Nurse Wants to Leave Nursing for USPS Carrier Job

Dear Nurse Beth Advice Column - The following letter submitted anonymously in search for answers. Join the conversation!

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Dear Nurse Beth,

I have been a RN for 4 years now. I started first 3 and half in long term care/ skilled nursing. I started nursing because I care for people and wanted to help and make a difference.

I think I care too much and I'm exhausted, nursing is very stressful and has given me anxiety to the point of a panic attack/anxiety for a week, I felt like I was dying.

I finally landed an in hospital med surg position hoping to bring a little light back into my career. I've been at this position for 4 months and I truly see no light at the end of the tunnel. I want to be able to really provide good safe quality care but with the nurse to patient ratio it's not feasible.

I'm thinking about applying for a USPS job delivering mail. I would be willing to pick up in that position. I enjoyed being a cashier and a housekeeper in the past both for 6 years each and I picked up extra in those jobs. I loved nursing school and really looked forward to being a nurse but I'm burnt out now.

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4 Answers

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

Dear Burnt Out,

If you haven't yet done so, see your provider about your crippling anxiety. Anxiety and depression go hand in hand, and there is successful treatment for both. 

At 4 months out in MedSurg, you have not yet reached a level of clinical practice where things do get easier. Not to say you won't feel burnt out at 1 year, but I recommend giving yourself 1 year before making a drastic change.

Many nurses look for non-clinical jobs at the 4-5 year mark. Before leaving nursing altogether, think about the endless number of non-clinical jobs. Everything from documentation specialist to case management to sales to education to informatics and more.

But I circle back to your anxiety and lack of hope. Nothing looks good when you're suffering. Make your mental health a priority over a career change. The person who wants to help people and make a difference is still there, albeit a bit war-worn ?

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I would suggest looking for a clinic job before throwing in the towel on nursing.  Bedside nursing is inherently stressful, even more so since covid  and the worsening staff shortages that many healthcare systems are refusing to fix. 

I was a bedside nurse for almost 30 years and struggled with anxiety throughout.  The beginning was very anxiety provoking due to all I didn't know and the end of my journey was equally stressful due to how unsafe things had become as I knew all that could go wrong with the poor staffing and holding ICU patients on the floor.   A large terrible greedy corp I'll call Descension took over and destroyed my hospital so I walked away and took early retirement at the end of 2020. 

Some people feel they need to work bedside either to prove themselves as a nurse or feel it is prestigious, a badge of honor.  While we need bedside nurses, neither is true.  You have to do what is right for you.  If your job is leaving you with anxiety or depression it is time for a different job!  I understand your desire to quit nursing and work a low stress job as a mail carrier.  I too missed the good old days when I was a secretary.  I would have gladly gone back to it many times if only I could have lived on the wages, but I could not.

But I stayed bedside too long and was so burnt out I simply took early retirement which fortunately was an option for me thanks to a pension and Obamacare.  Still I think the better option would have been not to wait so long as to be so burnt out that you can't function.   While I love early retirement and my stress level went from 100% to virtually none, not many people have that option.

Instead I suggest you try to get a clinic job before you quit nursing.   Most of the nurses I know that work in clinics are happy, the worst I've heard is bored.  Personally I'd take bored out of being stressed out of my mind any day.  One nurse quit because of boredom and went back to bedside.  Another nurse went back to bedside because of a bad manager, but I'm sure she could have just as easily found another clinic job with a better manager if she had wanted to.

PS:  If there is a VA near you, you could apply for a clinic job with them and get the best of both worlds, nursing pay plus great govt benefits and a pension!  Best of luck to you!

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I had a friend who left nursing (PCU) to be a letter carrier. He quit after a short while and went back to nursing. The point is, if it doesn't work out, nursing will still be there. 

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Go for it. You can always go back to nursing if it doesn't work out.

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