In Dire Need of Advice / Help.

[cmistretta87]

Hi there! My name is Chris, 26, and I've been a RN since Sept 2011 (I graduated in May 2011-Licensed in July '11). As you can see from the title, I'm in need of some serious career advice, and I've floated around periodically on the site as a silent observer and I believe I've found a place where I can share my concerns.

I'm very unhappy with my current position, and it's lead me to feel as though that perhaps I should just leave nursing altogether. Why do I feel this way? I have a very hard time dealing with the stress of the job. The fact that I have a life on my hands.

To give you a brief background of my career thus far, I worked at a big Boston hospital for years through nursing school in the OR. When I graduated, I hit the ground running and joined the Periop Program '11-'12. I loved it at first, not without some bumps in the road. I've done almost every single service in the OR, from GenSurg to Interventional Radiology to Neurosurgery. I ended up in plastics because during my program, I had a very tough time dealing with the stress of having to react quickly and efficiently in certain situations (i.e. passing microclamps in neurosurgery). I started to hate my job. Hate turned to loathing, and I eventually took a leave of absence due to vertigo that was caused by my severe depression and anxiety.

I went back to work (Nov 2012) and ended up lasting a few more days there before I decided to relinquish full time status and go per diem. I didnt step foot in the OR again. I was lost for a while, felt defeated, and could not find a job (to be honest, I was so depressed and in such a bad space for a while I hardly looked. I felt like I had no experience and who would want to hire a new grad who just left their first job after a year?).

I landed a job in LTC / Sub Acute Rehab at a 90 bed SNF. I absolutely loved it at first; I was a floor nurse! Using my stethoscope, performing assessments, giving medications and treatments...it was amazing. Then, I began to feel overwhelmed. The falls, incident reports, dementia/alzheimers, patient loads, crappy CNAs...after about 10 months, I was going home every night (I work 3-11) hating my job. I hated my job so much I hated my life. I felt like I was stuck, no way out. I considered suicide and had to take medical leave for serious treatment for my depression/anxiety. This was back in Oct 2013.

I went back to work in November, and primarily worked on the LTC floor, which is all dementia. I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. I do love some of my patients, but the few that are terrible ruin it for me and I just cant handle it anymore. Being spat on, hit/scratched and management does NOTHING until they get hit, getting poo thrown at me, meds spit back in my face, etc. I'm so tired of being miserable. So I'm doing something about it now...actually seeking career counseling to help with resume and cover letter assistance.

To bring this book full circle, I come to allnurses.com as a fellow nurse in need of some serious advice. What avenues can I take from here? I am willing to get back into a hospital and try anything (besides ER--I dont think I can handle it..) however my 'ideal' job would be something perhaps more lowkey. Are there any lowkey jobs in nursing? Insurance / Research? I'm also really concerned that I just don't have the experience necessary to get into a hospital again. Then again...I'm probably selling myself short.

To those who read, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day. I appreciate any help / advice. Thank you.

-Chris M.

[rita359]

All jobs have their ups and downs. Utilization review, office nurse, informatics. You have nursing home experience so admission coordinators something to do with care planning.

Put your resume out there. See what pops up. Every job can be stressful in its own way but not all jobs, even in nursing, have peoples lives at stake.

[runningcrazy]

Hey Man,

Can I say my first year out of school I wanted to get into a car accident so I didn't have to go to school. I was on an intense med surg floor that was hard. The patient load sucked.

I suggest looking into ambulatory surgery. If you have surgical background, the stress level of ambulatory surgery is a lot less.

[RNGriffin]

Have you considered MDS coordinator?

The answer to this thread should be, there isn't a single job you'll have within or outside of nursing that doesn't come with its form of stress. My advice, look for coping skills to deal with the stress. LTC is as easy as it will get ( as far as paperwork and hours are concerned).

You go to a Med-surg floor, you'll be dealing with assessments, comorbidity, rapid turnover.

You go to Oncology, you'll be dealing with stress, fall risk, etc.

Rehab, pain management, comorbidity, fall risk, a lot of physical stress...

Matter of fact; where ever you go in nursing there will be the assessment, fall risk, AOx1, etc.

Maybe bedside nursing isn't for you, and that's okay. Look at a couple of insurance agencies and see where this leads you. You don't have the experience to be a nurse manager and you seem to not do well within a rapid pace environment. Please save yourself and your future team the loss & reexamine your coping skills before going to an acute care setting.

[BacktoBasics]

It's not as low key as you asking but how about pre-op, PACU, Endo, etc.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

PHN or school nurse?