after 22 years i am leaving the nursing profession. i have spent almost half of my life taking care of other people, and it is now time to step aside and let someone else step in.
i was very young when i started out, and i often say that i chose nursing the same way many women choose a man, for all of the wrong reasons although i was good at it, i never harmed anyone, i worked hard, cleaned pts real good, cleaned nails, ears, etc. made beds, toe pleats and all, passed meds, did IV's, blood and all of those other tasks they added to the list over the years. everyone was well taken care of, except for me. i silenced my own voice.
so, it is time for me to leave. after numerous injuries, (back, wrist, neck), backstabbing managers, obnoxious families and insulting doctors i just can't do it anymore. i'm tired and just have done all i can do. i have worked everywhere and seen it all from the ER to the OR. i didn't do it for the money, it's really not that much for all of the b* i have to deal with. i feel sorry for the shallow person who wants to do nursing for the money. i would not want them standing over me.:chair:
if i had it to do over, i would not. but i can't undo what is already done.
i love kids, i love art. i have a degree in art and opportunities to teach it are coming my way. not the same money but much less stress on me, no injuries and no more palpitations and bradycardia. i don't like telemetry either-- working in it, or laying down in it. the beeping really creeps me out, and when i look up and see "50" on the screen that does not help. :redbeathe
i did not wake up and decide to quit, it has taken me a long time to get to this place and i realize that it is either remain in this relationship (profession) at my own expense, or get out now while i still have my physical and mental health and strength. i have seen too many of my commrades die prematurely. i don't want to be next, before my time.
good luck to you all, be safe, CYA, and most of all when the going gets tough, get out!
I'm tired and burned out, too, but mine comes from management.
We have a "bully" boss, and it has just been very hard over the years to maintain this job.
However, I'd like to interject my 2cents worth why people stay in a job that takes people down sometimes.
I am single. I have to work. No husband here to back me up.
This job is actually easier than Nursing Home jobs, it's not the work on my job it's management.
I make more money here than a nursing home.
I get retirement benefits, and health insurance, which is cheaper from the state than a nursing home would be. I'm single....I've got to have health insurance.
I actually like this job...the people we care for are NOT my problem.
I have to stay. I have too much time invested to walk out. 26 years. 4 more years a full retirement, and 5 more after that I have a DROP fund to take with me.
I can't just walk out. This is my future, my life, my ability to care for myself when I get old.
A person has to look at their options and decide what's best for them.
Some choose to leave, some choose to stick it out.
If it were not for the negative part of management, I would say I had a dream job for an LPN. I make good money for this area. Very good. No where else around where I live could I go and get what I'm getting now.
The years of service gives alot of that, yes, and I can't just give it up.
I realize no one here is saying I should give it up and go elsewhere, just in case anyone wants to jump on that, but these are just my reasons for staying.
Actually there are some nurses who have left this job for exactly the negative reasons I have stated {management}. We have lost 3 in the last 6 months, and several more have blood pressure problems that they attribute to the management and some of the requirements of the job...which do not include the people we care for.
Thank you sail81 for rectifying your comments. I want to say again, that my goal is not to discourage students. It was pretty clear by the title what this post was about. While I am happy that nursing students have a place to venta nd get support, AllNURSES is for all nurses. Us tired oldies need a place to vent as well.
I'd just like to say that it is a great privilege to be a member of such a supportive community. The nurses (including the OP) who have posted here show empathy, grace, and wisdom. For those who are ready to move on: thank you, thank you, thank you for the years you've put in. Even though management can suck you dry, they can never remove the fact that you've affected countless lives. Peace be with you.
You need some place to vent, and I feel your pain. I hope that nursing students will go into this field with both eyes open. There are also many wonderful things going on in healthcare, but it is good to not be blindsighted by the difficulties.
I too feel your pain and understand completely where you are. After 20 years of bedside nursing it is hard to admit that the job gets harder every day. Are the patients getting heavier or is it just me getting weaker? I hope there is a place where old used up nurses can go and sit in rockers and drink ice tea and share all of our wonderful memories together...I'm right behind you sister.
right on!!!!!! sounds like you will do just fine. i left 3 years ago because i had to and thought i would never return after many years.............but "i'm back!" and hope i don't die b4 my time is due, i hear you :monkeydance: fur e
Not to be negative--well, yes, to be negative--but if you've never been an "administrative" nurse (and I've been several varieties), you don't begin to know the stressors involved. It can be just as painful as bedside nursing, sometimes even more so.
