I have hated bedside nursing ever since I started. I even hated it when I was in school but IDK why it never clicked to me that I should pursue something else...anyway, I am on my 8th month of nursing of my first consecutive year. I say consecutive, bc I held a bedside position in an adult hospital for 2 months before switching over to pediatrics. I can at least handle this job better than my first, but I really really hate nursing so much. I can't wait to become qualified for other jobs.
Is it normal to hate my job this much? I get so depressed and anxious the day before my shift starts. It's been 8 months and I still feel this way. Makes me think it's never going to get better ? please tell me when I can leave the bedside pretty please ... I just feel with the pandemic it's so much harder to get a job but IDK I guess I am lucky to have the one I do right now (I just hate it SO MUCH).
People keep telling me it would get better but it never did. I'm losing hope and even started researching other majors I could pursue. please help
You can go to an area of nursing then that starts IVs all the time. Like the ED. I started regular PIVs, ultrasound IVs, accessed ports/central lines,etc. However all this is is a skill. Go where you will learn it. But remember you are 8 months into your nursing career....times are hard. Experienced nurses are having trouble getting into the jobs they want. Try to stay in a job for at least a year so you can transfer easier. You have already had 2 jobs in 8 months. Learn everything you can with the job you are at and then move on when an opportunity arrives.
No, I've been at my second job for 8 months. I started my first job last august. I only lasted 2 months in my first job but it also was with adults... I think I know now peds is where I can thrive. I'm honestly surprised I've made it to month 8 though LOL
23 hours ago, Ruby Vee said:
The first year of nursing is rough for everyone. I think we all hated our jobs for the first year . . . or two. I know I certainly did! I stuck with it because I had a husband to support. After I found my niche in the ICU, it got better and now I love my job and cannot imagine doing anything else.
I used to think I wanted to do NICU...then I learned I am NOT good under pressure and any ICU may not be the best fit for me. I've worked on peds med-surg for 8 months
yes, that's exactly what I meant sorry for the confusion! I always say PIVs because it's the most basic thing that I still don't know how to do
On 10/24/2020 at 9:32 PM, pinkdoves said:
I used to think I wanted to do NICU...then I learned I am NOT good under pressure and any ICU may not be the best fit for me. I've worked on peds med-surg for 8 months
Putting in IVs is definitely a skill, but it's a skill that takes A LOT of practice. If you really want to try out this area of nursing, you will need to get yourself into a position where you're putting in a lot of IVs. Many (most?) of your attempts will fail in the beginning, so you have to be in a situation where you can just keep going until you get the knack. The ED places a lot of lines, but it would not be a good fit for someone who doesn't handle pressure well. One option might be an infusion center. NOT one of those infusion spa type places where people go to feel better after a hangover, but a clinic or part of a hospital where outpatients go for infusions like long term antibiotics, blood transfusions, and immunoglobulins. You'd place a lot of PIVs, and also learn to access/deacces ports, change PICC dressings, restore patency to central lines, etc., but in a lower stakes environment where most patients are relatively healthy.
Since you have no direct experience with venipuncture, never having placed even a PIV, I wonder if VAS nursing is really something that's going to make you happy, or if you're just drawn to it because it's something different from regular bedside nursing. I'm definitely not trying to rain on your parade here, but maybe you could tell us a little more about what appeals to you about VAS nursing and what parts of bedside nursing you do and don't like. We might be able to give you some options to explore. While some anxiety and dissatisfaction is common in nursing, especially during the first year, there are people who really aren't cut out for bedside nursing, and I'd love to see you find a niche that you enjoy (or at least tolerate).
Specializes in Maternal Newborn and Denials Management.
If you "hate nursing" I don't think you will be happy with any position with direct patient care in a hospital setting-not trying to be harsh. You will always have stressors with any area in nursing. It is the nature of the job. I have 30 years experience with 20 years of bedside nursing. The last 10 years of my bedside nursing career I worked mother-baby. I thought this will be a low-stress area. After all, these patient's are not sick, they just had a baby. WRONG! Even though these patient's were not "sick" there were a lot of days and nights I did not get a break the entire 12 hours shift. For an entire 2 years I was the only RN at night with two LPN's who were in ADN school. I had my own assignment, being in charge, giving all the IV meds to fresh C/S, getting sleepy babies to breastfeed, putting orders in the EMR and half the time we did not have a tech. Now I work in medical review and have for 10 years. I love this area of work but even here there are stressors. You mentioned VAS work. I remember seeing those nurses being run ragged in the hospital. The lease stressful job I have had in nursing was being a maternity case manager for an insurance company. I was there for a year and was pregnant. At 8 months pregnant my supervisor was keeping count of every time I had to go to the restroom. It's always something. You might enjoy an educator's role, telehealth, telephone triage, clinic's and doctor's office. Hang in there if you can and get a little more experience to make yourself more marketable. But don't do this at the expense of your mental and physical health.
