NP Jobs Outside of Health Care For a Burnt-Out Nurse?

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Hi all,

I'm set to graduate with my NP degree in August 2020, and I am currently disenchanted with nursing and healthcare in general. I also really dislike my NP program, since it is terribly organized and does not provide its students many resources at all, like finding preceptors, etc. It may be the burnout talking, but I also feel like the medical profession is full of three things:

A. A pissing fight between providers over titles and experience. (I.E. "NPs have more autonomy than PAs" or "NPs have low IQs compared to MDs," etc.)

B. A money-making business - I've noticed that most hospitals and many providers try to make as much money as possible off of patients, even if it means cutting corners. (I.E. Providers scheduling back-to-back surgeries to maximize profit despite safety concerns; NPs take patient's vital signs instead of hiring a technician; Running on bare bones staffing, etc.)

C. A liability/lawsuit haven. - You can get sued for pretty much anything or even go to jail for something if it's portrayed in the wrong way. (E.G. Prescribing pain pills for hospice patients - you're suddenly a murderer. Accidentally administering Vecuronium instead of Versed, a medical error that anyone could have made, and now you're being criminally charged by the D.A. for homicide.)

So, you can see, after working as an RN for a few years, I realized that health care does not make me happy. However, I am so close to graduating (next August), that I feel like I should just pull through. I've already come this far and spend so much money towards an MSN.

So my questions are:

  • Are there any NP positions outside of typical healthcare?
  • Is there anything that you would recommend to help with this burn out?
  • Alternatively, are there any other profession that you would recommend switching to? I'm considering pharmacy, but the time commitment and financial burden are turning me away.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

You have over a year left of your NP program. Why do you continue to invest in that program if you hate it so much. Why continue to "throw good money after bad."

If you really hate it that much ... quit. Save yourself the time, money and aggravation. Find a way to earn some money (staff nurse, float pool, per diem, travel nursing? etc.) while you take a little time away from anything high stress and figure out what career you would like to have.

Continuing to abuse yourself for another year+ isn't going to help anything. If a patient came to you suffering from significant stress, would you advise them to continue with whatever was causing the stress reaction? No. You would tell them to take a break. So ... take a break while you figure out what direction you want your career to take long term.

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Thank you for your reply. You're right - I should not invest in a program that I don't believe in. It does a great disservice not only to me, but also to my future patients. I'm considering transferring to a local program that seems much better, however it will take a lot more time earn (DNP rather than MSN).

I like that you call it "abuse." I never thought of calling it that, but it seems like the best way to sum up these degree mill programs. They can be almost predatory - luring students in with promising timelines, costing an arm and a leg, and ultimately offering little in return.

I wish the NP accreditation boards would actually do something to shut them down.

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I went to a B and M private NP school some 20 years ago, that I eventually realized was not very good. We were told we would have some assistance, but ultimately we had to find our own preceptors.

I am in Psych, but my issues with psychiatrists being thought to be better or more intelligent than I am ( hilarious, BTW) were built into the government system where I was employed.

Outside of the government, I have seen little of this. Aside from the few people who have glaring personality disorders or personal problems, providers generally work well together.

You will find a ton of this angst online, but not much IRL.

Yes, it is a money making business. A very small number of providers of my acquaintance do questionable things, like bill for 50+ patients a day.

Their day of reckoning is likely coming.

As far as being sued or losing your license- in 20 years, I have not known anyone who has had their career ruined for some trivial matter.

I have known several people who have gotten into serious trouble, and even lost their license. In my opinion, all of them completely deserved everything that happened.

Nobody went to jail.

I am not saying that there is no poor, innocent, well meaning provider that the evil justice system has gone after, for no good reason.

I am only saying I have not personally seen this.

Just my thoughts.

In the last 2 months I have had patients with an extremely disabling Tardive Dyskinesia respond to a fairly new treatment on the market.

I had to arm wrestle gorillas to get it approved.

Yep, it's expensive, but it gives me some hope.

We can't do any good if we are not out there in the fight.

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On 6/11/2019 at 3:59 PM, Oldmahubbard said:

We can't do any good if we are not out there in the fight.

Thank you so much for your encouraging words and for sharing from your own experience. I'm glad that you were able to help those patients by strongly advocating for them, and I look forward to doing the same in the future.

On 6/11/2019 at 3:59 PM, Oldmahubbard said:

Aside from the few people who have glaring personality disorders or personal problems, providers generally work well together.

I'm glad that most providers are able to get along well in the real world, despite the negative posts that I see online.

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