Nursing Burnout

[CalenMay]

I am here basically searching for counseling, advice, mentorship. I am completely burnt out in my nursing career.

I am three years in, working in a nursing home. We are short staffed and I am at least working a 16 hour shift weekly. I am the senior RN which means especially on the weekends when management is not present I tend to the needs of the 110-some bed unit (example staffing issues). I specifically care for 30-some residents at a time. The acuity of the patients seems to be getting higher...PICC lines, trachs, PEG tubes etc.. I feel that my license is unsafe.

My boss is extremely incompassionate and unwilling to help or change the workload. My respect for her is zero...as just this weekend she has participated in two Facebook discussions/dramas. One included a bitstrip of her holding two thumbs up stating "To those who leave (insert workplace name). Who has two thumbs up and doesn't care?" There have been mass emails to all staff regarding things that I have done. I feel like she could have talked to me privately about these things. One email was regarding the fact that I made a Facebook status about having a 16 hour shift with no break and how that was unprofessional and that we needed the public to want to come to our facility. And ironically, well see above what she posted. She sends out so many emails that it's so hard to keep track of what is going on and what we're supposed to be doing. I keep getting written up and though I may deserve it, I also feel like she's writing me up just so she can keep me here. I don't think I can transfer within the health system if I have these write ups.

I have recently got a licensure for another state since I'm near the border. Also, I have been accepted to college for my RN to BSN completion program although at this point I wonder if I even want to be a nurse because I'm certain I have compassion fatigue. I have been applying to other jobs and want to get a hospital job but I am having the hardest time getting offered a job. For a nursing shortage you would think this wouldn't be as hard but I just completed my 8th interview in a years time. I could work on my interviewing skills. I think I look great on paper. I've been employee of the month twice within three years.

Basically I need encouragement. Do you know where I could get counseling as a nurse and also maybe get career counseling to further myself? I feel that I would be a great asset to any employer. I work hard, am very enthusiastic, flexible, and eager to learn.

[Nibbles1]

It's not you, it's your job! I left LTC for the same reason. Sounds like my old job. I had 33 blood sugar sticks, 16 PEGs, and 55 residents on my own. If someone fell, I could just hang it up for the night. DON was as good as milking a bull.

[CalenMay]

Yeah I'm trying my hardest to just get out. Thanks.

[JWG223]

Stay your professional life off your facebook.

Leave your dump of a workplace.

Both will make you happier and life will improve. It's not nursing. It's your workplace.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

1. It is my personal opinion that employees should not be Facebook friends with their managers. Also, posting about the workplace on Facebook is unwise.

2. Your license is not 'unsafe.' The "my license is at risk" mantra is incredibly played out. Statistically, most nurses who lose their licensure were working at acute care hospitals, not nursing homes.

3. Understaffed nursing homes are tough places to work. I worked in LTC for six years before I walked away in a figurative ball of flames.

4. I notice that working five or more 8-hour shifts per week increases my tendency to burn out. I simply cannot devote daily face-time to patients, families and coworkers. Three 12-hour shifts per week works better for me.

5. There is no nursing shortage.

Good luck to you. :)

[danielle2000, MSN, RN]

Baby, find a new job!!!!

[JWG223]

I have a friend. He works in a hell hole of a hospital where OR will lie about procedures so that patients can be shuffled to whatever floor they want (example: he got for his 6th patient an admit from OR with a craniotomy). He stays hours late because staff won't show up on time. His boss won't let him transfer because he carries his floor. So after 3 years of this swill he is finally leaving. He hates nursing. Hates what he does. Hates all of it. I had told him to quite while he was still on orientation so it wouldn't get where it is now. But he was after new grad and scared to quite like that. Now he is finally jumping ship. I strongly suggest you bail NOW! Later and more jaded is never better.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

First and foremost, it is highly unprofessional for you as well as your supervisor to post things on social media regarding your job, ESPECIALLY when you are naming the facility. That also applies if you have the name of your facility listed on your page, then complain about your job.

If the parent company gets wind of this, you could (as well as the supervisor who also posted) lose your job. Most facilities have rules regarding this. There are more than one parent company who routinely look for the name of their facilities in social media and other outlets. It becomes a compliance issue, and would land both you and your supervisor in hot water.

If you do not have malpractice insurance, I would get it. Like today. This way, it protects you, as you describe conditions that are less than ideal.

If there are emails that name you specifically, if there are other highly unprofessional going on's that name you, shame you, degrade you specifically I would bring this all to the parent company of your facility. However, your role is to not put things out on social media. Bring this through the proper channels. Do not stoop to the level that is seemingly happening.

Also, just to throw this out there--staffing patterns and such are determined by someone higher on the food chain than your boss. Your boss can only do what they can with what is presented to them. Middle managers are stuck between a rock and a hard place often. This, however, doesn't excuse unprofessional behavior.

Sorry this sounds rambling, and I wish you nothing but the best. However, I am blown away by a great deal of your OP. Get your workplace off of social media. Unfriend any and all co-workers, managers, anyone who has a thing to do with your work. Make copies of the "drama" so that you have proof of what has transpired as far as your manager--so if you decide to pursue anything regarding this, you have actual proof. Make copies of the emails that name you and go on to degrade your practice.

Find a counselor who job coaches. You could also make an appointment with the guidance counselor of the college in which you will be attending. Make an appointment today to talk to a counselor, and perhaps they (or the guidance counselor) have ideas on who you can see to get some job coaching.

Let us know how it goes.