Overwhelmed!

[HospiceOC]

I am a RN if 28 years. Currently been at a Hospice for 5 months. In the last 3 weeks I've had 28 patients with and LVN. I had to work 14 days straight because of difficult admissions. They are currently looking for another RN. I started having panic attacks and have to take some time off. They took 4 from me which will be more manageable. Does anyone relate to this?

[Sour Lemon]

Did you really have to work fourteen days straight, or did you just convince yourself that it was the right thing to do? Don't make other people's problems your own. You have to take care of yourself, first.

[HospiceOC]

I see your point. We are short a nurse and I felt very pressured. I won't let it happen again.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

I'm also new to hospice (started April of this year), and the nurse I was replacing made it a point to tell me to set boundaries between home life and work. Sometimes it is hard to say, "no," but we have to take care of us before we can take care of our patients.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I think it's the same no matter where you practice. When I was a younger nurse ( in my 40s) I would do almost every extra shift I was asked to do. Now if I get a call, I don't automatically say yes. I don't automatically do someone else's work either. I'll help as much as I can but I can't kill myself to make other people happy.