Is it ok to take a break??

Chin up · Jun 10, 2011

I actually want to do the same thing. Take a break & figure out what kind of nursing I want to do. & I haven't even working that long to feel burnt out. I just don't like what I'm doing. I've worked in long term care for a few months, and didn't like it... Now I'm in ICU, & feel like crap, like idk what I'm doing, like I'm incompetent.. I feel so small!! I want to quit, really... I want to just take a break & try to find something in OB (since ive always been interested in OB & just didn't have any opportunity.. I literally just took my previous jobs because I needed money..
& that's the real problem for me... Coz i really don't have a choice.. I need to have a job.. I'm the breadwinner of my family...
I just feel so screwed up!

(((hugs))) I feel for you. I have no words of wisdom, but hear you. Peace!

Chin up · Jun 10, 2011

Ohhhhhh, yeah.......it is DEFINITELY okay to take some time to recuperate from a job like that. In fact, if you don't you may even wind up back in the same sort of situation again because you won't have absorbed the lessons learned from this one. You don't want THAT to happen!

I can validate this...from personal experience. Do yourself a favor and not only give yourself permission to take a break, but take it. Now is not the time, clarity will come once recuperated and you will know, when to begin to search again. In the meantime, be good to yourself. Peace!

CaliforniaRNnow · Jun 10, 2011

I felt the exact same way after quitting the nursing home. I wasn't even there for long at all. I knew it was bad and got out as soon as I could with still the feeling that I gave it my best shot. So don't feel guilty.

kool-aide, RN · Jun 10, 2011

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding, of course. Relax and find your niche!

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Jun 10, 2011

Sometimes there is so much negative energy that envelops your mind that you can't possibly think clearly. Taking a break will bring you back to the reason why you went into nursing in the first place.

Much of the stress we experience as nurses is static. None of it really matters...the hateful peers, the princess patients who think they are actually in a hotel and not a hospital, the dismissing body language from MDs, the charge nurse who didn't offer to help you out after you got your 4th admit of the day, the invisible nurse manager who has no idea what is going on...all of these things can lead to frustration and burn out.

All we want to do as nurses is to have the proper tools, an efficient mode of communication, an efficient way to chart, an effective support staff and enough guidance from our nurse managers to enable us to take care of patients-WITHOUT the static.

Take a break. Take as long as you are able to financially. Our jobs are so difficult, and anyone who must work in an efficient manner with time lines and deadlines with the knowledge that any move we make can be brought into a courtroom is bound to feel some sort of stress. We must do our jobs with a smile on our face and without error. That, my dear one, is stress to the Nth degree!

However, we knew that our jobs were demanding when we signed up. What we didn't know is that we would be understaffed, running ragged, working with broken or missing equipment, and still be expected to play to the Press Ganey Gods. It is frustrating.

Take your break. Let us know how you feel in a couple of months. My wish for you is that you find your center again.

alotaibi · Jun 10, 2011

of course it is ok to take a break from your job bruin's mom and no need to feel guilty. now this is not because it was your request but also it was the truth. i believe that you need this break so badly. you are 40 years old and your experience in nursing is only 7 years. now i suggest you go back 7 years ago and think about yourself and all the good things you've experienced, felt, and achieved. remeber bruin's mom that every day is a fresh start. good luck :)

pca_85 · Jun 10, 2011

God yes-depending on how bad the last job was, large amounts of chocolate may also be needed.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Jun 11, 2011

of course it is ok to take a break from your job bruin's mom and no need to feel guilty. now this is not because it was your request but also it was the truth. i believe that you need this break so badly. you are 40 years old and your experience in nursing is only 7 years. now i suggest you go back 7 years ago and think about yourself and all the good things you've experienced, felt, and achieved. remeber bruin's mom that every day is a fresh start. good luck :)

i really like alotaibi's comment of suggesting that you go back 7 years ago to think about what you have experienced in your career as a nurse. now you will have time to think about why nursing pulled on you in the first place. i only have good thoughts to send you, and my hope is that you will do some soul searching and find peace within yourself.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Jun 11, 2011

Of course it is okay. It is your life and if you aren't hurting anyone by taking a break, why should you stay miserable. Good for you. Not everyone is that brave.

Bruin's Mom · Jun 11, 2011

Thank you all for your comments and support!!!

One thing I think is funny and still amusing to me is that society puts so much prestige and admiration on the nursing profession but people have no idea what exactly we go through as nurses. My position was in psych/drug and alcohol and I had issues with a supervisor who did nothing to correct issues in the unit and patients who would return over and over again from relapse and psych issues. I was there almost a year, it was affecting my marriage and my personal life, I couldn't leave it at work.

Tonight was the first night I took a nap and actually slept well. Thank God for a great husband and dog!!