Moving On

[RN-767]

Im not trying to gain any sympathy, I guess im just venting my frustrations. As a male nurse I have decided that nursing is just not for me and that it is time to move on. It's sad that I just graduated a little over a year ago and worked for a while in a nursing home and then for a while in the OR of a large hospital and hated every minute of it, I hated nursing period once I started working. I found nothing to like or love about it and went to work miserable and depressed every single day. I found it getting worse and worse as time went on. I had rather go back to one of my old $10/hr non nursing jobs than to put up with this crap, drama, and politics everyday and be miserable and grouchy the rest of my life. Life is too short for that. I guess it's just not what im geared for. I consider myself more of a technical minded person so I have decided to regroup and move on before I get much older. I will probably be going back to school pretty soon. Nursing has been an experience and I am proud of achieving the goal of gettning a college degree but beyond that, it's time to move on. Im tired of being PRN'd to death and having nothing. I think these companies are getting to where all they want is a bunch of PRN employees that they can use, abuse and have them work a day or two here and there so they can get out of giving them any benefits. All I heard with my last job is money money, time is money, we cant afford this and that, you need to speed up and blah blah blah. Well, I have to eat and pay bills too and two days here and there just won't cut it. I was never mean or grouchy to my patients and got tons of thank you's and great compliments about how well I took care of them and I appreciated that but beyond all that it was a whole different world.

Their might be a niche out there somewhere I could do but im not gonna spend 30 years trying to find it. Good luck to those that truly love nursing and I hope it works out well for you. We need nurses and professionals but my advice, especially to perspective nursing students it to make sure it is really what you want, or think it is before you jump in head first. Nursing is not for everybody.

[RN-767]

Thanks all for the replies. I haven't checked in for some time but I will check back from time to time. I had considered some of the other nursing options but it seems they all want 4000 years experience in this and that to get a lot of those specialty jobs that seem like they would actually be decent jobs. I guess I just refuse to let my self be miserable, treated like trash, and feel like I'm gonna have a MI every day just to try and get there and it possibly never happening. I have always had a job prior to nursing and they have all had there days and moments but i'd gladly take those days and moments back over nursing. In my past jobs a bad day was something that happened every now and then but in my nursing experience it seems like your lucky if you ever have a halfway good day. Something is wrong with a picture like that when you know tomorrow's work day is gonna suck before you even get there. I really applaud those that have a position they love and it works out great for them. I really hope it continues. Since my last post I reluctantly took another nursing job for a short time because it was sorta just offered to me so I though to be fair why not give it a whirl? Oh boy, that was a mistake. More of the same BS, understaffed and over worked just to say the least. I thought I would give it a fair chance but the third time was not a charm. I'm just getting a new start before I get too old. Considering starting my own business at some point. I have hung up my scrubs and stethoscope for the last time unless someone offers me a hands off too good to be true nursing job which probably aint gonna happen :)

I do hold an FAA Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor certification. I do some fixed wing flight instructing on the side. Flying is kinda my stress relief. I never really thought much about making a career out of flying because it is a very difficult path to take but I think I'm about to start putting a lot more effort into it. At least I have a degree which makes me a little more marketable now in the aviation industry, even though its a nursing degree it really don't matter in the aviation world :-). I would never make it as a flight nurse coz my first passion is being at the flight controls, not in the back

[MountainRN53]

All I heard with my last job is money money, time is money, we cant afford this and that, you need to speed up and blah blah blah.

I heard this alot from my last 2 jobs and I'm sure it's pretty much everywhere. It does get depressing at times, esp when other staff members say "We never have any dressings to work with in the treatment cart".

Nursing will always be there for you should you decide to try it again.

Good Luck!

[NurseCard, ADN]

This.

I read a couple "new nurse advice" books when I started and they all echoed: Problems at home WILL affect you professionally. Strive to have a home life that exudes simplicity and stability.

OP probably didn't have the opportunity to create a home environment that supported his nursing career.

I might suggest finding something else to to that is non-nursing related until you either find a new career that you can focus on or you find that "niche" in nursing. Either way, the little bit of money you earn with nursing wont hurt.

We all float down here.

Okay, I'm really not disagreeing with you, but are those of us who have more

"complicated" home lives not supposed to be nurses?

I've got a nine year old and a five year old at home, plus a husband who sufferes

from severe anxiety. The nine year old... she has some anxiety and she can be mouthy

at times but otherwise she's easy. My five year old is an absolute hellion.

I DO wish that I had a home life that was more simple and relaxing, I think it

would help. When that just isn't likely a possibility, what do you DO???

[RN-767]

Okay, I'm really not disagreeing with you, but are those of us who have more

"complicated" home lives not supposed to be nurses?

I've got a nine year old and a five year old at home, plus a husband who sufferes

from severe anxiety. The nine year old... she has some anxiety and she can be mouthy

at times but otherwise she's easy. My five year old is an absolute hellion.

I DO wish that I had a home life that was more simple and relaxing, I think it

would help. When that just isn't likely a possibility, what do you DO???

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I'm not saying that everyone should not be a nurse or avoid working in the medical profession, please read my previous posts. I know there are those out there that love nursing more than anything and wouldn't even think about doing anything else and my hat is off to them because they are needed. Don't take my comments the wrong way but I know a lot of people that really don't have a choice in the matter anymore and they just do it because they have no choice for one reason or another and I feel for them. I'm just saying I don't want to get stuck in something I really don't want to be in before I end up not having a choice. I don't think the people around me understand my position completely. Anyways, I hope it all works out well for you. Good luck.

