I am getting burned out of my job and I am only 4 months in. I work 11pm - 7:30am night shift 5 nights a week and I don't think I can take it anymore. I actually like my job and I like my coworkers, but staying up all night so often is hurting my well-being. I get 6-8 hours of sleep per day but I am still tired all the time. I never have time to cook or clean and I constantly feel nauseous and fed up. I want to quit now.
I know that quitting with 4 months of experience looks really really bad. But I can't take working nights anymore. Every day before I go to work, I want to quit because I never have time, never have energy, and am tired. I don't think I can manage a year. I know no one wants to hire someone who quit after 4 months, so I may just leave nursing entirely.
EDIT: I can't exactly job hunt now, as my schedule is too messy to allow for me to go to a job interview
How is it that you work 15 days in a row? What kind of schedule is that?
15 calendar days, not work nights. It would be, for example, Sunday night to Monday morning, Monday night to Tuesday morning, Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, Wednesday night off, Thursday night to Thursday morning, Friday night to Friday morning, Saturday night off, Saturday morning. So I am at work every calendar day of the week, either in the morning or at night. I never get 2 nights in a row off, so virtually every calendar day is spent working.
The 3 12's are temporary...At least I'm working them for 6 weeks, then i move onto a diff preceptor, who will have different hours. I wish I had a little more hours only because i have the time. I may regret saying this, but I would rather have your crazy schedule and live at home where I know people than to work a perfect schedule in a town I'm unfamiliar with. Let's trade!!
Thank you for understanding!!!!
I wish I had 3 12's. I don't think the people commenting here realize how hard it is. Even my coworkers have a hard time, and most of them like working nights. Normal, healthy human beings get tired staying up all night, because that is how we are designed. No one ever fully adjusts to working night shift, and that doesn't make them less human. You can learn to tolerate them, but not to fully adjust.
The 3 12's are temporary...At least I'm working them for 6 weeks, then i move onto a diff preceptor, who will have different hours. I wish I had a little more hours only because i have the time. I may regret saying this, but I would rather have your crazy schedule and live at home where I know people than to work a perfect schedule in a town I'm unfamiliar with. Let's trade!!
I relocated for this job. I am alone and depressed and have awful hours. I come home once a month
I relocated for this job. I am alone and depressed and have awful hours. I come home once a month
For some reason i was under the impression that you didn't have a lot of time for friends or family, meaning you couldn't fit them into your schedule, I didn't know you actually moved. How far away? Maybe I should come home once a month...but I'm like 3.5 hours away-still a good idea.
I'm sure you've thought about this, but have you called back any of the other places that wanted to interview you? Ask if they're still interested in interviewing....and if they're closer to home, even better. They may wonder why you're calling them, but you can think of a reason...I would call if I wanted to leave so badly..just to try.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
my manager is not willing to negotiate with me and I feel sick all the time.
Your manager probably sees no need to negotiate with you because of your location, California, the land of the staggering 43 percent unemployment rate for newly graduated nurses during the first 18 months of licensure.
If you resign from this job, your manager can easily replace you with one of the thousands of unemployed new grad RNs in your area who will readily accept the position with no questions asked.
I've worked five 8-hour night shifts per week and it can result in a bleak existence. I now work three 12-hour nights per week and things are much better due to more days off. So yes, I do feel you, but many nursing managers see no need to accommodate anyone in this replaceable day and age.
Hate to say it but just because you get a 12 hour shift doesn't mean you're going to get 4 days off. At least not where I work. Schedules are so random that often I work 4 nights, then get one day off then work another 4 nights. I was told I would only be working every third weekend...haha no. I am also a new grad and I chose to also work per diem at the care center where I started in addition to full time at my hospital. I work 4-5 days a week evening and night shifts. I am okay with it because of the extra money it is bringing me right now but it is cutting into time in cleaning my house and spending time with my husband. Since you don't have a family I would honestly say suck it up until you can find a job that works better for you or find a way to sleep a solid 8 hours. If you can stay up for a couple hours to get some stuff done you would still have plenty of time to get 8 hours of sleep and still have a couple hours before work.
I am now dealing with day-after-work migraines that keep me down on my day off, when I am supposed to be enjoying life. I've been medically cleared and prescribed Imitrex but you know sometimes it works, sometimes not. And because I have small children I can't just darken my room and crawl into bed (can you imagine???aaaaaah). LOL. This floor nurse job spins off so many other uncomfortable symptoms for me it just isn't funny. I miss being at home and NOT thinking about work and what will the next crazy shift be like. I just can't take the unpredictability which kinda tells me hospital nursing probably is not my thing. I agree nurses have the suck-it-up attitude. I mean, how else can you feel when the job is so crappy? LOL .I wonder every day how so many nurses have done this for so many years. What must their quality of life be like? Maybe they simply are not anxiety or depression prone, I don't know. But, for now, I am dropping hours on the floor so I can not have headaches on my days off, take care of my body, and most importantly, enjoy my young children while they are still young!
The secret is: as little hours as possible at the hospital, a cake side job, and then pursue what you'd really enjoy. Me, I think I'll train to become a personal trainer!!! What I should have done a LONG time ago, LOL
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I wonder every day how so many nurses have done this for so many years. What must their quality of life be like?
I'm able to keep on truckin' because I don't work at a general acute care hospital. The pace is too frenetic for me. Quality of life at the workplace should involve undisturbed lunch breaks, downtime, and no feelings of dread.
I figured out early on that I'm not acute care hospital material. Once I realized the problem, I could focus on a solution.
CrunchRN, ADN, RN
4,556 Posts
Not a bad person at all. However, like I said before a little wimpy.
I would never want to work nights now. However, in my 20's while i did not like it i just did it anyway to accomplish my goals at the time.