Hi everyone. I'm curious to hear people's thoughts from different areas of nursing about what direction they would recommend to me as I am a bit stuck.
I currently am working two part-time jobs, one at a hospice and the other on a busy medical unit. I have been working as a nurse for a year and a half now. I don't like my job in the medical unit at all. The position has a high turnover (in the past year 10 nurses has left) and is constantly understaffed especially recently. Honestly, 90% of the nurses who work there have told me they want to leave the unit eventually due to the high acuity of care and short staff issues. This is made all the worse due to the fact that I do have a history of mental illness; specifically diagnosed moderate social anxiety and severe generalized anxiety with mild depression. I do have a psychologist and she flat out told me to quit the hospital job due to my symptoms until I explained my reasoning for being there. My goal has always been to make it to two years, at which point I have been told that a lot more doors open up. If I worked at just the hospice, I wouldn't have access to several specific skills such as IVs.
I have definitely been in worse health the past year and a half due to the job and am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The issue is I'm not really 100% sure where to take my career from here.
I am strongly considering becoming a nurse practitioner as it encompasses mostly what seems to be ideal for me; 9-5 (within reason), higher pay and while still bedside has less direct contact with patients. However, in my country you are required to have a minimum of 3 years of clinical experience before you can apply to be a NP. Factoring that in along with the university time and you are looking at another three years before I could begin practising as an NP. So I would need to do something else until then.
I sort of see three main areas of nursing frequently come up; Hospital, community and LTC. LTC is immediately out for me due to several issues that would take too long to get into. Hospital is an option, but I am a bit concerned as to how much I have disliked bedside nursing on my current unit due to the feeling of dread on not knowing what I am walking into each shift, patient acuity and stress. I have put on an alarming amount of weight since starting the job and constantly feel sick (Also have diagnosed IBS) from the changing of days to nights and other stressors. Community is also an option, with the main concern being paid less and going into people's houses.
I have actually found a community job I was considering but heard that it required lots of visits to patient homes which has always made me a bit nervous. I once went with a nurse to a home and the situation got a little...dangerous. The patient was being quite aggressive and normally you would be alone in their home. The whole experience kind of turned me off community nursing but I am considering it again.
To all the nurses who have done both, or like one more than the other, what were your experiences with community nursing versus the hospital? For those RNs who have social anxiety (or anxiety in general), which roles worked best for you? Any help or insights would be much appreciated. ?
Specializes in Traveling LPN- < 1 yr; NA-5 years experience.
Hello. It sounds like you're dealing with a lot. I feel your pain. I haven't been an LPN for long but have 5 years on a medical-surgical floor in a MAJOR, local healthcare system/corporation. I hate it. I won't sugarcoat it. We get treated like garbage; constantly short-staffed; NAs left with 18 patients and the RNs left with 7-8 patients a piece and LPN (me) left with several patients, whom have a higher acuity than I'm legally allowed to care for. I could try to chalk it up to getting great experience when I go for my RN...but this....this is downright cruel. AND, management doesn't give a crap about it....
I'm having the same dilemma right now. Do I quit, go to a telehealth/traveling agency that actually pays $20 more per hour, but leave my family for so many weeks, come home for a week or two and leave again over an over because it pays more and also supports my family better, or do I stay there, and deal with the BS because it's right down the road and I won't have to leave my family?
In your situation, I would do whatever makes you less stressed and when you leave for the day, you come home happy and not miserable all the time. I guess what it comes down to is your health. I have severe anxiety, panic attacks, severe depression with bipolar tendencies (I'm on a good and even dose of each of my meds where I can function normally and it works well for me, so it's under control, and I'm doing great on those, with therapy added).
Your health is more important. Period. Have you looked into getting your CRNA? You can travel, work at a pediatric surgery center or outpatient/adult surgery center, weekends and holidays off, no on-call, the benefits are way better, the pay is much much higher than an NP and you get a boatload of vacation time. ANd this type of job is more available than you think. ANd worth the effort.
I hope you find what works for you. Just keep working hard. (ANd I bet you're a kick-*** nurse, too!) I know I will, eventually. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel. Remember, What comes easy won't last. What lasts, won't come easy.
I think you should look at more than just acute, community & LTC. Look at job postings for your county & state depts of public health. I think you are equating community health with home health, but community/public health have more opportunities than you may be aware of. If becoming a NP is your passion, then that's great. But if you're looking for a 9-5 that can utilize the skills/education that you already have, there are opportunities in school nursing, public health, government jobs, infection prevention, clinics such as wound clinics and infusion centers.
Hi everyone! I'm the original writer, thank you so much for all of your wonderful responses. I actually have found something that may work for me so wanted to share it with everyone as it seems like a lot of people are going through similar struggles.
I have been looking into working in clinics as I realized that they can offer the best of both worlds. They are often more stable hours (8-4 pm often), don't require you to go into strangers homes and have short limited conversations with people as opposed to long drawn out days with the same people. Plus, the clinics I am looking into are both attached to the hospital so my pay will go up at a hospital rate that is higher than in the community typically. While you do may need to do some unpaid overtime or have limited breaks, honestly, I do that all the time now anyway. As for my NP we will have to see. Hopefully, I will get into one of the clinics and can then decide once I am in a more stable job.
Anyone who has worked in clinics, do you find it to be better? Or does it really depend?
WertDerFerk16, LPN
3 Posts
Hello. It sounds like you're dealing with a lot. I feel your pain. I haven't been an LPN for long but have 5 years on a medical-surgical floor in a MAJOR, local healthcare system/corporation. I hate it. I won't sugarcoat it. We get treated like garbage; constantly short-staffed; NAs left with 18 patients and the RNs left with 7-8 patients a piece and LPN (me) left with several patients, whom have a higher acuity than I'm legally allowed to care for. I could try to chalk it up to getting great experience when I go for my RN...but this....this is downright cruel. AND, management doesn't give a crap about it....
I'm having the same dilemma right now. Do I quit, go to a telehealth/traveling agency that actually pays $20 more per hour, but leave my family for so many weeks, come home for a week or two and leave again over an over because it pays more and also supports my family better, or do I stay there, and deal with the BS because it's right down the road and I won't have to leave my family?
In your situation, I would do whatever makes you less stressed and when you leave for the day, you come home happy and not miserable all the time. I guess what it comes down to is your health. I have severe anxiety, panic attacks, severe depression with bipolar tendencies (I'm on a good and even dose of each of my meds where I can function normally and it works well for me, so it's under control, and I'm doing great on those, with therapy added).
Your health is more important. Period. Have you looked into getting your CRNA? You can travel, work at a pediatric surgery center or outpatient/adult surgery center, weekends and holidays off, no on-call, the benefits are way better, the pay is much much higher than an NP and you get a boatload of vacation time. ANd this type of job is more available than you think. ANd worth the effort.
I hope you find what works for you. Just keep working hard. (ANd I bet you're a kick-*** nurse, too!) I know I will, eventually. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel. Remember, What comes easy won't last. What lasts, won't come easy.