I haven't posted on this forum in a while. I am one of the people that feels nursing is way tooo stressful and my job has ruined my life.
Every time I go to work I get nervous, anxious, I feel like vomiting and I have worked here for years.
I used to be 150lbs just 5 years ago. I am now 220lbs. I eat to make me feel better and nursing also turned me into an alcoholic.
I drink whiskey after a long day of work just to feel a little relaxed. I drink the day before I work to help me feel a little better. I get anxious knowing that I work the next day. I even feel like this 2 days or more before I work just knowing that I have to work in a few days.
Dont get me wrong. I hide everything very well inside. All of my patients love me, I treat them like my own familly, my don loves me along with many of my coworkers. They always tell me that I am always very calm and so nice to everyone. I respect everyone and do my best every time I go to work.
i even get the most patient satisfaction kudos cards quite often. I am a good nurse but inside I am deing.
My financial situation has slightly improved and I plan to get out of nursing completely by January 1 2018.
Sorry for the rant. I needed to let this out. Nursing has ruined my life. It's all about the profits hospitals make, short staffed etc... I could keep going on and on.
I hate nursing. I am so happy I
am brave enough to realize nursing is not for me and move to another career instead of doing something that has ruined my life for the rest of my life.
I plan to further my main online business and several other online businesses. I will be working from home.
I should have listened to my dad when he said to get a bachelors in information technology with a specialty in software development.
I will most likely do what he said while working at home.
I'm happy for you that you found a way out of something that seems to be very unhealthy for you. I have a friend who, two years into her nursing career, struggled with alcohol as well. It's a stressful job, and it's not worth your health or sanity. Congratulations on the new opportunity and good luck in your future endeavors.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Congratulations on finding your way out of an unsustainable situation. It's hard to be "on" all the time and after a while your stress level just doesn't go back down just because you're off duty. You sound like a very conscientious nurse and your work is taking way more out of you than it is putting back in. I agree with a previous poster that nursing informatics might be worth looking into.
Please do get some help with your overall health so you can finally start to relax and enjoy your next thing. Sometimes, just getting out of the environment isn't enough. Wishing you improved health and many blessings.
I know this will probably be too much information.. I have been a web designer since I was 14, I am 34 now. I was home schooled and finished school early. Computers were always my passion but my mom and dad never had money to take me to college and schools where I was from were filled with bad kids, drugs, sex, gangs etc...
I hated school and as soon as I turned 14 I started learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, at that time flash animation and action script coding, asp etc...
I graduated what would be 12th grade at a normal school by the time I was about to be 17. By 17 I had a job with a company I won't mention working from home. I was making good money and loved what I did.
Fast forward to about 2005 I was making so much money. Believe it or not I was making over $7k profit a week and it got to a point that I couldn't handle all the jobs. At around 2010 I was still making good money and loved what I did. 0 stress and I enjoyed my work.
I realized I had been working from home since I was very young and my social skills were not very good.
In about 2010 I took a break and started traveling all over the world. Dubai, Egypt, China, etc... just so many places. I traveled without working for a long time and it was not just any travel but sort of luxury traveling for example $1800 a night at the burj al Arab in Dubai etc...
Fast forward to about 2011 I noticed I didn't really have friends just my dog. I thought I should get a job where I can help people and be more social.
I thought nursing would be an excellent choice so I went to lvn school without working the whole year.
Fast forward I am now an LVN and work as a web designer on the side.
My parents had several problems and I had to help them economically. I won't go into too much detail but now I have a home but am filled with so much debt.
I cant quit my nursing job that I know is destroying me because web designing is not as stable as it once was. Starting in 2018 I plan to quit nursing completely and build up my web design business and other online stores Inplan to open.
I will be working on my passion and hope for the best. As long as I have enough to pay even the minimum in all the debt I now have I will be happy.
I have several plans that can really help me and pay well. One thing I can say is nursing did help my social skills so I do thank nursing for that.