[MommyandRN]

Good luck to you! I completely understand where you are coming from. Nursing is both wonderful and horrific. It is so hard to find that niche, that specialty you love, combined with the right setting, the right co-workers, manager, and hours. In my experience, I have loved a job but hated the people or hours or something. Or I hated the job but it was good hours. Or, it was great for a while then turned bad. Believe me I have tried many different nursing jobs at this point. I am still trying to find that right fit for me. I am amazed at the RNs who pick one job and stay there for 30 years. I just hop around a lot. I admire you for deciding to leave the profession. I would do the same thing but I have to pay bills and at a time when I don't want to devote time to a full time new degree or profession. Right now I am sort of hoping to be in PT or PRN position that is tolerable. I could easily get a job similar to ones in the past but I am always on the hunt for something different. Anyway, good luck in your endeavors!

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

RN-767 Congratulations!

I am always looking for a way out of nursing too. I think I understand exactly where you are coming from? It's all about not being able to play "doormat" well, in essence. Prior to nursing, I can say I'd never been truly treated like crap in all my 20+ years of working. I just don't know why the profession has allowed this on itself? Never before have I been subjected to being treated like a child, talked "simply" to because I couldn't possibly understand pathophysiology, or treated rudely because it seems that is also in my job description.

When the understanding hits you clear as a bell that to continue in this field you have to allow yourself to be broken like horse into submission -- no can do. My self-esteem is intact and I intend to keep it that way. I feel lucky that I still know what that even is, that I did not have it ripped from me in my formative years as a young adult...

I hope that other job turns out for you!

Yep, I am glad I waited tables, and worked retail before this. prepared me well for a job with the public. i mean this in all sincereity.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

You won't be the last to quit nursing just right after graduating. I see it all the time @ my hospital. I've worked with bright and young nurses straight from that university or a state college. Once that call light goes off they soon find out that nursing isn't for them. I blame all the hype out there that nursing pays good and it's a "recession" proof job (lol, whatever! I've been around experienced nurses getting fired for stupid crap). I actually miss the Dot Com days of the late 1990s (I started wearing scrubs in the early 1990s myself). Back then, anybody crazy enough to get into nursing (remember all the strikes we did back then to get better nurse-to-patient ratios?) and didn't get fazed and are still wearing those scrubs today or had long careers. Those people were true nurses in my opinion (I'm knocking anyone today who really likes nursing and wants to be a nurse). All the other college students back then wanted to create the next Yahoo.com or AOL. Today? Everybody is on the nursing bandwagon. I get chills when I step into a coffee shop to get my drink and I see giggling students/graduates reading that NLCEX or Anatomy book. Are these people getting into nursing (healthcare) BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE NURSES or is it because that's where the 100K salaries are? It's crazy. And the entitlement attitude sickens me (Not all new nurses have this attitude btw). It's funny, back then when I mentioned I was a nurse, I'd get sarcastic remarks about wiping butts and now people think you're the sh* because your a nurse. lol.

/

I still get those comments about wiping butts and how my job is so gross. But from the same people i get envious stares at my ability to pay for designer clothes and bags with a butt wiping job. I was never called into nursing by the mystical universe. i never had a strong desire to be a nurse. I did it for the money and job availability ( what a joke the last part was). i decided that I could do pretty much anything and deal with it if the price was right.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

This may sound condescending, but have you tried just flat out ignoring all the drama? Frankly I look at all the high strung melodramatic drama queens around me as a source of free entertainment. That sounds harsh, but in this line of work it's either laugh or cry. I don't

get involved and just sit back and watch.

As for the workload, well, there's no getting around that. One thing I always tell new nurses is that it WILL get easier. If you can stick it out eventually you WILL develop a flow and build confidence. I have meds, treatments and charting for 49 residents on the 3-11 shift. You bet it was overwhelming at first. But now I know the meds, I know the residents, I'm on great terms with the docs and I can throw down a shift in a heartbeat. It's been my experience that ALL jobs suck to some extent. I'd rather be paid nursing wages if I have to work somewhere.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

This may sound condescending, but have you tried just flat out ignoring all the drama? Frankly I look at all the high strung melodramatic drama queens around me as a source of free entertainment. That sounds harsh, but in this line of work it's either laugh or cry. I don't

get involved and just sit back and watch.

As for the workload, well, there's no getting around that. One thing I always tell new nurses is that it WILL get easier. If you can stick it out eventually you WILL develop a flow and build confidence. I have meds, treatments and charting for 49 residents on the 3-11 shift. You bet it was overwhelming at first. But now I know the meds, I know the residents, I'm on great terms with the docs and I can throw down a shift in a heartbeat. It's been my experience that ALL jobs suck to some extent. I'd rather be paid nursing wages if I have to work somewhere.

I also view the drama as entertainment and do get my fair share of laughs out of it. Ans it does get easier as you become more familiar, faster with everything.

[GinginRN]

I have observed that the nursing environments have progressively worsened in the past few years. Poor management, bleak economy, and lack of loyalty have doomed what I once felt was a more secure profession. Fewer job opportunities with more applicants equal a longer transition to a position. Most positions posted require experience, making it harder for the new grads or those who wish to transition to a different area of nursing to secure permanent placement.

[RN-767]

I guess for myself it just boils down to the fact that my heart is just not in the healthcare profession. I guess when you don't have the love for something it is just not meant to be. I love to work and always have but I need a sense of satisfaction and some level of like and sanity that healthcare just don't provide for me. I have tried ignoring all the drama but mostly it just gets on my nerves and makes it even harder to show up the next day. I have never seen the level of drama before that I have seen in nursing. It's unreal.