I couldn't take it at work, only after work--after all the stress had already gotten to me.

I ended up just taking a lexapro PRN. It has a side effect of mania, and with me, that occurs everytime with the first dose. So, if I took it every few days or just when I was really sad, it would boost me up. I still have some left, but I haven't used them for a while. But then I've gone through some real life changes in the last five years, and I have a job that's very good, right now.

I wonder about nurses who don't become depressed. It seems like you'd almost have to have an I-don't-care attitude or a kind of immaturity that kept you from seeing the reality of people and nursing in order to avoid it. Like, if I didn't care if I screwed up, or if I just thought, "Hey, if I lose this license, I'll just tend bar; makes no difference to me."

But what kind of nurse is that?

A nursing school instructor I had put it quite bluntly: if you're not obsessive-compulsive when you start nursing school, you will be if you finish it. I have always been a little sensitive and reactive and I used to have huge existential angst issues. So, maybe I was prime for depression in nursing.

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

i have been a nurse for 23 years and have seen alot of nurses on depression meds ( me too) . nurses have a stressful job, we see human suffering , we see childen who are abused , we deal with famlies who are feeling guilt and anxiety. we also see people get better and go home ( thank heaven)

how could you not be depressed at times.? yes it does effect us. we are human and we care about people. we have to have empathy true... but we are still human. and we must remeber .. it is okay to feel..

yes i smile for my patients and treat them as i would my own family. but sometimes inside i hurt for them. i had a patient say to me last weekend " here is much better than home " how very sad , i sent him home with extra sandwhiches and lots of juices , graham crackers, milk so he could eat something.

i pray nightly for my patients and coworkers, family and everyone for life full of hope and happiness.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I wonder if we are not seeing a higher incidence of depression in nurses but a higher incidence of depression being treated? Any thoughts? (and we have to watch out that we don't self medicate with beer to deal with the stress and become raging alcoholics :twocents:)

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Specializes in Case management, UM, AL, psych, CD.

I prefer ONE STIFF LEMON DROP! :yeah:

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
I prefer ONE STIFF LEMON DROP! :yeah:

A motrin and a glass of wine does it for me...Unless it was a really, really rough day-then it's home made Long Island Iced tea...only ONE -then straight to my bed for me because I'm too stupid to do anything else by then......

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

i got to give "heavy props" to the floor nurses for being in thick and thin and caring for the patients. we are the best! god is watching us.

i'm excluding all those lazy nurses sitting behind a desk or do jobs like chart reviewing.

okay i might have gone off topic, but i don't consider depression among nurses is due to work. if it is, change your career. or you can just ruin your health and continue being depressed and stressed.

my goodness, aren't you a bit judgemental. we need all those "lazy nurses" sitting behind a desk and doing jobs like chart review just as much as we need floor nurses.

and as far as the change your career shouting, i have to think you need a bit more experience before you go making pronouncements of this sort.

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Specializes in Case management, UM, AL, psych, CD.

Hey ktwlpn I would LOVE that Home made LONG ISLAND ICE TEA RECIPE!!! :) Maybe Change it up a little!!!! :yeah:

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Friendly reminder from one of the neighborhood moderators:

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Specializes in Med surg, Critical Care, LTC.

I think that due to the nature of what Nursing is, depression is a "common side effect" if you will - not unlike frostbite for crab fisherman - the risk comes with the territory.

The overwhelming number of nurses that I know are on some type of mood stabilizer, myself included. Nursing is a highly stressful profession with comparatively little autonomy. Compound that with little support from upper management - and nurses are ripe for depression.

We deal with disease, pain, death, some happiness - but the majority of us deal with the pain and debilitation that our patients must endure daily. That weighs you down after a while.

I agree that hospitals should have someone nurses can go to in order to talk about a particularly stressful cases - to decompress if you will. Our hospital "says" it has that available for staff, but the one time I wanted to use it, after coding a friend of mine, I was told "No, we're too busy, get back to work". So, administration is all about numbers, and warm bodies to cover shifts. I have a very bad outlook on nursing administration - I have lived nothing but bad decisions from them for the past 17 years.

