1,800 Posts
4,412 Posts
What you do to feel better is look into a change lateral or to a new career. Just the true effort of actively researching your way out will lift some of the weight off you for a while. Try then, to think of your current job as "temporary". I am a career changer, I had "had it" with my old career, and this helped me somewhat.:redbeathe
1 Article; 1,978 Posts
As some of my other posts show, I am a huge advocate for school nursing as an alternative for nurses for whom the hospital is not a good fit. I have already tried recruiting most of my former nursing schoolmates into the profession! You might be able to sub at a local district to see if it is for you before you quit your hospital job.
1,446 Posts
You sound like you have a serious case of BURN OUT.
I agree that you need to get away because you need some form of change. Have you thought of tele nursing or working for an insurance company?
If these are not an option for you at this time, find some form of change like a lateral move, new specialty, new people or place. Burn out will eat at you to the point that you question your own capabilities. It is not you, it is the system that we have in place. Change will redirect your attention away from the things eating at you, to buy you some time to see which direction will make you happiest.
Take care and hang in there. You sound like an excellent nurse.
592 Posts
As another poster said: BURNOUT!!!!! I would go prn at your hospital after you find something different. May be a little time away from nursing you would help bring things to perspective. As another said, with this economy it would be difficult to find something else, but go back to school for something your interested in. Just work enough to pay the bills. I am still working part time after i was terminated but i really feel i was terminated due to my burnout. I was actually thinking of working at walmart. It seems like you just need a change for a while. and it does sound like depression. Probably from the job. See a therapist they can help you sort it out. good luck
127 Posts
Did something happen that makes you feel this way? I don't know what kind of nurse you are, LVN or RN but you could always do Informatics, insurance company, as someone mentioned, research, utilization review, occupational health at the hospital where you work or for a large corporation, social work, work for the health dept, a legal firm or the legal dept in your hospital, do chart review, etc... the list goes on and on...
Good luck to you. There is nothing worse than going to a job you are not happy with.
3,543 Posts
Is it the taking care of other people part that mostly has you down? I agree, it is incredibly draining. For me, it can be so difficult that on my days off, I don't have a caretaking bone left in my body. Maybe you need to get away from the bedside. There are other things you can do as a nurse that aren't quite so demanding that way.
Valerie Salva, BSN, RN
1,793 Posts
With the economy the way it is, now is not the best time to change careers.
Can you work in an outpt clinic, or another non-hospital job while you look into other career options?
Becoming a traveler saved my nursing career. It's the only way I can take nursing.