I cannot do this job anymore!

[superwifenursewoman]

I have been a nurse for a number of years and have come to the realisation that I cannot do this job anymore. I have tried changing designation, going back to school to gain more knowledge, changing jobs, work places countries, jobs, work places it goes on and on. I really feel I just dont want to look after people anymore, I dont want to work shifts, weekends, christmas', evenings, nights, early mornings. I hate it all. Now what do I do?, where do I go, how do I start again at my age. I'm not complaining about the patients, the nurses the doctors or anyone else, I just cannot walk into a hospital anymore and I am still employed by one. I have seriously thought of just quitting and walking and losing my home rather then feel like I am going to throw up everytime I get up for work. l lost it last week at home with my husband and he'd done nothing, I just feel so stressed all the time. I go into work and you wouldent know anything was wrong but its an effort to put one foot in front of another. I'm not depressed if thats how it sounds, I'm just incredibly unhappy with my worklife and want out NOW. Sorry for venting, I'm not able to speak to anyone else and hope perhaps someone out there was where I am and can give me any advise, hope, reason to get up for work tomorrow.

[CHATSDALE]

this is classic depression and burn out - you need to get help [a good therapist] and reduce working hours

this is serious and i can feel the stress coming across that will crush you if you don't take a stand now

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

Try checking out Legal Nurse Consulting, or check out the local blood bank and see if they need a mobile RN, or go to the nearest community college and check in with their nursing department.....they may need an RN for clinical rotations with the nursing students (they don't always require a BSN for the clinicals), or go check out a nice plastic surgeons office to see if they need an office nurse (they sometimes have really cool bennies for the staff :), or call Carnival Cruise Lines and see if they have any openings for an RN, or call blue cross, blue shield and ask if there's any openings for an RN, or check out forensic nursing, or .......... Look in the want ads of your local newspaper One of the beauties of nursing is that there is a plethora of different options for you. All's you need is that RN behind your name........ Burnt out does not mean that your career is over. Best of luck in your future endeavours.

[kmoonshine, RN]

As others have said, have you considered traveling or working prn/pool hours? Right now I work pool and I LOVE it. I pick my own hours (I've been favoring 4hr shifts lately) and I have to work one major and one minor holiday. The downside is that I dont get benefits (but I don't need them, so I could care less). There's always hours to pick up where I work and I only need to meet a 20hr/month committment (I'm averaging 24-30 hrs/wk now). I dont work 3rd shift, I don't work weekends (unless I want to), and I don't need to put in for vacation! I love that I don't feel "tied" down to my job.

Or, how about looking into being a school nurse? My mom has been a school nurse for nearly 30 years and she loves it. She has excellent benefits, gets a nice discount on car insurance, and she has holidays and most of the summer off. She is salaried and would make more money if she worked in a hospital, but her job is low-stress and she'd rather make less money and be happy.

The nice thing about nursing is that after you gain years of experience, then the sky is the limit. You can work from home, in a hospital, at a university, at an elementary school, radiology, dialysis, etc.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention hospice care and home care as an alternative to the hospital med-surg setting!

Sounds like you need to vent to someone who understands your frustrations. But honestly, only our collegues will truly understand what we as nurses go through each day. As nice as our loved ones are, they will never understand our daily struggles unless they walk a day in our nice white shoes...

(I once told my husband that I envied him because he has a nice "cushy" job; he replied "its not a cushy job, its hard!" I told him that he gets to use the bathroom whenever he wants, gets to eat lunch and snacks during the day, and can come/go as he pleases - and therefore, I envied his "cushy" job).

[nghtfltguy, BSN, RN]

gonna put in my 2cents~~

sounds to me like you have major burnout... understandable... you just don't like it anymore...

this is just my advice... .so take it for what its worth...

if you really hate it that much look into being a pharmaceutical rep... they love to hire former nurses and you would flip out on the money... probably 3 times more than you make as a nurse...my sister went from a burn unit nurse making about 30/hr... to working as a pharm rep making like 250k/yr.... and she even got a nice company issued lexus...

if you don't want to be a nurse... as everyone else mentioned above.. there are many options... i wish you the best of luck...