To the OP, please, don't sit in judgment of anyone, feel free to share your experiences - and we'll share ours.

Bye the way, I'm one of "those" nurses who is actively seeking a desk job for two reasons 1. tired of bedside nursing first, but 2. work related back injury that's just not improving much, so I'm praying I can find a sedentary position. I enjoy QI and case management, so hopefully I will find something along that vein.

God bless us all

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Yes, I believe there is a higher incidence of depression among nurses. I have personally experienced it myself. I was diagnosed with dysthymia (chronic depression) during my last semester of nursing school/college. Since graduation in 2004, I have had several incidents of major depression that were all related to my nursing career. With medication and weekly therapy counseling, I have been able to get through those episodes of major depressive disorder, but it just brings me right back to the dysthymia, which has been my baseline since right before I graduated.

My primary care ARNP believes all of my depression issues are caused by nursing. She has seen a lot of cases of depression among RNs. I also have been seen by a psychiatric ARNP and she too felt my battle with depression was a direct result of me being in nursing. The psych ARNP also told me she sees many depressed nurses.

What a waste of money that the only way for me to function in a full time nursing job is to go for weekly counseling sessions. It's $70 for each counseling session, and that's all out of pocket payment. Shame when you have to pay out of pocket for therapy because of the career you are in. Don't even get me started on the price of certain antidepressant medications. I tried Wellbutrin XL in October. Cost me $180 for a 30 day supply of Wellbutrin XL from Walgreens. I gave it a try and took it, but I can't afford a monthly expense like that, so I did not go in for a refill. Costs too much money.

And for those of you with the attitude of "well, if you aren't cut out for nursing, get out and leave the profession and get another job", that's easy for you to say. Did you dedicate 4 long years of your life in nursing school earning a BSN degree?? What do you think, that a depressed nurse can just throw away her expensive nursing education, and just easily find some money to finance going back to college and earning a degree in another field?? Easy for you to say.

BTW, keep in mind that our country is in a recession and the economy is horrible and they say were are headed for the next Great Depression. For those of us who are Registered Nurses, it doesn't even matter any more whether or not we like nursing or enjoy working as a nurse. Doesn't currently matter if a nursing career is resulting in clinical depression. The baby boomers are getting older and sicker and there is a lot of obesity, heart disease, and cancer in our society, not to mention all the violence and trauma that occurs every day. Nurses will continue to be needed in our country's hospitals in order to care for the sick and injured. USA hospitals may be cutting down on overtime and slashing benefits, but they are still required to staff hospitals with Registered Nurses, so this is one of the few career fields that will always have jobs. Maybe they'll be reduced to part time jobs or PRN/Pool/Per Diem jobs or perhaps full time without benefits jobs because of the bad economy and recession, but nurses are needed. I may hate nursing and I may be depressed because I am unhappy in my nursing career, but I no longer have the luxury of living in a society and culture where I could follow my heart and earn a living doing something I love. We are in a horrible recession where many people's jobs are being eliminated, people are being outsourced, people are loosing their business and filing bankruptcy. The healthcare industry is still considered to be one of the few areas where there are job opportunities. A nursing job is still considered to be an important and necessary job, whether I like it or not.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Hey ktwlpn I would LOVE that Home made LONG ISLAND ICE TEA RECIPE!!! :) Maybe Change it up a little!!!! :yeah:

Here it is--1 shot each of vodka,light rum,gin,tequila and triple sec -add a couple of shots of sweet and sour mix and a big splash of coke,serve with a lemon or lime slice over ice... THe first time I drank one I couldn't hold my head up and that was just NOT fun so now I omit the tequila and double up on the sweet/sour mix and coke and make 2 drinks out of the recipe and that is my limit.I only have it once or twice a month if that--or my liver shivers....Enjoy!

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