I really want to do an internal transfer after a year to do VAS nursing. I've become very good at accessing ports and I want to learn how to put in an IV. For some reason at my hospital staff nurses don't know how to insert an IV. I asked to practice with the IV team and my manager said yes at least. I guess I'll start from here. I already have my BSN! IDK if I will go back to school it's not really my main priority. many people with me (even though we have < 1 year experience) have applied and got accepted to NP programs. I really do not want to do that
Well, get certified! I worked at an inner city teaching hospital and I think they had 4 full time picc nurses. The jobs are out there.
Thank you, Pinkdoves, for sharing your thoughts and feelings.
In response to your question of when you can leave bedside, my short answer is whenever YOU want. Having said this, I do have some questions for you:
1) If you hate your job so much why are you not actively and aggressively looking for another opportunity?
2) I read that you were interested in VAS nursing. What about this opportunity seems appealing to you? I was an ultrasound guided IV nurse for about a year and could share with you about my experience if you have any questions about it. In general though, for me, becoming pretty good at PIVs took me awhile (6 months of doing it regularly maybe? Averaging 10 attempts a day? These are just my guesstimates).
3) What exactly are the things that you hate about your current job? What are a few things you like about it?
4) What are some other areas besides nursing that you have been considering? I’ve been a nurse for 9+ years now and have worked in 5 different departments (med surg, oncology-infusion center, gastroenterology, picc team (vas), and pediatric clinic), and I have still not found “the area/dept” for me. The nice thing though is that through my experiences I now have a better understanding of what I like and don’t like to do. For me, it really took actually doing different things to figure out what I liked and utilized my greatest strengths. If you really dislike what you are doing now, take note of it, and maybe consider moving on ASAP. There are so many opportunities in nursing and so little time. It is also worth reiterating what others have said here though: a lack of experience also will most likely limit the kind of opportunities that you may be offered....for now.
I look forward to your response, Pinkdoves and hope that through this message thread that you are beginning to gain some clarity and direction for yourself. Take care.
Putting in IVs is definitely a skill, but it's a skill that takes A LOT of practice. If you really want to try out this area of nursing, you will need to get yourself into a position where you're putting in a lot of IVs. Many (most?) of your attempts will fail in the beginning, so you have to be in a situation where you can just keep going until you get the knack. The ED places a lot of lines, but it would not be a good fit for someone who doesn't handle pressure well. One option might be an infusion center. NOT one of those infusion spa type places where people go to feel better after a hangover, but a clinic or part of a hospital where outpatients go for infusions like long term antibiotics, blood transfusions, and immunoglobulins. You'd place a lot of PIVs, and also learn to access/deacces ports, change PICC dressings, restore patency to central lines, etc., but in a lower stakes environment where most patients are relatively healthy.
Since you have no direct experience with venipuncture, never having placed even a PIV, I wonder if VAS nursing is really something that's going to make you happy, or if you're just drawn to it because it's something different from regular bedside nursing. I'm definitely not trying to rain on your parade here, but maybe you could tell us a little more about what appeals to you about VAS nursing and what parts of bedside nursing you do and don't like. We might be able to give you some options to explore. While some anxiety and dissatisfaction is common in nursing, especially during the first year, there are people who really aren't cut out for bedside nursing, and I'd love to see you find a niche that you enjoy (or at least tolerate).
Infusion nursing was one of my favorite nursing rotations in nursing school! In my current job I already access and deaccess ports, change dressings, etc. I just never was trained on how to place an PIV or troubleshoot any lines. I became interested in it after accessing so many ports but honestly you're right I won't know if I like it until I do it...that's for ANY job
I do not like bedside nursing because I feel like I am taken advantage of and constantly abused by the management and sometimes the patients/families. As I stated before I do not like high stress environments and often feel like I am never doing enough. I have become better about eating lunch, but sometimes I eat very late...then I come home to my sister working from home in her pajamas. it seems to me I'm constantly stressed and overworked while simultaneously barely getting anything out of it. and then on my days off my managers ask me if I can change my schedule to fit their needs. I never feel like I have any time to relax and I've honestly become so much more depressed. I used to be such a positive, happy go-lucky girl and I've feel through this past year I've turned into a ghost of who I used to be.
I understand that any job is stressful, but I also realize I don't have to put this much of my own identity and sanity in a job. I wake up at 430 am and come back around 9 pm most days. honestly, who wouldn't be burnt out from that?
I really don't mind working hard I just think I need a different less abusive and fast paced environment to thrive.
