Problems with nursing profession and why I want to quit

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Many of you will ask, why not just quit and find something else? If only it was that easy. I don't have the time or money to spend on another degree, and at the end of the day, I need this job to pay the bills, not because this is my calling. This is a 2nd degree, and saw nursing as a form of income and job security. I love caring for patients, but the other things that come with this profession makes it not worth it. If i won the lottery today, I'd personally revoke my nursing license in a heart beat.

So many problems with the nursing profession. Where do I begin?

1)Abuse - From Doctors, family members, patients who are even normal, and demented patients, suicidal, alcoholics, and the entitled brats. Abuse includes verbal, physical, and emotional.

2)Pay- If i'm saving lives, we should be one of the highest paid professions on the planet. Sorry, 50 or even 100k is not going to cut it

3)Management/Administration - High expectations, poor incentives, with little to no backing

4)Staffing - Not enough nurses or support staff. Too many acutely ill patients per nurse.

5)12-13 hour shifts - Sorry but a job that requires you to be standing all day, should not be that long. Office employees who sit down only have to do 8 hr shifts

6) Night shift - Not enough support on nights

7) Day shift - Too busy/stressful, doctors barking orders, and management nagging you all day

8) Essential personnel - Sorry but i'm not going to risk my welfare during a snowstorm for complete strangers. They are patients but strangers at the end of the day. They wouldn't risk themselves for me.

9) Meal/bathroom breaks - Almost non-existent.

10) Retention of educated staff - Sorry but this profession is going down the tubes real fast with all experienced nurses near or at retirement age. The newbies are from a different generation with different reasons for entering. Having a whole floor run by new suckers will only lead to errors or even fatal mistakes.

Like i said, if I could run I would but I need this job or I'll be on the street.

How do you work from home as an RN for 6 figures in Indiana?

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... and at the end of the day, I need this job to pay the bills, not because this is my calling. This is a 2nd degree, and saw nursing as a form of income and job security.

This is likely at the heart of your issues. I personally wouldn't have chosen a nursing career for the money and security. The money just isn't that good compared to the demands of the job, and while the nursing shortage will keep us all employed, the healthcare industry itself is very turbulent. Nurses are continuously impacted by mergers, sell-offs, and CEOs getting "lean" to increase their organization's bottom line (hence, their bonus).

There has to be an internal mission, so to speak, to sustain you through the many challenges of nursing. It sounds as though you might have gone into the profession for the wrong reasons. Here's a slightly different perspective regarding your list:

1) The joy when you get through to a difficult patient or family member and establish trust and rapport.

2) The opportunities for overtime, extra shifts and flexibility in scheduling to fit a variety of lifestyles and life stages.

3) The ability change an entire unit culture as a manager, improve the quality of care provided to patients, and mentor/develop new and seasoned nurses alike.

4) The opportunities to advocate for your profession by lobbying, joining nursing associations, and calling for change. Three million nurses could certainly drive a national change in staffing levels if they came together and demanded it.

5) The variety of shifts (12 hours, 10 hours, 8 hours), employment levels (full time, part time, per-diem), and multitude of jobs available to nurses. Stand up, sit down, drive around -- you name it.

6) Increased autonomy, adaptability, amazing camaraderie and team work, great pot lucks, and no administrators in your hair.

7) Ongoing learning and networking with multidisciplinary colleagues (which can lead to new career paths down the road), a chance to change practice through participation in councils and committees, and the opportunity for administrators to see you shine (again, leading to new career paths).

8) Excuse to buy a Subaru. (See my username.) :)

9) The opportunity to impress your friends and family with your iron bladder and extreme fortitude during long road trips.

10) New suckers??? How about the opportunity to respect, mentor and grow new members of our profession, take pride in a team that you helped build, and personally contribute to a culture in which those new nurses want to stay and flourish. (As an aside, burnt out nurses can make errors and fatal mistakes, too.)

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote when it comes to hospital bedside nursing. I work as a public health nurse and besides the pay issues and the essential personnel (we can get deployed but I am ok with that), I don't have any of these troubles. I hated being a nurse when I was working in a hospital. I love being a nurse now. Moral of the story is find your niche. There are other hospitals, places outside of the hospital and many different specialties in this field. Go and find what works better for you.

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Nursing isn't the warm and fuzzy profession that everyone thinks it is. Few friends due to the stress, no one has your back when your in need, you are the one to blame when something goes wrong. I think big business oil companies have a better business relationship than we do.

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You are right fibroblast.

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Specializes in ER.

There have been several excellent replies already, but here's my two cents:

Some of the challenges you listed are real and do pose a legitimate threat to the health of our profession. Staffing levels, detached management, excessive clutter hindering patient care, etc, all plague beside nursing. Several of these go beyond an attitude adjustment, and we would all be wise to continue to push back against the forces that hinder our ability to provide excellent care. Yes, nursing offers many options, and you should be able to find something more suitable.

