new job advice

[Taaffe]

Hi! I have 2 yrs of telemetry/med surg experience and I am looking for a job change. My job is extremely stressful and I am quite unhappy- spilling over into my life outside of hospital. Our ratios are often 5:1 or 6:1, many total care pts and little CNA help if any. I'm exhausted! I HAVE to make a job change. I am thinking of switching to acute care dialysis w/ Davita or possible home hospice nursing. I have a 9yr child at home that is most important to me. I wish I had a nurse coach/adviser to direct me in my next step in my career. I became a nurse- RN at 45yr, and my experience at this point in current job is almost making me regret my new career choice. Only thing I like about working at the hospital is having 4 days off. I feel that I am experiencing burn out already- I am a day nurse often at work till 9pm instead of getting off at 7:30pm. Any advice would be appreciated??? I am stressed, exhausted, and feel lost. Please help!

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

Find out what you actually want to do. I wouldn't really recommend dialysis because it seems that their hours don't actually mesh well with being a parent. Hospice might be the better choice. Good luck!

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Hi! I have 2 yrs of telemetry/med surg experience and I am looking for a job change. My job is extremely stressful and I am quite unhappy- spilling over into my life outside of hospital. Our ratios are often 5:1 or 6:1, many total care pts and little CNA help if any. I'm exhausted! I HAVE to make a job change. I am thinking of switching to acute care dialysis w/ Davita or possible home hospice nursing. I have a 9yr child at home that is most important to me. I wish I had a nurse coach/adviser to direct me in my next step in my career. I became a nurse- RN at 45yr, and my experience at this point in current job is almost making me regret my new career choice. Only thing I like about working at the hospital is having 4 days off. I feel that I am experiencing burn out already- I am a day nurse often at work till 9pm instead of getting off at 7:30pm. Any advice would be appreciated??? I am stressed, exhausted, and feel lost. Please help!

Twelve hour shifts are good for certain times in your life, but when you have a child around the age of yours, it's often better to have the stability and routine of always being home in the evenings.

Traditional hour jobs include cath lab, PACU, outpatient surgeries...there may be call requirements, so decide if that's a game changer for you.

I really believe the workload and conditions drive many good nurses to a fast burnout. I like to say "change your mindset to survive, change your setting to thrive" Burnout calls for a change- in the way you frame your job if possible, and usually in your setting or role.

There are SO many options in non-clinical positions as well. There's case management, palliative care, infection prevention, telephonic nursing. Start reading job boards to get an idea of the scope. Best wishes :)