Came home from work yesterday in tears, which happens often lately. Could not sleep at night, worried about everything that happened at work. Had family members yelling and threatening me, was pulled into manager's office to explain things that were twisted out of context, feel totally unappreciated and unsupported. Had to question myself - why am I doing it? Most patients take everything for granted, nothing is ever enough for their families, manager is there only to reprimand and never to praise. We are working short all the time. For the first time in my life I am on anti-anxiety medications, and I've never ever felt so miserable and trapped as I feel now.
I've had enough with nursing. I am submitting my resignation today and will be looking for a job that won't be ruining my life. Sorry to sound so negative, but for me it's time to move on.
I don't blame you. I've been where you are. Many nursing jobs are like this and it's not right. Just make sure you give notice and go about things the right way. You don't want to burn any bridges.
Sometimes I feel like giving up too. Not nursing completely, but finding a different job. When we are understaffed, my shifts are pure hell. When we are adequately staffed, it's manageable. If it weren't for the supportive environment, I'd have been out of there. I cannot imagine working under the conditions I work if my co-workers and managers were unsupportive. That makes all the difference to me.
Give your notice and move on. But don't throw in the towel all together. Give it some time, give yourself a break from all things nursing and maybe the light at the end will be a bit brighter in a few months.
Came home from work yesterday in tears, which happens often lately. Could not sleep at night, worried about everything that happened at work. Had family members yelling and threatening me, was pulled into manager's office to explain things that were twisted out of context, feel totally unappreciated and unsupported. Had to question myself - why am I doing it? Most patients take everything for granted, nothing is ever enough for their families, manager is there only to reprimand and never to praise. We are working short all the time. For the first time in my life I am on anti-anxiety medications, and I've never ever felt so miserable and trapped as I feel now.
I've had enough with nursing. I am submitting my resignation today and will be looking for a job that won't be ruining my life. Sorry to sound so negative, but for me it's time to move on.
I applaud you for knowing when to say when and leave a place that does not appreciate you. That is your license you are working with each day, and you need to feel that your co-workers and management support you. Perhaps a new job where you are appreciated will give you confidence and help us keep a nurse that seems to be a real asset!
You need to take a rest girl. Once you get away from the physical and mental abuse you are receiving you should start to feel better about yourself. I honestly don't know why the nursing profession does it best to make your life miserable. I honestly don't know why we nurses are tolerating it. I have been humilated, threatened, and made to feel like I wasn't worthy to have an RN after my name. I'm still in it which only proves I'm a gluten for punishment.
Came home from work yesterday in tears, which happens often lately. Could not sleep at night, worried about everything that happened at work. Had family members yelling and threatening me, was pulled into manager's office to explain things that were twisted out of context, feel totally unappreciated and unsupported. Had to question myself - why am I doing it? Most patients take everything for granted, nothing is ever enough for their families, manager is there only to reprimand and never to praise. We are working short all the time. For the first time in my life I am on anti-anxiety medications, and I've never ever felt so miserable and trapped as I feel now.
I've had enough with nursing. I am submitting my resignation today and will be looking for a job that won't be ruining my life. Sorry to sound so negative, but for me it's time to move on.
I am going through the same misery on my med/surg floor. I just graduated in May of this year and I was all filled with happiness and excitement now I am filled with despair, depression, sleepless nights and heartache. Your post could have been written by me basically. You are not negative just telling the God's honest truth and I wish I knew about this website prior to pursuing this career as I did not know it would be like this. 5 and one half years of school to be a doormat and maid really bites!
Wow, I am so sorry your are going through this. (((hugs)))
As others have suggested, you might want to try another facility or specialty of nursing. There is no perfect job, but perhaps there may be a better position out there for you. We work hard for our nursing education and license; I hate to see anyone give up without exploring other options.
Best wishes on whatever you decide. I hope you are able to take some time between this God-awful job and whatever you move on to.
I have been a nurse for 38 (yes, 38!) years. My husband & I have moved a lot during my career-due to his job. I have worked in a lot of different facilities & I can tell you there are both good & bad nursing jobs everywhere. You might try another area of nursing--maybe home health. But to answer about demanding patients/families, etc.: my husband was nearly killed in an mva about a year & 1/2 ago. He was in ICU for 5 days, hospitalized for a total of 12 days (I insisted he go home w/home health therapy, not SNF, & he didn't qualify for rehab due to poor endurance). He was admitted from ICU to ortho when he was able. I feel like I have a unique perspective on health care from both sides. When I visited him in ICU, it seemed like every time I saw him, he was in pain. When I talked to his nurse about this (explaining that I was aware he was heavily sedated but that even sedated persons can feel pain), she told me it was not appropriate to give him morphine just before visiting hours because "he needs a quiet environment for the morphine to help & you stroking him & singing to him will not allow it to work properly". Never mind the fit that I threw when I was told that. Also, it is very difficult to see someone you love reduced to a person who uses a bedpan & has to have his butt wiped. It is worse to (as his wife/nurse) assist him onto the bedpan when I'm visiting only to discover dried stool on him because the staff member who did it last didn't clean him adequately. It is hard to have him cry that it hurts too much for him to sit up after therapy left him sitting for too long, & then to have your pleas (which later turn into demands) ignored & to be told "he hasn't been up long enough". Believe, I know what it is to work short staffed. I also know what it is to take pride in your work & do whatever it takes to ensure my patients get the best care. Remember, you are in control of what you do. Your patient & his/her family have pretty much lost control of everything that happens to them. Yes, some of them can be very demanding. But often a kind word, a soft "I'm sorry this happened" can diffuse a lot of anger. Remember why you became a nurse. It wasn't for the money, honey, it was because you CARE.