Our department lost seven good nurses in the last three months with some already declaring they are happier in their new roles. I've been here seventeen years and plan to stay and do what I can to improve our ability to care for our community. For now, the benefits of ER beside nursing outweigh the frustrations. I'll let others explore the greener grass. Best of luck.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
Nursing isn't the warm and fuzzy profession that everyone thinks it is. Few friends due to the stress, no one has your back when your in need, you are the one to blame when something goes wrong. I think big business oil companies have a better business relationship than we do.

I recently transitioned to hospital nursing after many years in a non- nursing career in a large corporate environment. I can assure you, the non-supportive atmosphere that makes collaboration between coworkers a challenge is prevalent there as well. I, for one, am very happy to no longer be writing self- reviews and corporate goals using lots of management speak that means nothing. At least in my day to day work now, I can leave knowing I made a positive impact in someone's life. I enjoyed that work, and did my best to maintain a positive attitude, but there are some very nice perks to nursing jobs.

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You know the truth!

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8 hour shifts turn into 12 hour shifts when you have 12 hours worth of work to do in 8 hours every single day. So instead of working 3 12's, you're working 5 12's.

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I really can identify with this. I am a new grad nurse and was in the ER for the past 6 months. My training was completely inadequate. When I started we lost 20 nurses in 4 months from the ER. All the experienced nurses. They replaced most of them with new grads. I was one of them. We were embarrassingly short staffed and there were NO resources!!! We were all new grads! I had so many different preceptors, none of which gave me any feedback. It was like the blind leading the blind. We were supposed to be 4:1 but I was taking 6-8 critical patients. I was taking 3 ICU holds at a time, rotating between 3 other patients after a 10 week training. After my orientation, my charge nurses said I could use a couple extra shifts and my director approved me for 6 more. By my next shift I was on my own. They were like we don't have anyone for you to follow so you are on your own. I was barely trained to be an ER nurse let alone taking patients on vents!! Those patients that were supposed to be 1:1-- TPA, baker acts. yeah right-- it was basically Russian roulette with your license and lives every night.

It has been the WORST experience. So unsafe. I decided to leave before something horrible happens to someone under my care and now they are coming after me for a 10k educational contract I stupidly signed bc I needed to start working. I really don't feel like I received a 10k training and now I have to pay back 10k making $23/hr??? Talk about a raw deal.

So after 6 months of Nursing I am so burnt out. I don't know how people put up with this crap for so long. I love my patients but all of the things you said are so true.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
I really can identify with this. I am a new grad nurse and was in the ER for the past 6 months. My training was completely inadequate. When I started we lost 20 nurses in 4 months from the ER. All the experienced nurses. They replaced most of them with new grads. I was one of them. We were embarrassingly short staffed and there were NO resources!!! We were all new grads! I had so many different preceptors, none of which gave me any feedback. It was like the blind leading the blind. We were supposed to be 4:1 but I was taking 6-8 critical patients. I was taking 3 ICU holds at a time, rotating between 3 other patients after a 10 week training. After my orientation, my charge nurses said I could use a couple extra shifts and my director approved me for 6 more. By my next shift I was on my own. They were like we don't have anyone for you to follow so you are on your own. I was barely trained to be an ER nurse let alone taking patients on vents!! Those patients that were supposed to be 1:1-- TPA, baker acts. yeah right-- it was basically Russian roulette with your license and lives every night.

It has been the WORST experience. So unsafe. I decided to leave before something horrible happens to someone under my care and now they are coming after me for a 10k educational contract I stupidly signed bc I needed to start working. I really don't feel like I received a 10k training and now I have to pay back 10k making $23/hr??? Talk about a raw deal.

So after 6 months of Nursing I am so burnt out. I don't know how people put up with this crap for so long. I love my patients but all of the things you said are so true.

That certainly sounds like the worst possible introduction to a career. I'm sorry that you started out that way, but you may be able to find a position that's a better fit and safer place. Good luck!

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I definitely feel the same about nursing that you do and have wanted a new career for many many years. I'm currently unemployed after being laid off from my school nursing job and have decided to just stay home for awhile. Based on my experience with applying to dozens and dozens of non-nursing jobs, once you have worked as a nurse, no one will hire you for anything else, especially if that is all you've done your whole adult life. They think you'll either quit because the money is too low or that you're crazy for even wanting leave nursing in the first place. I think getting a new degree is the only way I see out. Even though I have a B.S. in Psychology as well as an ASN it seems to mean nothing at all to the places I've applied for. I guess it's too old with no experience to back it up.

You mentioned that nursing was a second degree for you, so could you use your other degree now? Do you have work experience in the past besides nursing related to your other degree? Maybe there's a cheaper community college near by with some good programs. You could always do student loans. That's what I'm thinking of doing, if I can get my husband on board with the idea! lol Then again, there are also paperwork nurse jobs like with insurance companies, hospitals, etc.

I know I'm in no position to deal out advice considering I'm the opposite of a successful career change story, but I want you to know that I feel your frustration.

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