[luvnursing23]

I once hated working at the hospital I was at. I just dreeded going into work every single day. I also thought to myself I cant and wont do this anymore. But then I decided to at least try changing jobs first. So I went to assisted living! It is amazing I still work 7-3 but very small staff and 80 residents whom I love seeing everyday. It is more like a family than work. I would first try something different before you completly give up. Hope this helps some

[BradleyRN]

Go PRN immediately or quit. You only have one life and it is flying by. Dont waste another minute being miserable.

[leosasha]

I would reccomend investing in yourself. Try a few theraputic massages. They aid in balancing the psyche. They also assist in renewing your physical energy. Until you make the decision to leave nursing you will need all the strength you can muster. Don't do anything rash that you might regret.

[angel337, MSN, RN]

you should seriously apply at insurance companies, especially the big ones. they tend to always have at least 1-2 nurse jobs. m-f, no weekends or holidays, no direct patient care. I always said that when i start hating nursing this is what i would do.

[Schmoo1022]

Oh my gosh! I could have wrote this post word for word..except I work in a nursing home. I would quit nursing in a heart beat if I didn't have children and a house. I am wondering if it is just burn out or depression. There are not many nursing jobs around here at all, and most insurance companies are looking for acute exp. or a Bachelors degree.

[sunray12]

i have been a nurse for a number of years and have come to the realisation that i cannot do this job anymore. i have tried changing designation, going back to school to gain more knowledge, changing jobs, work places countries, jobs, work places it goes on and on. i really feel i just dont want to look after people anymore, i dont want to work shifts, weekends, christmas', evenings, nights, early mornings. i hate it all. now what do i do?, where do i go, how do i start again at my age. i'm not complaining about the patients, the nurses the doctors or anyone else, i just cannot walk into a hospital anymore and i am still employed by one. i have seriously thought of just quitting and walking and losing my home rather then feel like i am going to throw up everytime i get up for work. l lost it last week at home with my husband and he'd done nothing, i just feel so stressed all the time. i go into work and you wouldent know anything was wrong but its an effort to put one foot in front of another. [color=sandybrown]i'm not depressed if thats how it sounds, i'm just incredibly unhappy with my worklife and want out now. sorry for venting, i'm not able to speak to anyone else and hope perhaps someone out there was where i am and can give me any advise, hope, reason to get up for work tomorrow.

you say you're not depressed but your handle along with your post seems to indicate otherwise. it's very possible to be depressed and not know it. if you were not depressed you would know that you had options and you'd feel empowered to pursue them. just my 4.5 cents.

[FirstChoiceLast]

RE: I can not do this job anymore!

I feel your pain, anguish and despair because I am also at the crossword-career wise.

What I have learnt form my experience is: Don't rush to make any permanent changes, immediately. Perhaps you can take some time off the job as an immediate action. Then please re-examine your entire life-take a holistic approch to selve evaluation, you may just discover that other factors in your life could be contributing to you wanting to quit your job. Please get professional help if this seem to be overwhelming. All the nurses in this forum will give you the support you deserve but in the end you will have to make the right but hard decision for your own peace of mind and well being.Good luck and tackle this one small step at a time.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

You need to find something else fast. I completely understand except you have been doing it a lot longer than I have.

I am sick of the hospital and don't plan on going back. I've been a RN for 7 months. I got a job at a psych facility (out of the hospital) working nights (I like nights) and my stress went from a 10 to a 0. I plan on teaching at the CC when I hit the 2 year mark....they are always hiring for teaching and clinical positions. I would also like to do school nursing if a position ever opens up.

Start looking for a new job NOW. Search online, look in your paper, call some places. Every place I applied at called me within a week and I got my pick of the litter--and I'm a new nurse. Good luck!