I did years of med surg and it got to the point where I was near tears before each shift and worse yet, my family couldn't stand me.
I now make about 1/2 of what I could make in the hospital, but I love my job and my family likes me again.
Don't give up on nursing, because you worked hard for your license, but be prepared to take a paycut if you go into a different area. In return, you may gain your weekends, holidays, peace of mind and sanity.
I totally understand what you're going through. I was feeling kind of burned out a couple of years ago when I was working in med-surg. What solved the problem for me was switching to ICU. I've been in ICU for about 2.5 years and am beginning to get that feeling again. I know I would not go back to med-surg, but I absolutely LOVE nursing. I love caring for patients and interacting with people. However, what I am tired of is not being appreciated. The best thing my patients and families can do for me is say thank-you. I don't need gifts and flowers, a simple thank-you makes all my work worthwhile. Right now, though, I just feel really unappreciated. An incident that happened two weeks ago really has me thinking, in fact I've been applying for other positions that require little to no patient care. But back the incident, I had taken care of an older lady who was basically admitted with pneumonia, intubated, extubated a week later, but still very sick. Her lungs were just not functioning well and she was ready to just be made comfortable and let nature take its course. She was very sweet and her daughter, a nurse, was also kind. That whole shift everything went well, no complaints from pt or daughter. In fact, my patient hugged me and thanked me at the end of my shift and I was very satisfied with my work that day. The next day, though, I come in to find out the daughter had requested another nurse for her mother, one that she was more familiar with. Well no one she was familiar with was on that day, so she asked for someone with more experience. The charge nurse explained to her that I had years of experience and was quite capable to care for her mother ( who by the way was at this point dying and was going to be transferred out of ICU). Unfortunately, because of staffing and admissions, I was assigned to this patient again. It was very akward for me knowing what this daughter had said about me to still care for her mother without feeling put-off. The daughter and the rest of the family were extremely nice, just as they had been the day before, but my feelings were hurt. I had put a lot of time and energy into making my patient comfortable and I felt it was just unappreciated and ignored. I was able to get past that and when the pt did die, her daughter helped me do post-mortem care (at her request) and she, too, hugged me before she left the hospital. Although things were fine in the end, I am still upset and offended by the whole incident. It was then that I really actively started applying for jobs away from the bedside. I still love nursing and caring for people, but I hate that feeling of "did I do everything right" or "are my pts going to complain about me" when I go home at night. Mind you, I have always been described as very sweet by both pts and families alike, even my coworkers have said this and told me I'm too nice sometimes. Sorry so long, but I guess this incident is still bothering me. Good luck to you though and I hope you find what you're looking for.
Came home from work yesterday in tears, which happens often lately. Could not sleep at night, worried about everything that happened at work. Had family members yelling and threatening me, was pulled into manager's office to explain things that were twisted out of context, feel totally unappreciated and unsupported. Had to question myself - why am I doing it? Most patients take everything for granted, nothing is ever enough for their families, manager is there only to reprimand and never to praise. We are working short all the time. For the first time in my life I am on anti-anxiety medications, and I've never ever felt so miserable and trapped as I feel now.
I've had enough with nursing. I am submitting my resignation today and will be looking for a job that won't be ruining my life. Sorry to sound so negative, but for me it's time to move on.
I have been a nurse for just over 2 years. First in Step-Down, and now in ICU. I agree and empathize with you. Bedside nursing can be and most of the time is an overwhelming job, even when they get the numbers right, in terms of staffing and patient acuity. It's physically and emotionally draining. I am not a fan of bedside nursing, but I'm trying to put in my time, in order to hopefully get what I think I want. Think about checking out areas such as Special Procedures, GI Lab, or Same Day Surgery. I'm not saying these areas don't have their stressors, but different than bedside nursing. I worked per diem in Same Day Surgery for a while. It was nice. At my hospital, these jobs are few and far between because no one ever leaves them. That speaks to something, I guess. Generally, in these areas you don't spend hours with patients and their family members.
Recently a co-worker passed away. She had cancer. She battled it 2 years ago, and it returned around July or August. In November, she was gone. This hit so close to home. I had talked so much with this lady. She had plans to purchase a house, and good things were happening for her at work. Now she's gone. She was in her late forties. This made me realize my own mortality. Along with this realization came thoughts of being happy, in life and work. And we all know how much work is a part of life unfortunately. Find a job that you can at least tolerate. Don't give up on nursing yet, explore your options. Good luck to you.
(((hugs))).thumb.gif.bd59648159cce1b1d54711ce1ae578c4.gif){kind=avatar}
sleepyndopey
129 Posts
I don't blame you. I've been where you are. Many nursing jobs are like this and it's not right. Just make sure you give notice and go about things the right way. You don't want to burn any bridges.
Good luck and take care of yourself.