I hate nursing!!!

[OverlyStressedRN]

Hello all. I have a serious problem. I have been a nurse a little over two years. I have worked the first year as a Med/Surg nurse, and now I am a field nurse in Home Health and Hospice. I am seriously considering just quitting all together. I have true anxiety when I have to do patient care. Hospice care especially. Of course I can do it , but I have a serious anxiety. It has affected my sleeping, my resting and my personality (my husband says) I would like to try my hand at Oasis coordinator for home health but nothing in my area exists for this that I can find. I would like to try a office position but not sure what those intail. Please someone I need some help before I go ! Thanks.

[Baubo516, RN]

I am not a nurse yet, but I have heard that insurance companies sometimes hire nurses to help verify claims. Is that something that you would be interested in, instead of direct patient care?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Do you hate nursing or do you hate your job(s)? There are a lot of us who sympathize with you. You probably just need to find the right environment - one that is a good fit for your own temperament.

We all have our own unique likes & dislikes. For me, critical care is the only place I feel at home. But, even then I just hate dealing with CRF patients - too needy, too whiny, and not 'critical' enough to be interesting. Hospice is pretty intense & not a comfortable place for anyone who hasn't worked through his/her own feelings about death.

You may need a break from patient care for a while but don't stop exploring different types of nursing. I am sure you'll also find your happy place.

[NurseHopefulInOH]

what about a drs office or MDS nurse? I have a friend who does telephone from home job for a insurance company. The fact you have experience should open some doors for you it may involve a pay cut but better than quitting! Good luck!

[acmsn1012]

Hey OverlyStressed,

I am in nursing school, and I, too, have my serious doubts about the career. I understand the feeling of being trapped in nursing, it's very hard to cope with!

Fortunately, although I am unsure of nursing, I have met some great role models in the past year who have shown just how wide the range of nursing really is. If you are able to go back to school, try taking part-time (or full-time, if you can manage) classes to get an advanced degree like Clinical Nurse Specialist or Practicioner.

My mom is an Oncologist CNS and has a cubicle office job from 9-5 and has absolutely LOVED working there for the past 20 years. She works for a Physician Referral Service at a top-ranked hospital, and provides tons of patient education and care management over the phone, e-mail and fax. She gets all the satisfaction of making a direct, positive impact on patient's lives, and interacts with patients and other health professionals from 9-5 just from her desk. I give her a lot of crap about it, I say she's more of a secretary than a nurse, but hey--she gets to use her degree, loves her job, and has no direct patient contact! She doesn't even work in a hospital!

I know that's just one example, but maybe it's something you can enjoy! I have to admit, there really is a great deal of options with a nursing degree. Not all hope is lost!

Good luck!!

-AcmSN

[MollNick]

There are many areas of nursing you could go into. If you are not happy with where you are now, find someplace else to work since it is so possible to be happy in a different area of nursing.

[PediNurse3]

Perhaps you just haven't found your niche?

It took me two positions (one in a level I trauma center and another in the PICU) to realize that I don't just dislike bedside nursing, I flat out hate it, and in two weeks will be transfering to a specialty clinic. The cut in pay is not nearly as bad as I had dreamed up, and I can't tell you how much of a weight off my shoulders leaving bedside nursing will be.

There are a lot of different opportunities out there!

[mule city rn]

I'm a psych nurse and love it. Well, I love my Axis 1 crazy patients. I hate administration, and the crazy rules they come up with, and the fact that my psych patients are all treated like they're violent criminals just waiting to kill (administrative) staff. I advocate for my patients like crazy, but it all falls on deaf ears because administration doesn't know anything about psych patients and doesn't care. I've been a nurse for 26 years and all I can think about now is retirement. I hope you can find a place where you belong and can help your patients. Sometimes the only thing my psych patients have is me and the other nurses. It's about the only thing that keeps me there. I hate nursing and if any of the kids in my family even think about going into it I'm going to smack the stupid right out of them. No matter how much you care about your patients and try to help, it's not worth the mental and physical strain it puts on you.

[nola1202]

Consider changing careers while you are still young enough to do it without a bunch of other factors to consider. Keep your nursing license active, maybe do a few PRN shift to pay the bills and find something that makes you want to go to work not dread it.

[ZogsRN]

I love hospital nursing - I am a NICU/L&D nurse. It's not the work that gave me a nervous breakdown (for real), it was the other nurses. I love the work. I really do.

I worked my way up from new grad to charge nurse in a few different facilities. I tried different shifts. It's always the lazy, backbiting, narcissistic nurses on staff that drive me crazy. All of the good nurses with a great work ethic end up leaving.

I've taken a few years off, and now I am going back to school for my NP. I'm going to miss bedside nursing terribly, but this is better for my mental health.

Maybe you need a little break? Mine was the best thing I could have ever done for myself.

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

Why not try in office position instead of staying in an area your unhappy with. You have nothing to loose but grief. I have worked outpatient positions all my nursing career. The patients are usually ambulatory, and go home at the end of the day. They are usually happier and if you have a difficult patient, they will go home in an hour or a couple hours anyway. The pace can be fast sometimes, but you are finished for the day, and too tired to think about it when you go home. The bad side is that these are positions are difficult to get employment in. Employers are hiring LPN's to do these jobs and RN's to run or be administrators for the department. Make sure you choose a staff nurse outpatient or clinic position, not administration because you will be responsible for staffing, budgets, meeting osha requirements and all complaints from patients, mds... Make sure to interview your employer before you accept your next position. If they don't like your questions, can't answer your questions, or give you an unrealistic job expectation, don't accept the job, keep looking. People spend so much time at work and life is so short. It's not worth the $$$, if your anxious or miserable.

[SnowShoeRN]

It's not the work that gave me a nervous breakdown (for real), it was the other nurses.

It's always the lazy, backbiting, narcissistic nurses on staff that drive me crazy. All of the good nurses with a great work ethic end up leaving.

SERIOUSLY! I feel THE SAME WAY! What is up with that? It's so upsetting and disappointing to know that these attitudes really are driving a lot of us away. It's one of the main reasons I'm starting my NP program this fall. I wasn't going to go for a few more years, but I just thought "I can't take this anymore..."

You hit the nail right on the head for me there.

I have a few friends in nursing who just hang out with the doctors a lot. Because, honestly in my experience, they are usually WAY more down-to-earth and not NEARLY as catty as the nurses. Even the interns seem to be kinder and have a stronger work ethic than many of the nurses. Anyway...

I agree.