happyhippo

Hello, Lately I’ve been thinking about going back to school and getting a second degree in computer science. I’m just getting increasingly burnt out with my full time nursing job. I’ve tried to switch to an outpatient office and I realized that it was worst than the hospital. So, I came back to the hospital and continued working as an RN. I used to be really passionate about nursing and this passion just wears off in time because of how crappy the healthcare system treats us. I applied to an FNP program but I’m not even sure if I want to do that for the rest of my life. I’m looking to switch to computer science and I’ll try learning about it more. I do plan on keeping my license active because I did work really hard for it. My question is, for those of you who switched career from nursing, do you keep your license active? Has anyone work PRN while working in a totally different profession? Should I pick up PRN shifts even after I get a job in computer science? Anyone made a switch from nursing to computer science or IT related fields?

I have tried my best during the last 2 years to be polite and make friends with all the techs. I laughed and joked with them. But when it gets to doing serious work, they tend to refuse to do it unless you literally continuously begging them to help you. It doesn’t happen to just me. I didn’t want to confront them because management doesn’t do anything and it’ll just make everything harder than it is. I had planned to transfer to another unit but my manager begged me to stay until fall. I did owed her a big favor so I’ll stay until then.

I have been working for 2 years on a busy neuro floor. And lately I’ve been feeling really fed up with the techs working during night. First of all, our hospital requires each tele unit to be staffed with 3 techs at night. My unit, on the other hand, has been running on 2 techs at night for forever now because my manager doesn’t think that nightshift is busy enough and she also doesn’t want to spend her budget. We get a lot of total care, confused, violent, jumper patients. A lot of times we are short on nurses too. So we each have to take on an extra patient. And our night techs are known among the nurses to be very lazy and spoiled. For example, a lot of times when I ask the techs to help me cleaning up or repositioning a patient, they would say they’re eating. They get one 30 minute break like everyone else but they take a break to eat and then another 45 minute break later on. While we nurses are running around nonstop with little help. They never prep the room or come to help when there’s an admission from the ED. There’s this one tech who always argues when we ask her to put in an IV or help us reposition the patient. She would say something like “you just reposition them, let them sleep,” or “you can do it yourself.” She expects us to turn patients ourselves and I politely told her that I need help and I’m not going to risk hurting my back. They seldom answer patients’ call bells. They’d sit at a corner on their phone even though they see the call bell lighting up. They NEVER EVER do Foley care even though they’re assigned to do it. There are many more ridiculous things that they do. My manager and charge nurses don’t want to confront them because they’ve been working for a very long time and they’re really vocal. One tech has been at the hospital for 20+ years. One always gets heated up and threatens to quit. All nurses in my unit know about their reputation. One nurse told her preceptees to expect to turn and clean patients themselves when they come onto night. Instead of discipline the techs, my manager shifts the responsibilities onto nurses. We’re expected to do some of the tasks that the techs usually do because they can’t complete them on time. I understand that it is hard to take care of 12 patients and juggling tasks at once but it feels like we don’t receive as much support compared to the amount of work that we have. And that overtime really makes me feel extremely burnt out. I tried to phrase my requests in the nicest way like this is done for the patient and the patient wants this. There are many times I have to give them a big smile and puppy eyes for them to help out. But it’s getting to the point where I don’t want to want to bend backward anymore. What I ask them to do is not even for me. It’s for the patients. When I got floated to other units, I realized how much their techs actually do. And it really makes me hate working in my unit. Any advices on how to solve this problem? Or how to delegate better?

It’s mostly the commute. This job is actually closer to home than my old job, which is part of the reason why I made the switch. But it turned out I have to sit in traffic every day even though the drive only takes less than 30 minutes. I have to leave my house 1.5 hrs early or I’d be late.