TELL me about it. I've been a Clinical Manager for a HHA for almost two months now, and by some mysterious powers am thought to be able to solve everyone's problems...instantly. The place is dysfunctional as hell, with nobody giving a damn. It's ripe for takeover, and all I can say if that ever
happens, it would be a blessing. In the meantime I am doing the best I can under the circumstances and drawing a paycheck, which is more than I was able to do four months ago when I was unemployed...and homeless.
I'm sorry, after reading my post it came off "rude". I just want to make sure Nursing students aren't discouraged. Didn't mean to sound bad! :-)
well, your response is actually more of what i expected to find. and no, i am not venting. i am speaking the truth. speaking what i believe does not make me bitter, it makes me honest. if nursing students are discouraged from nursing because of what i posted, then it is a good thing. that is like saying that quoting the fact that 50% of all marriages end in divorce will discourage people from getting married. well, if that is all it takes to discourage them, then they should not marry in the first place! marriage is more than putting on a white dress, walking down the aisle and marrying a man in a nice black tux, eating cake and going to the bahamas for a week. nursing is more than putting on a cute uniform and crusing the hallway with a tray of medicines and fluffing pillows. the problem is, no one wants to hear the truth. nursing schools do not present the harsh realities of what nursing is to potential students.
oh, and to the other poster, you know i want to get out so i won't have to be relegated to a rocking chair. i want to still have life in my bones.
and, you don't know what jobs i have done in the last 22 years...so i won't even comment on that. but i will say, i was good at all of them. when it's time to go, it's just time to go.:blushkiss
oh, and to the other poster, you know i want to get out so i won't have to be relegated to a rocking chair. i want to still have life in my bones.
and, you don't know what jobs i have done in the last 22 years...so i won't even comment on that. but i will say, i was good at all of them. when it's time to go, it's just time to go.:blushkiss
that being said,
carry on--
cc
soon to be retired june 30 2006:balloons:
I am sorry but I never intended any disrespect to you and I am quit glad you are not ready for a rocking chair yet. I never implied you were any kind of nurse because you never mentioned what kind of nurse you were or your experiences so how would I know anything else about you? I guess I am just burned out and not yet bitter..maybe that will be when I need to get out. Good luck and best wishes on your retirement.
I too feel your pain and understand completely where you are. After 20 years of bedside nursing it is hard to admit that the job gets harder every day. Are the patients getting heavier or is it just me getting weaker? I hope there is a place where old used up nurses can go and sit in rockers and drink ice tea and share all of our wonderful memories together...I'm right behind you sister.
Hey, burnout - save me one of those chairs!!:)
The patients have never been the problem with me - I can get along with just about anyone. It's a challenge to be able to form a good relationship with a difficult patient or family.
With me, it's the ever changing management - especially those ideas that come down from people who haven't worked the floor for years.
The emphasis seems to be on greater survey scores - with less attention paid to the root of the problem - inadequate staff, greater paper work, etc., etc.
One of the most ridiculous things I was told by a manager was to NOT heat muffins before we give them to patients - because it takes too much time.:uhoh21:
I could go on and on, but you all know what I'm talking about.
LPN1974, LPN
879 Posts
I'm tired and burned out, too, but mine comes from management.
We have a "bully" boss, and it has just been very hard over the years to maintain this job.
However, I'd like to interject my 2cents worth why people stay in a job that takes people down sometimes.
I am single. I have to work. No husband here to back me up.
This job is actually easier than Nursing Home jobs, it's not the work on my job it's management.
I make more money here than a nursing home.
I get retirement benefits, and health insurance, which is cheaper from the state than a nursing home would be. I'm single....I've got to have health insurance.
I actually like this job...the people we care for are NOT my problem.
I have to stay. I have too much time invested to walk out. 26 years. 4 more years a full retirement, and 5 more after that I have a DROP fund to take with me.
I can't just walk out. This is my future, my life, my ability to care for myself when I get old.
A person has to look at their options and decide what's best for them.
Some choose to leave, some choose to stick it out.
If it were not for the negative part of management, I would say I had a dream job for an LPN. I make good money for this area. Very good. No where else around where I live could I go and get what I'm getting now.
The years of service gives alot of that, yes, and I can't just give it up.
I realize no one here is saying I should give it up and go elsewhere, just in case anyone wants to jump on that, but these are just my reasons for staying.
Actually there are some nurses who have left this job for exactly the negative reasons I have stated {management}. We have lost 3 in the last 6 months, and several more have blood pressure problems that they attribute to the management and some of the requirements of the job...which do not include the people we care for.