imburnedout

LOL, oh no, I don't want to be a pencil pushing, duty dodging administrative nurse. There are lots of administrative positions in my area for LVN's. But I would like to find an area where people really do want to be helped and half-way appreciate it. I realize there are bad patients in all areas. It burns my butt that there are so many people who try so hard to pretend to be sick to either get attention or meds, when there are so many people who really are sick and would give anything to just be healthy; even if it meant being lonely. I've lost my patience with all the non-compliants, the drug seekers, attention seekers, etc. I am considering pysch nursing. From what little experience I've had, those who seek help seem to genuinely want it.

In nursing school, they don't tell you that you have just signed up for a 24/7 position because as soon as family members, friends, neighbors and church members find out your are a nurse, you start getting phone calls of all hours of the day and night requesting you come "take a look" at something. They don't tell you that if you want to attend your child's ball games, Christmas parties, etc. you'll need to take a job that only pays a little more than what you were making at Wal-mart. They don't tell you that even though employers offer vacation and sick pay, they will go on and on about what a bind you are putting them in by attempting to actually use it, lol. They don't tell you that the "lunch break" is really a myth. They don't tell you to be sure to keep your mouth CLOSED while attempting to unclog a g-tube because when it finally blows, it will inevitably go right in your mouth, YUK, it happened to me. LMAO They don't tell you to always carry a jar of vapor rub in your nursing bag so you can rub some in your nose to keep you from smelling unpleasant things. This one you have to learn from a seasoned nurse, lol. They dont teach you how to keep from bursting out in laughter when a patient tells you not to file down her "booger picker" finger nail.

What's even more messed up is that if you were not assigned the tasks and weren't doing them, those other people wouldn't hesitate to let you know that "That's not in my job description!". Nursing is one of the most competative careers I've ever seen.

Not just patients, my own family members as well (in-laws), people never cease to amaze me: 1. Being a nurse does not qualify me to be the family doctor. If you are sick, call your doctor. I've just worked 12-16 hours on my feet, so no! I don't want to drive across town to look at your swollen ankles when I know dang well that you havent been compliant with your diet or diuretics because you wanted to go play bingo today and skipped your lasix. 2. Yes, I can understand why your joints hurt, they are carrying around an extra 200lbs. Yes, it does make sense that your knee wants to buckle after a while of standing. 3. Yes, you are going to keep chronic bronchitis when you continue to smoke 3 packs of the cheapest brand of cigarettes available; and no I can't fix it for you. 4. To the 19 year old patient with 3 babies at home: I don't care if you are mad that I won't go "swipe" you a bag of diapers to take home to your kids. Is it not enough that I have to come up here and put up with you, so they can take taxes out of my check to pay for the medical expense for you to keep spitting out babies, and to get treatment and pain relief for those "spider bites" that you only seem to get along the viens of your forearms, that you seem to get at least once a month? 5. No sir, my job duties do not include helping you out with that erection, or satisfying your need for a woman's touch. 6. No mam, I do not speak spanish. Would you go to a nudist colony and ask them to put their clothes on? 7. No mam, I can not tell you how much of your mother's B/P meds you should take. 8. No, I can not give you just a little extra pain meds and yes they will miss it. 9. No I really don't want to come wipe your butt just because you are too big to reach it. 10. No mam, we can not keep your momma an extra day or two because you want to go visit your cousin out of state. 11. Yes mam, your mother is very sick and we are doing everything we can to help her; though it seems she is sick because no one has checked on her in some time and she had to resort to eating cat food because no one saw to it that she had food.(this really happened) 12. No, we will not insert a foley because you don't want to get up to use the bedside commode RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR BED!! (actually had a pt. ask for this once) 13. I'm sorry, we are fresh out of the cure for stupid. 14. What?? Your ticked because you've brought the whole family to visit daddy in the nursing home and he's all dressed up in a hospital gown and someone else's socks?? Then bring him some clothes!!! 15. No I will not call the doctor out of surgery to come talk to your daughter since she had a hair appointment this morning and missed him. 16. No, I will not let you (patient) bum a cigarette. 17. No, we can not just call you in a prescription for oxycontin, as you are not a patient here, or no we can not refill your pain meds early because you accidentally flushed THE WHOLE BOTTLE down the toilet again. We actually had to evict a patient out of the nursing home because his wife was getting his check every month but refused to pay his bill. I later learned that ours was the third facilty he had been evicted from for the same reason. But my all time favorites are the ones who show up to the ER screaming chest pain, only to find out they've had a sore throat and didn't want to have to wait in line behind all those other people. To the young, new, frat-boy doctors: NO, I will not just "fix it" and send you the order to sign. I would however like to find out where you went to med school, so I can sign up. **With this particular doc, we've actually had to send the police to his home to get him when he wont answer pages, calls or faxes when he is on call for ALL the docs in town** Just my rant's but then.... I'm burned out.

Eric, I witnessed this many times while working as a hospice nurse. One event sticks out in my mind still today. I went out for an initial visit with a man who was dying of cancer; and it just happened that the chaplain showed up the same time I did. The patient told the chaplain that he was glad to see him and that they had a lot of work to do, quickly. I dont know what all they discussed, but from what I understand, the man did a lot of things he felt he would have to answer for once he passed. For two days before he died, he kept saying that there were demons at his bedside and that they were telling him that they were going to torture him by filling his mouth and nose with sand until he could no longer breath. When I went out to pronounce his death, he had a look of fear/terror on his face that even the best movie producer could never imitate. It gave me the willies and still does when I think about it.

I've been a nurse for 7.5 years. Currently I'm not working full-time, only doing agency work here and there because I am SSSSOOOOO burned out. I have the opportunity to go back to school to go from LVN to RN, but the problem is, I'm not sure what I'd do with the RN license. I know I should take advantage of the opportunity but I'm so burned out, I'm not sure I want to even be a nurse anymore. I don't want to work in the hospitals because I've lost compassion for people who are non-compliant and self-destructive, then want you to save them, and then want to tell you how to do it. Once you stabilize them and send them back into the world, they repeat the same destructive behaviours, only to return in 3 weeks once again wanting you to "fix" them. I love the idea of helping people, but the fact is you can not help someone who really doesn't want your help, or who won't help themselves. I dont want to work in long-term care because it gets too mundane and it seems that the aides who really dont want to work or take care of people congregate there. They want a paycheck but don't want to work for it, dont care about those helpless old people or thier dignity. I don't want to go back to home health because gas is just way too high these days, not to mention the expenses that mileage reimbursement doesnt cover. Anyone have any ideas for areas of nursing that might suit a burned out nurse like me?