I recently got a new job as an RN in OP primary care office after leaving my hospital job. The office is much closer to my house than the old hospital. Work is 8-5, weekends and holidays off. I also been interested to try out primary care ever since I was in college. However, it’s only been a week at this new job but I feel really miserable coming to work. There’re a lot of dramas between the nurses. I just miss the intensity and adrenaline pump from my old job. I also miss taking care of really sick patients and being able to think ahead. I miss my old team and how we got each other’s back. While I do appreciate what primary care RNs do, I just don’t feel like it fits me. Would it look bad if I quit after a week? How should I tell my current managers? They were really thrill me have me join the team. I already talked to my old manager and she’s glad to have me back. I just feel really bad for leaving this new position that I looked forward to so much.

The commute drives me nuts even though I’ve only worked there for a week. My old hospital is actually farther from this new job but because I worked nightshift, traffic is not bad when I drive in. I decided to transfer to neuro ICU at my old hospital. It’s like an extra 7-mile drive from the current OP office but in return I don’t have to sit in traffic every freaking day. I’d much rather drive to work 3 days per week than 5 days.

Hi, Recently I left my hospital job at neuro/stroke stepdown and went for 9-5 OP primary care office. I worked 3 12s nightshift and liked it more than dayshift because I don’t have to deal with family drama and constant phone calls. However, I developed anxiety and dreaded work. I hate how we were short staffed all the time and we had to take extra patients. So, I finally decided to leave for 8-5 OP primary. While it’s less stressful and the office is well staffed, I just don’t feel it. I get stuck in traffic every day. It takes me 1.5 hrs for 30 min drive to the office. I thought I’d have more time for myself after work because I get out at 5pm but that’s not enough time to do anything. I’d rather work 3 days and have the rest of the week off. I do have the weekend and holidays off but that doesn’t feel enough. I know a lot of people prefer 9-5 jobs and I thought I would too because I can live life normally without feeling sleep-deprived all the time. But now that I tried it out, I just don’t think I like it. Will I go back to my old job? Probably not. I do want to try out neuro ICU and if I ever decide I’m sick of OP, I’ll definitely look for an ICU position.

I did my clinical in a surgery center and it was a great opportunity to learn IVs because everyone coming in needed an IV. When I started working as a nurse, I found time to do IVs and blood draws. If my patients need an IV or theirs expired, I would volunteer to do it. It only took me a few tries to master it. My tip is start with 22G first, find a really good vein, and start from there. When you feel like you get the hang of it, do it on a more difficult stick patient or go up the gauge. Trust me, the fake arm is nothing compared to real arms. Also practice finding veins on your family members or even yourself at home. You’ll be good at it in no time.

For those working in outpatient primary care offices, have you ever being looked down because you don’t work in the hospital? Background: I have been a nurse in a level 1 trauma center stroke/neuro unit for almost 2 years now. I never knew what it was like working as a nurse before the pandemic but I can tell you that I am burnt out. I love being a nurse but... I feel more and more burnt out and underappreciated every day. I question about being a nurse more often than I should. I dread going to work everyday. I feel extreme anxiety before work and it interferes with my sleep, my mood, and just my overall wellbeing. I get cranky with my family. I tried to work on my hobbies outside of work like painting and etc but none really helped with my anxiety. I just feel extremely trapped. It took me a while to finally decide to leave the hospital and move to outpatient. I got hired as an outpatient primary care nurse but the office is a mix of concussion clinic and acute care walk-in. After I got hired, I feel like I dropped a big weight from my shoulder. I could finally think positive about my future and my nursing career. I really believe that moving away from the hospital helps tremendously with my mental health. When I broke the news to my coworkers, some of them seemed to talk down on nurses who work in outpatient clinics, especially those with years and years of experience. For example, they would say something like "you're going to get so bored", "what do you even do there? Just vitals?", "you're not going to learn much." I also have plan to go back to school part time to become an FNP. And my coworkers said, "you're going to make clinical decisions, the hospital is better environment to learn." They gave me the look like I’m weak and I will not be a good NP. All these comments about being an outpatient primary care nurse kinda made me feel like I'm not enough to become an FNP and I won’t be a good one because I don’t have enough hospital experience. Do you ever experience the something similar?