Most Burned Out Nursing Specialties?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello allnurses,

I recently came across a report by Medscape that surveyed 15,000 physicians and outlined the highest rates of burnout by medical specialty (https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2018-lifestyle-burnout-depression-6009235).

This got me wondering, is there a report similar to this for nursing?

What are your picks anecdotally for most burned out specialties and why?

Specializes in Adult and pediatric emergency and critical care.

Burned out as in jaded? Emergency.

Burned out as in uninvested in nursing? That's going to be a bit more difficult, although I think med/surg has a good chance of being the winner.

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Specializes in Psych.
17 hours ago, kaylee. said:

There is some truth to this: i have always loved psych but did not go there when i was a naive newbie because i felt like it wasnt “real” nursing. So now after 5 years in step down and total burn out, I am chaning to psyc. So its my perception that changed and now i want to pursue an avenue i really may like. I think the acute bedside was something i needed to find out about though.

I work Med Psych & I love it! Theres plenty of “real” nursing (whatever that means...) as well as the psych stuff.

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On 2/5/2019 at 4:42 AM, NightNerd said:

I've worked in only a couple different areas, but I feel like psych is the worst for me. The verbal and physical aggression really takes a toll, and I'm constantly thinking about how to respond to people who are escalating - like even when I'm not at work. I'm pretty sensitive anyway, so this may not be everyone's experience, but there's no way I could spend an entire career in psych, fascinating as it is.

Psych is less butt wiping though...

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After three years in MedSurg, I was burnt out and almost every single nurse I worked with was also. Not because of what it takes to be a nurse...we loved caring for the patients. But because of getting too many patients; we didn't feel we could do a good job taking care of each one...or worse, we felt it was a dangerous situation for the patients.

I would imagine ED being highest burn-out rate because of the fast pace, codes, trauma, the constant high stress. Some people thrive on that as paramedics do, but how many years can they keep it up? Speaking of paramedics, they deserve much higher pay for what they do. I know an area where they were over-worked, underpaid, and suffering from a series of suicides due to the stress!

Psych is harder and scarier in some ways than MedSurg and vice versa...so long enough in one and I'd be ready to switch back to the other.

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Specializes in oncology, MS/tele/stepdown.

Med-surg and neuro. Unlimited ratios because your med-surg patients are "stable"? Four elderly patients with UTIs that HAVE to go to neuro because, well, they're confused? The overlap with psych and neuro? Nah, I'm good. Give me my oncology patients any day.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Only hospital nurses made this survey. Wow, I realize that LTC is usually considered the step child in healthcare ( yes, I can say this, I did it for a few years), I think has the highest level of burnout, and my 2nd choice is med/surg, having done that a few years as well. Ridiculous staffing ratios, and many managers with a throw staff under the bus then hit the gas pedal attitude. I don’t ever want to go back to either!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
9 hours ago, Hoosier_RN said:

Only hospital nurses made this survey. Wow, I realize that LTC is usually considered the step child in healthcare ( yes, I can say this, I did it for a few years), I think has the highest level of burnout, and my 2nd choice is med/surg, having done that a few years as well. Ridiculous staffing ratios, and many managers with a throw staff under the bus then hit the gas pedal attitude. I don’t ever want to go back to either!

My sentiments exactly. I did both LTC and Med/Surg and I don't know which one burned me out quicker. I switched back and forth between them throughout much of my career until I got involved in Assisted Living. I did pretty well in that field and stayed in it for years, but then I flamed out spectacularly at my last AL job and that was the end of it. It wasn't burnout so much as it was a mental health condition that made me hang up my stethoscope, but I know it wasn't helped by my feeling like I was at the end of my rope.

ETA: I also should mention management as another set-up for burnout. Working 60-hour weeks and only getting paid for 40, plus being responsible for 85 AL residents and 35 staff 24/7/365 is not fun. Everybody thinks management has it so easy, well I'm telling you that I didn't. I busted my orifice to arrange acceptable schedules for my college students, keep the place staffed adequately, working the floor myself when I couldn't find anyone to come in, acting as assistant administrator, answering the phones which rang incessantly, dealing with families who wanted to know what I was doing about Mama's missing laundry, assessing changes of condition and putting service plans together while optimizing revenue for the facility, even serving meals and working in the kitchen. It gets to a person after a while.

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Specializes in Pediatric Burn ICU.
On 2/5/2019 at 11:40 AM, Davey Do said:

That's interesting, NightNerd.

I've heard that psych is where all burned out go to when they can't work as real nurses anymore.

I'm kidding.

(Sort of.)

I have heard that psych is where the burned out nurses go for treatment and recovery.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
3 hours ago, Leadkrm said:

I have heard that psych is where the burned out nurses go for treatment and recovery.

Some go there after they die, Leadkrm.

That is, if their body's still warm.

328381382_deadnurse3.png.f0adab5782bcc26d1d26bed495b27fb5.png

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ha..long term care...anyone out there listening? have seen many nurses with different backgrounds leave due to stress and patient abuse ( and not staff abusing patients either!!)thinking it was a walk in the park....... and incredible workload.with these patients... I hear crickets now.....hello? anyone? ps..don't forget ....we all get old and you cant stop it.

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On 2/7/2019 at 3:09 PM, Hoosier_RN said:

Only hospital nurses made this survey. Wow, I realize that LTC is usually considered the step child in healthcare ( yes, I can say this, I did it for a few years), I think has the highest level of burnout, and my 2nd choice is med/surg, having done that a few years as well. Ridiculous staffing ratios, and many managers with a throw staff under the bus then hit the gas pedal attitude. I don’t ever want to go back to either!

Very true about LTC. I am in LTC specialty for almost a year and I am burnout. Can't wait to move on.

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Specializes in Primary Care, Military.
14 hours ago, Leadkrm said:

I have heard that psych is where the burned out nurses go for treatment and recovery.

Hahahahaha. If only. "We will never decline a patient due to lack of staffing." If there's closet space, there is a way! ?

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