If you "hate nursing" I don't think you will be happy with any position with direct patient care in a hospital setting-not trying to be harsh. You will always have stressors with any area in nursing. It is the nature of the job. I have 30 years experience with 20 years of bedside nursing. The last 10 years of my bedside nursing career I worked mother-baby. I thought this will be a low-stress area. After all, these patient's are not sick, they just had a baby. WRONG! Even though these patient's were not "sick" there were a lot of days and nights I did not get a break the entire 12 hours shift. For an entire 2 years I was the only RN at night with two LPN's who were in ADN school. I had my own assignment, being in charge, giving all the IV meds to fresh C/S, getting sleepy babies to breastfeed, putting orders in the EMR and half the time we did not have a tech. Now I work in medical review and have for 10 years. I love this area of work but even here there are stressors. You mentioned VAS work. I remember seeing those nurses being run ragged in the hospital. The lease stressful job I have had in nursing was being a maternity case manager for an insurance company. I was there for a year and was pregnant. At 8 months pregnant my supervisor was keeping count of every time I had to go to the restroom. It's always something. You might enjoy an educator's role, telehealth, telephone triage, clinic's and doctor's office. Hang in there if you can and get a little more experience to make yourself more marketable. But don't do this at the expense of your mental and physical health.
I don't mind working hard, but working as a bedside nursing ruined my mental health. it's not worth it to me.
11 hours ago, jobellestarr said:
Well, get certified! I worked at an inner city teaching hospital and I think they had 4 full time picc nurses. The jobs are out there.
I have 2 more months until I can do an internal transfer! I was talking to one of the heads of the VAS department and she said she would be happy to have me because they are always looking for people. my hospital is on a hiring freeze bc of COVID though IDK if that applies to internal transfers. I really like my hospital I just don't like my job
Thank you, Pinkdoves, for sharing your thoughts and feelings.
In response to your question of when you can leave bedside, my short answer is whenever YOU want. Having said this, I do have some questions for you:
1) If you hate your job so much why are you not actively and aggressively looking for another opportunity?
2) I read that you were interested in VAS nursing. What about this opportunity seems appealing to you? I was an ultrasound guided IV nurse for about a year and could share with you about my experience if you have any questions about it. In general though, for me, becoming pretty good at PIVs took me awhile (6 months of doing it regularly maybe? Averaging 10 attempts a day? These are just my guesstimates).
3) What exactly are the things that you hate about your current job? What are a few things you like about it?
4) What are some other areas besides nursing that you have been considering? I’ve been a nurse for 9+ years now and have worked in 5 different departments (med surg, oncology-infusion center, gastroenterology, picc team (vas), and pediatric clinic), and I have still not found “the area/dept” for me. The nice thing though is that through my experiences I now have a better understanding of what I like and don’t like to do. For me, it really took actually doing different things to figure out what I liked and utilized my greatest strengths. If you really dislike what you are doing now, take note of it, and maybe consider moving on ASAP. There are so many opportunities in nursing and so little time. It is also worth reiterating what others have said here though: a lack of experience also will most likely limit the kind of opportunities that you may be offered....for now.
I look forward to your response, Pinkdoves and hope that through this message thread that you are beginning to gain some clarity and direction for yourself. Take care.
1) because I need to stay in my job for a respectable amount of time before moving. I started last feb. also, bc of covid, I am lucky I even have a job right now so I am scared to lose the one I have now to potentially go into something worse.
2) I answered this question above. feel free to read that!
3) I answered what I don't like about it. what I do like is that I work with the pediatric population. I also like when parents tell me they appreciate what I'm doing. I also like having nursing students with me. sometimes it is scary bc I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, but I do like showing them what I do know
4) VAS nursing, nursing education at a university or hospital, insurance work, infusion nursing, school nursing, specialty outpatient care (my hospital has pediatric locations throughout the state that I could transfer into. they have outpatient clinics for allergy, immunology, pulm, optho, etc.). I think general primary care might be boring for me so I would prefer the specialty clinic. I also was interested in aesthetic nursing for a bit.
You sound stressed and overworked. A few thoughts on your current situation.
First, do not be available on your days off. This is something you have control over and you can start doing immediately. Your days off are yours. You don't owe anyone a schedule change. You don't owe anyone even a conversation. Don't answer calls or texts from work on your days off. Protect that time. You've earned it and you need it. I personally work to my control hours, and that's it. If I pick up a shift, it's because I want to. If there's a staffing issue, it's NOT MY PROBLEM. Management and management alone is responsible for staffing the hospital, not me. You aren't getting the break you need on your days off, because work is still taking up residence in your headspace - evict it.
Second, you should not be abused by management. Full stop. Sometimes families get nasty, and that's probably just part of any job that works with the public, but management should have your back when it occurs. If management is pouring it on rather than supporting you, it might be poor management, not be bedside nursing that's an issue, and on a different unit, you'd be okay.
