Nursing BURN OUT!!

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Do nurses "burn out" as quickly as most people say or is it just a rumor meant to scare everyone off!

How do YOU personally avoid getting burnt out??

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

No burn out here. I know the anti-burn-out secret.

FISHING!

Well at least for me and the guys in my unit.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

I have to admit..I started this thread because I am a little nervous about the prospect of burning out. I dont know if it is this website, or not, but a lot of people on this thing --more than 50%-- seem to think nursing ultimately makes every burn out and in the end it is not worth it as a profession. It scares me as a student to think that, and makes you undoubtably reconsider your decision. Obviously no one can tell you if you will burn out or not ahead of time..but it scares me to wait and wait to see if it is for me, only to burn out, break down, and end up in a psych unit like someone said..

*** I am a third career RN. Nursing is by far the least stressful career I have ever had. My two previous jobs (infantryman & small business owner) where far more stressful.

I am just looking for a little assurance that the career has its rewards & is worth it to some..It would be good to hear that some LOVE their job..Im starting to get the vibe that most nurses hate it..

*** Can't speak for everyone but for me nursing is fairly easy and mostly fun. I very much enjoy my job. I work in a large and very fast paced SICU. There certainly are nursing jobs I would find more stressful, like med-surg or nursing home. It's been very rewarding for me. I work with a great group of guys, I get to help people when they need it the most, and last year I made $107K working an average of 44 hours a week. Not bad for an associates degree. I have just been offered a job at a nearby hospital to start their CV surgery program (the nursing side) up from scratch. They are offering more money and less hours.

What's not to like?

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Specializes in criticalcare, nursing administration.

you got some really good feedback here:

vacations, exercise, eating right, and work-life balance.:up:

i have a couple more.

1. "pulse check". do you dread going in today? yesterday? tomorrow? if so, you need to change jobs. many people stay "chained" to one job because of comfort level, seniority etc. even when miserable. i used to often kid people about my "five year attention span". because i listened to myself and changed my focus, i got to explore many different sub-specialties of nursing, and loved my time in all. :D

2. laughter. the harder it got ( and it did get hard) the more i laughed. gallows humor really does help change your perspective.

3. time awareness. a shift is "only" 12 hours (or eight hours, or ten hours) long. it will end......

4. the power of "no". this is a tough one. as a nurse, we are prone to "rescue". we say yes to everything , even when no is the correct answer. repeat after me..... "no, i can't do overtime", "no, i can't do an extra shift.....or extra holiday.....or extra night". "no, i can't be on another committee" .......

did i use all of these successfully, every time, in my 41 years of practice? no.....and when i didn't use them when i should, i paid. fortunately i did use them enough that, given a choice to choose nursing as i career agian, i would whole-heartedly say yes :yelclap:

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Specializes in Acute rehab, LTC, Community Health.

I have to be honest, when I first started working in LTC, I dreaded going into work. I was a new nurse and everything was frightening. It took about 6 months to get excited, rather than terrified about go in. Right now, you are kind of in the same position, because you are new and you are worrying about everything. I do not work in a place that I like, or would like to work at long-term, but my best advice is to look at the positives. Build strong relationships with staff, so you can help each other out when things get rough, as mentioned before, don't be afraid to say NO! Just remember you are allowed to have a life outside your profession and you are allowed to be human! Take care of yourself...that is one of the best tips to avoid burnout! Do what you love outside of work, pamper yourself, eat right, exercise and talk, talk, talk about what is on your mind! Do not be afraid, but rather, excited. I love nursing and cannot see doing any thing else! This is a scary time for new grads, so it is understandable that you have doubts and fears, but know that things will get better! Hopefully soon!:)

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

I take time for myself when I leave work, and I find diversions that help me to unwind off the job. I have the ability to leave work at the door when I leave for the day, and I am grateful that I can do that. Money for travel has been pretty much nonexistent over the past three years, so I sometimes take a short day trip on my off days. I also take a week off from time to time. Having down time is important for re-energizing.

