Hello everyone. I am in desperate need of advice. In fact I am so in need I have fumbled around with the idea of leaving the nursing field all together because I am so disappointed in it!! It is not what I thought it was going to be. Here is my story in a nutshell:
I excitedly graduated nursing (RN) school 1 year ago. Since then I have had 2 jobs already! My first one was in geri-psych, which I really loved. I felt like I was an advocate for my patients, I bonded with them, laughed with them and cried with them. The problem was, I am a very small woman and there was a lot of lifting and moving people with strokes, etc and I did some MAJOR damage to my back, to the point now where I'm only 29 and I'm on baclofen and vicodin per day because of the chronic pain! So I left there and applied to a local hospice thinking I would love it because it had a psych component to it and I love to provide palliative/comfort care, teach, and I am all for the Hospice philosophy. I always believed I'd end up working hospice, just maybe not so soon. So, I went into it thinking it was going to be like that book, "final gifts." I thought I'd be hand holding, praying with patients, giving palliative meds and nursing care, but this is not so!! I am a case manager. At first when I was told about this position I felt pretty proud of myself, here I was a new grad making more money than my fellow nursing friends and with a prestigous title. Well, I am sooo disappointed with this position. My day consists of seeing 4 patients in either facilities or homes, taking their vitals, checking for pain, and breifly chatting and the charting the same amount of time I spent with the patient. I then get in my car and drive to the next place and do it again.BORING! There is so little patient care in this job...it's administrative! Is this what "Hospice" is? Glorified paperwork nurse? Would I like inpatient hospice better or should I just go back to psych or maybe LTC? I became a nurse so I could bond with my patients, do nursing tasks and make a difference...not write notes on them all day long repeating the same things week to week. Please help, I'm so fed up and unfulfilled!!! Thank you.:trout:
