No burn out....enough is enough!

[joanna73]

Lately, there have been various discussions here regarding burn out and understaffing. While everyone has different circumstances and work policies, I think it's time more nurses started to assert themselves. I am a new nurse of 8 months, and my fatigue and resentment for feeling overworked has been mounting, until the last couple of weeks. I've finally decided...enough is enough, and I'm taking my life back.

I am a second career nurse, and the burn out phenomenon is nothing new. Been there, done that before. So this time, it doesn't take years to recognize the signs and put an end to it. I'm tired all the time and I feel like all I'm doing is working and sleeping. Part of the problem is that I'm working at a small facility, and we are already operating on a skeleton staff. When we're short, we're SHORT. So there is more pressure to work.

I don't mind picking up a few extra shifts here and there. However, when we are receiving regular calls to work ABOVE the extras...well, I've been saying no, and I'm very vocal about this, "No. I've worked overtime for months. I'm not doing it anymore. I need my rest."

At this point, I don't care how short we are. It isn't my concern. I also realized that if I continue to agree to work when I don't want to, it is as much my fault as it is management. Management is not going to make an honest effort to solve the nursing shortage if we keep saying yes. Similarly, they are not going to be there to care for us exhausted nurses. Just say no. I should also mention that I am unionized, so we cannot be forced into mandatory overtime either. But they try guilt trips instead. I'm just not feeding into that anymore. Since I have decided this, I am happier at work again.

I see death on a regular basis. One thing is for sure...when someone is dying, they aren't wishing they worked more. It's time for more nurses to say no. We have enough stress as is with the nature of the work. Why add more?

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Everyone is right on target. What bothers me is this:

The acuity of my residents is increasing. The RNs and NAs are burnt out

Having to constantly worry about the NA schedule because they call off a lot.

Not having time to have proper meal breaks.

Now, the above I can handle for at least another 8 months or so. However, in order to do that, I can't work all the time. There is only so much drama I want in my life, period. Constantly receiving calls to trade or pick up has pushed me to the limit. That is why I am firm now with enough is enough. It's either them or me...and it isn't going to be me.

[bestallaround, ADN, CNA, LPN, RN]

You are so right when you say they wouldn't get away with it if nurses started saying no. We need to be consistent and keep our mind set. Everybody at work knows "I don't do overtime!"

[NYGiantsGal]

I hear all of you, lol! Good for you if you have figured this out in 8 months. It took me a couple of years working in the hospital setting to leave and look for a position that allowed me to live my life. In my current position, I immediately implemented the no overtime rule, so that they didnt come to expect it regularly. I work OT occasionally.. (actually, I'm salaried so do they really call it OT?), but do it infrequently enough for them not to think its part of my job description.

Anyways, nurses ABSOLUTELY need to stand up for themselves. It is why we are consistently underpaid and overworked, burned out and miserable. We need to stand up for the change makers on our units as well. It is an uphill battle, but if anything is going to change it has to start somewhere. Hospitals, clinics, doctors offices would close if the nurses decided to not work. That would force them to hire more people.

Also, someone wrote that management needs to step up... that is for administration, not management. How can management justify the hiring of new nurses when some nurse is always willing to work 50, 60 hour weeks (and make themselves and everyone else around them miserable) and the shifts are being covered? If management, justifiably, can show that shifts are not being covered THEN administration would have to allocate funds to cover the position and hire new nurses. Start saying NO to work every shift and administration will have the reason to saying YES to hiring more nurses.

[opossum]

Oh man, am I glad to hear this being discussed...

I too am a new nurse, second career...and I've been working per diem at a small hospital for almost 4 mo now and I'm exhausted. Orientation was OK because I worked the set schedule of my preceptor. Now that I'm on my own, I pretty much self-schedule to fill in the holes but then always get called in to work extra.

What's really messed up is not just the guilt trips they lay on us, but the ones WE PUT ON OURSELVES...census has been low, so I've been called off a lot lately. I need the money, so I can't really say no...but I've been preparing myself mentally and physically to work night shift, maybe get called in the middle of the night to come in, one day off, one night on...when the hell do I sleep? Now I'm really in trouble...I need the shifts, but I'm absolutely exhausted. And I'm waking up at odd hours, too tired to move.

I HAVEN'T LEFT MY APARTMENT IN TWO DAYS! And I'm not even sick (yet).

I just refused a shift the other morning and felt a twinge of guilt. But *(%^ it. The OP was right...life is too short to feel guilty and run ourselves into the ground.

[gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN]

Joanna,

I want to share this with you. I am a 2nd career RN. I worked all the time at my

(former) hospital. I mean 5 12 hour shifts a week. I was dedicated. I thought I was appreciated. I went on a week's vacation. I came back and found myself unemployed. No one in administration cares a whit about how much you work or what you do. We are all simply numbers and that is all. I will never work again regular staff at a hospital facility. I signed up with agency and travel. I also have young children and I can still travel because the hospital is only an hour away! I worked last week and made a ton compared to my former regular staff job. I am not kidding! I doubled my hourly rate and then some because I went in at the last minute. I am still there for the patients but I do not have to put up with all the bull. They cannot call me, they have to call the agency or travel company and I can always say "no".

[gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN]

I just read the "guilt trips" you all are on. Are you kidding me? Just turn off your phone and say the battery was dead (of course this could be why I got fired) but who cares I ain't putting up with all that anymore and my health is much better. Why would you kill yourselves so that administration can smile at you and say "good job". I know I sound awful but I am really sick of all of this healthcare business. In 3 semesters I will have a MSN and can do something else besides floor nursing.

[opossum]

I just read the "guilt trips" you all are on. Are you kidding me? Just turn off your phone and say the battery was dead (of course this could be why I got fired) but who cares I ain't putting up with all that anymore and my health is much better. Why would you kill yourselves so that administration can smile at you and say "good job". I know I sound awful but I am really sick of all of this healthcare business. In 3 semesters I will have a MSN and can do something else besides floor nursing.

For me, it's difficult because I graduated a year ago and it took me 9 months to find my current job. NO ONE wants to hire new grads; 2 years of experience is what most employers want. Travel agencies want 5 yrs (at least in my area).

So...I feel somewhat obligated to be "team player" and be extremely flexible because my options are limited. I'm very lucky to have found what I did. But that's not an excuse to allow mgmt to take advantage of me, either. Right now I'm trying to find that happy medium of being flexible enough for them to keep calling me in, but not running myself ragged. It will work out...I think it's just going to take some time. The fact that I'm new at my hospital and new to nursing doesn't help.

Congrats on getting your MSN :) - there's a lot you can do with that.

[pale_pilsen]

Whenever I get a chance to flex my time or call in sick, i do it. Why? Because i know the hospital i work for doesnt care about me. I'm just there as another body to work for them and so they can make profits. Hospitals are business. Business means making profit. Otherwise, they'll go broke. Is that simple. Now that ive been working there for couple of months now, I felt my health is not the same when I first started. The stress and fatigue is more than often too much. I dont know why i even picked nursing as a career. I wish I could have gone to a less stressful job like Physical Therapy or a management job. Seriously...when they see me working and running like a headless chicken, I bet they're thinking, "im glad I didnt chose nursing as a career." No offense to anyone.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I've always been a "team player", but like I said....enough. The reality is....they don't care about us. I am prepared to work my assigned schedule. When the new rotation is posted....no more pick ups. They cannot afford to lose another nurse right now, so I actually have the upper hand in that respect. I am also going to stop answering their calls. The calls are going to voice mail. One time they tried to email me. Emails regarding shift pick ups when I am home will not be answered either.

That's it. I don't feel guilty about it anymore. My own health is compromised now....and I won't be exhausted for them. Thanks for your replies everyone :) Remember...stand firm. Yes the market is tough. However, it is not worth working anywhere to the detriment of yourself. It is very sad that we promote health, yet nurses cannot be healthy themselves. I guess all that stuff we learn amounts to lip service only...

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I called in sick too. I rarely call sick, and I felt no way about it. We have paid sick days, and I'm going to start using some of them.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

I am sick of it also. But that is the way it is. Nurses who have worked on my floor for 5+ years (not many) say it has always been like this, although mangement claims they are working on a fix that is only a few months away! I get called to come in early or stay late or come in an extra shift all the time. The worst part is that there are many martyrs and heros on my floor. if you say, ' No, I can not stay from 7p-11pm as I already worked 7am-730pm" you are essentially accused of being a BAD CO-WORKER. With comments such as , " It is only 4 more hours, why can't you stay", "why do some nurses never help out (even if I am working 50 hours a week some work 60+)". Then emails from managers about " team work and working overtime to care for "our " patients' etc....... i know I can just ignore these comments, and I usually do, but it does make for a poor working environment when half of the staffs think you are a bad lazy nurse for not working everytime there is a hole. Some people never work overtime and don't get "called" out on it. Others work about 8 hours a week and are usually the ones who get complained about when they don't do 16 hours. The more you give the more they want.

[damrcngrl95]

I know this is somewhat OT, but I find it amazing that daycares and schools have an adult to child ratio because of safety reasons. I'm surprised that states don't have laws that mandate hospitals to have ratios of nurses to patients for safety reasons. I read that California had been working on nurse to patient ratio laws. Did that pass? If it did, I hope other states will follow them.

To the OP, I am happy to hear that you are looking out for yourself. I know that it will give me the strength to do the same when I join the medical field too.