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Know that you always have options. Take some time off even if the economy is bad..........You have to take care of yourself!

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
I have to admit..I started this thread because I am a little nervous about the prospect of burning out. I dont know if it is this website, or not, but a lot of people on this thing --more than 50%-- seem to think nursing ultimately makes every burn out and in the end it is not worth it as a profession. It scares me as a student to think that, and makes you undoubtably reconsider your decision. Obviously no one can tell you if you will burn out or not ahead of time..but it scares me to wait and wait to see if it is for me, only to burn out, break down, and end up in a psych unit like someone said..

I am just looking for a little assurance that the career has its rewards & is worth it to some..It would be good to hear that some LOVE their job..Im starting to get the vibe that most nurses hate it..

I KNOW, and have KNOWN, that nursing is absolutely no glory field..but with that being said it would be nice to know that people still enjoy their career.

I haven't always loved my jobs but I do love nursing. I believe in nursing's future. If I didn't, I don't think I could even consider an academic career, preparing students to become nurses. If I thought nursing was the worst job in the world, I would feel very wrong encouraging others to go into the profession and I would do something else. Not trying to be a nursing cheerleader here but, while nursing is a challenging profession, I honestly still think it's the best choice for many people---it certainly has been for me.

BTW, you are very wise and proactive to be aware of this before you get into nursing. Your awareness of the problem will help you develop the skills you need to cope. When I was a student, few people talked about the stressors associated with helping professions, so reality hit us HARD.

You are going to be okay. :hug:

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I burned out when I was 28 and a student but I'm OK now I was just going through depression. If your colleagues are horrid then it does not lead to good mental health at work no matter where u work. My unit has 19 beds but we all pull together and work hard for the patient. There's no reason to suffer as a qualified nurse for too long because you can change jobs more than students can who have to suffer in silence.

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thanks

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
I have to admit..I started this thread because I am a little nervous about the prospect of burning out. I dont know if it is this website, or not, but a lot of people on this thing --more than 50%-- seem to think nursing ultimately makes every burn out and in the end it is not worth it as a profession. It scares me as a student to think that, and makes you undoubtably reconsider your decision. Obviously no one can tell you if you will burn out or not ahead of time..but it scares me to wait and wait to see if it is for me, only to burn out, break down, and end up in a psych unit like someone said..

I am just looking for a little assurance that the career has its rewards & is worth it to some..It would be good to hear that some LOVE their job..Im starting to get the vibe that most nurses hate it..

I KNOW, and have KNOWN, that nursing is absolutely no glory field..but with that being said it would be nice to know that people still enjoy their career.

I absolutely love what I do.

But unlike a lot of people who got into this field, I was very, very interested in helping people because of my intense interest in the sciences.

But I wasn't interested in being a physician. I really love being around people and being an M.D. wasn't my "thang".

What I do notice is that a lot of people who come into this field come with very unrealistic expectations, and also come from a background that encourages enabling, and dysfunctional behaviors. Some expect to be sacrificial lambs, i.e. "I want to help so do whatever you want, don't pay me well, go ahead and step all over me, I am there for you all the time." Wow. That nurse/person needs psych health. Very, very unhealthy.

I also notice a huge lack of self-esteem from a lot of people that I work with. Non-confrontational behaviors, lack of self-love, etc.,

If you fall into these categories, or if you know someone who is considering nursing falls into these categories, they need to review themselves first. Nursing can be a fix to their enabling, but in the end, it is super burn out when the ego decides it has had enough.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Do I always *love* going to work? No, but I don't 'hate' my job. Once I'm at work I get to talking with my pts who can talk and the time just flies by, I also try and squeeze nursey tasks in between the socialization. Realistically it's not a perfect career and has it's faults but the benefits far outweigh the risks for me. Lots of good advice from previous posts!

For me signs of burnout occur when I start getting bored and need a new challenge, fortunately there are many opportunities to pursue in nursing.

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Specializes in CVICU/SICU.

After 4 years, I'm done with it. I thought it would take longer for me to burn out. It didn't.

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