Is nursing killing me :/?

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Graduated 2 years ago, I am an "older nurse" lol at age 32. I have been working on a busy M/S unit since I graduated. I try to stay active when not at work, although my work should count as 10 days worth of cardio. Started getting strange palpitations about 6 months ago. I drink a lot of coffee, so I figure caffeine and go on about my busy life and they got worse, so I made an appt. with the cardiologist who put me on an event monitor for 2 weeks, and I still haven't heard about that, but he had me do a stress echo and during the exam the girl had the monitor where I couldn't see it and she kept saying "are you okay? Are you having chest pains? lol... I say "Should I be???" lol. She says, you sure are throwing off a LOT of PVCs.... Errrrr. Figures. Then she says (and forgive me but I am pretty sure this is the last thing a health care professional should ever do) well usually we don't see PVCs during the stress test unless there is a blockage somewhere but he will let you know when he sees you in two weeks. WTH girl?? I was annoyed but went on my way....

Shift nurses, how is your health? What do you do to stay healthy? Do you lay off the caffeine? I am stressed as we all are but at my age, and my wnl bp, the last thing I was expecting at my age is issues with the ticker.

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I'm older than you but still under 40. I have arthritis in my right knee. To the point that I have a hard time running because of the pain. I have other issues too and I know I can't be at the bedside too much longer. Plus I don't like it anyway.

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Maybe I should start a similar post to this................ "Is NOT having a Nursing Job Killing Me"?!

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

Arrhythmias can develop at any age. You took a sensible first step in eliminating caffeine, and it appears now being evaluated appropriately. Good luck to you!

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Specializes in neuro/med surg, acute rehab.

I feel that floor nursing has had a very negative impact on my overall health. At 35, I have aches and pains and get sick more frequently and have high BP and anxiety and back spasms.

And I'm not overweight, nor do I smoke or eat lots of crap. However, my life in general is pretty stressful right now and working out/yoga has not been a part of my life in years :( trying to somewhere make more time for myself, but it's hard with the 12 hr shifts, hour commute and single mom thing.

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I wonder if nursing is killing me all the time. I'm 38 and in less than a year I've had the shingles, rhabdo, and recently was rushed to the ER with stroke-like symptoms. I work nights and recently went part time, but I'm thinking I need to get off nights and possibly out of the hospital all together. I work on a busy mother-baby unit and for the most part I really love what I do. The 'office politics' are really getting me down and now I'm stressed about getting sick again and having to call in...which will be an automatic right up. I have to wonder if I'm just not cut out for hospital work.

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It might be because you are working the night. I work part-time(4 nights) in a row and that is very draining. And the days that I am off I am dealing with insomnia.

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Yes.

It's killing all of us. The effects of the stress and exposure to disease has been well documented.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I have a couple of colleague who were dx with MVP (mitral valve prolapse, not most valuable player - LOL) in their 30's. They had similar presenting symptoms. Just sayin'

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Specializes in Med/surg, Tele, educator, FNP.

I think so, nursing is a high stress job. When I work on the floor I find my self over indulging in food and sleep. The days I work on the floor don't exercise and for the most part don't do anything but nurse. I hold my pee, don't drink enough, and get anxiety when I can't get ahold of a doctor within a proper time frame. I also feel when I do sit for a break I get multiple interruptions. Now that I don't do the floor full time I can see how all the stress affected me. The day before I have to go to work I get really anxious about the next day. I thought that was normal, but now that I do other things I can honestly say I never feel anxious or feel I need to cut my night short because of work. I tend to enjoy all my days off and even after work I enjoy them lot more. I am able to better watch what I eat because I eat at regular hours and don't let myself get ravished. I think as I age, the floor is starting to disagree with me. I think if you are good at not stressing and taking care of yourself despite of the floor, then you won't let the floor kill you.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I re-herniated a lumbar disc at work, making my arthritic spine with degenerative disc disease even worse... I sometime's have high blood pressure at work. I never got a UTI until I started nursing and held my bladder for sometime's an entire shift. I lost 20 lbs unintentionally and I do not lose weigh easy. I can physically feel my body holding stress, I get mentally/physically exhausted, dehydrated, and it sometimes takes me a day or two to recover...

But I can't see myself doing anything else. Eventually when I'm older I'll probably more to a move lax nursing environment... but for now, I'll live haha

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Yep, sure is. That is why I'm trying my hardest to get out of floor nursing. Will a different environment, out of the hospital, be different? Who knows, but I know I cannot keep going at this pace for very much longer. :(

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