Wish me luck I plan to pay of all debt and start saving a lot after I pay it all. I will be working with what I love computers and it makes me happy that I will finally be able to quit nursing. :) I was also self taught so I have no degree only a large portfolio of work I have done. I plan to get a bachelors in computer programming so one day I can get a job at an actual firm or even further my own business.
I skipped a lot and sorry for any misspelled words. I just wanted to give a good view of my situation.
If web designing isn't real stable and you are in debt, can you really afford to leave nursing?
I hate nursing. I am so happy I am brave enough to realize nursing is not for me and move to another career instead of doing something that has ruined my life for the rest of my life.
I do think you are brave in this regard. Good for you for recognizing your feelings about your experiences with and reactions to Nursing and doing something you believe will improve the situation. Honestly, whether folks agree with you about the details or not, that's one step that a lot of miserable people are not willing to take.
Something about your post strikes me in such a way that, although I've never been called "sappy" I feel like sending you a rather heartfelt message -
Will you consider doing something else that would be brave: Will you take steps to evaluate whether the anxiety that you have been through is sort of an underlying thing that may have been made worse (or brought to the surface) by Nursing, rather than solely caused by Nursing? I do think it's possible that, with your decision to leave, you might only be scratching the surface of what the world could "look like" in terms of joy, fulfillment, etc., if you continue to make positive changes. I encourage you to not stop at simply leaving, but continue to investigate within yourself and take positive steps in response to what you discover.
Reminds me of a story I read but only half remember. To paraphrase: a lady soul searched and decided helping people would make her happy so she would become a doctor. She worked hard and got through medical school only to find she hated being around sick people. Was that in "The Art of Happiness"?
At least you figured out what you want (or at least what you don't want) now instead of when you're 65. Life's too short to hate everyday at the thing that buys you groceries. Please take care of yourself.
Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.
Honestly? I can relate. Nursing, at least hospital floor nursing, ruined my quality of life. At one point, I found that I was drinking more than I ever had. It snuck up on me. I didn't leave nursing. I just found somewhere else to work, a different specialty, a different place. Things got so much better after that. The high anxiety I was experiencing went away. I actually like nursing now. But back then, I definitely dreamed about leaving the profession. I just had put so much hard work into it and wasn't ready to completely give up. But I can understand why you would want out. Nursing can be brutal. And if you are an anxious person to begin with, it can really beat you up. I wish you the best as you move on to what works better for you and makes you happy.
Good for you! Nursing has also ruined my quality of life, and I'm getting out as well. It sounds like you have great computer programming skills, and I wish you all the best.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Daniel Gilbert, in his book "Stumbling on Happiness" says that it makes us feel better if we have someone or something to blame for our lot in life. And often, when we blame someone or something other than ourselves for our stressors, it's merely a case of not being able to deal adequately with those stressors that causes us to make a decision and take action, whether wise or unwise, healthy or unhealthy.
Joseph Campbell said, "Mystics swim in waters where others drown". There are those who are able to transcend an experience and utilize that experience to grow in consciousness.
And finally, Richard Bach in his novel "Illusions" says "Argue for your limitations, and, sure enough, they're yours."
I fault no one in drawing boundaries and saying, "Over this line, I do naught!" for I have done it myself. No job is worth my health and well-being. I have quit Nursing twice in my career and pursued the freelance Art Thing. I came back to Nursing when the business end of things in Art got at as comparably stressful as working as a Nurse.
The very best to you in your endeavors, NursingBro!
I say if it is practical then pursue your passion, but also be sure to work on yourself. Changing careers is not going to fix everything, I know because that's how I got INTO nursing. You have some internal housekeeping to do, and that "laundry" you've got isn't gonna clean itself. Believe me, we all have room to improve.
Hey do yourself a favor and at least look into a book called "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do"
Mulan
2,228 Posts
Good for you and good luck!
A lot of people feel the same way about nursing but not everyone will admit it.