How stressful is your job?

[Vtachy1]

I am thinking that I cannot handle the stress of being a FNP. I have my BSN, and really like the idea of working in a clinic and helping patients all day, but I am a burned out ICU nurse. Too much adrenaline and can't seem to come down from all the cortisol!!! I've been out of ICU for 18 months now. I spent 13 years in ICU, 7 years med-surg hospital nursing. Now I work from home doing triage nursing but I earn $15 an hour. Which is not that big of a deal, but it is hard at times to make ends meet, we made a bad choice in our home, we should have bought a teeny tiny eensy weensy home but we were young and dumb!! Have 3 more years till its paid for, but we'll still have property taxes. Hubby makes low income also he is a county police officer.

[BCgradnurse, MSN, RN, NP]

I have never worked in an ICU or critical care setting, but I can't imagine my stress as an FNP comes anywhere close to what you've experienced. I work in a community health center and with few exceptions, my patients are walking and talking and not in any immediate danger of coding or crashing. We do get our chest pain/evolving stroke patients, but for the most part I'm dealing with chronic conditions or minor to moderate acute illnesses. My stress comes not from the patient acuity, but more from bureacratic nonsense and the occasional nasty patient. It's a lot of responsibility and autonomy, but if you're ok with that, I think it's a great job.