Third, those hours seem really long. Why are you getting up at 4:30 and returning at 9? Do you have a really long commute? If so, then maybe a lack of sleep and the stress of the drive is a contributing factor. If you start your day tired and stressed, that doesn't set you up for a good shift. Would it be possible to move closer to work or find a job closer to home? Are there any 8-hour positions available rather than 12s? I personally work 8s, and even when they stretch to 9 or 10, that's better than a 12 that stretches to 13 or 14.
1 hour ago, pinkdoves said:
4) VAS nursing, nursing education at a university or hospital, insurance work, infusion nursing, school nursing, specialty outpatient care (my hospital has pediatric locations throughout the state that I could transfer into. they have outpatient clinics for allergy, immunology, pulm, optho, etc.). I think general primary care might be boring for me so I would prefer the specialty clinic. I also was interested in aesthetic nursing for a bit.
You don't have nearly enough experience for nursing ED, and it would probably drive you nuts sticking it out to get enough experience for that. The same is probably true for insurance work.
An infusion clinic might be ideal for you. Another benefit is that they tend to run on normal business hours, so you wouldn't have the ridiculously long days. You might seriously look around for an opening. Once you're doing that, you'll get experience with PIVs, and be better prepared for a possible transition to VAS (or will learn that you really don't want to do VAS). Definitely worth starting to actively monitor for openings.
Look into those specialty outpatient clinics. You might find them great, or you might find them boring and too similar to primary care. One plus is that there's probably a lot of continuity in some of the specialties, and you'd be able to build rapport with kids and their families and see progress. Maybe ask to shadow there to get a feel for what it's really like. Again, you'll have better working hours if you go outpatient.
For school nursing, you might want to hop over to the School Nursing forum on this site. It's a very active and supportive community. If you spend some time reading through existing posts and maybe asking a few questions of your own, it could give you a better picture of the nuts and bolts of what school nursing would entail. Also, many districts have openings for substitute school nurses, which could give you a way to try it out (but first make sure a PRN job isn't going to completely overwhelm you, as you need to have down time).
A couple of other suggestions are dialysis and OR/surgical nursing. OR can be tough to get into, but if there's some kind of residency you could apply for, you might like a more procedure-based job. If it appeals to you, look into surgical centers, same day surgery, etc. in your job hunt.
I don't mind working hard, but working as a bedside nursing ruined my mental health. it's not worth it to me.
I have 2 more months until I can do an internal transfer! I was talking to one of the heads of the VAS department and she said she would be happy to have me because they are always looking for people. my hospital is on a hiring freeze bc of COVID though IDK if that applies to internal transfers. I really like my hospital I just don't like my job
The PICC certification is outside of your work. Think of how great it would be when it came time to transfer if you had that very cert in your hand or at least were actively working on it. Times a wasting! ❤️
Infusion nursing was one of my favorite nursing rotations in nursing school! In my current job I already access and deaccess ports, change dressings, etc. I just never was trained on how to place an PIV or troubleshoot any lines. I became interested in it after accessing so many ports but honestly you're right I won't know if I like it until I do it...that's for ANY job
I do not like bedside nursing because I feel like I am taken advantage of and constantly abused by the management and sometimes the patients/families. As I stated before I do not like high stress environments and often feel like I am never doing enough. I have become better about eating lunch, but sometimes I eat very late...then I come home to my sister working from home in her pajamas. it seems to me I'm constantly stressed and overworked while simultaneously barely getting anything out of it. and then on my days off my managers ask me if I can change my schedule to fit their needs. I never feel like I have any time to relax and I've honestly become so much more depressed. I used to be such a positive, happy go-lucky girl and I've feel through this past year I've turned into a ghost of who I used to be.
I understand that any job is stressful, but I also realize I don't have to put this much of my own identity and sanity in a job. I wake up at 430 am and come back around 9 pm most days. honestly, who wouldn't be burnt out from that?
I really don't mind working hard I just think I need a different less abusive and fast paced environment to thrive.
So just being honest....vascular access nursing may not make you happy then. A lot of difficult stick patients are not necessarily the easiest to deal with (which is actually understandable....who wants to get stuck multiple times?).....and I don’t know if you will get treated any better as a vascular access nurse. It may be that you may not want to work with patients at all?
pinkdoves, BSN
163 Posts
No, I've been at my second job for 8 months. I started my first job last august. I only lasted 2 months in my first job but it also was with adults... I think I know now peds is where I can thrive. I'm honestly surprised I've made it to month 8 though LOL
I used to think I wanted to do NICU...then I learned I am NOT good under pressure and any ICU may not be the best fit for me. I've worked on peds med-surg for 8 months