heartnursern

I would love to work in a place like this. Being a recovering addict, I understand the "insanity" from a personal perspective, and women, especially women with children, are stigmatized the most. To be able to help them WANT change, in a dignified empowering manner, (and not the manner that was used with me) would be gratifying. Go for it!

your article makes me feel sad. it seems that you describe classic burn-out. we all feel this way sometimes, i believe. too me this is a strong indicator that you might benefit from a change in specialties. i hope that our profession becomes more gratifying to you in the near future!

There is an alternative to floor...teaching

I am really gratified to hear nurses and students alike sounding so positive about mentorship. We surely need more of this in nursing education. The NICU is a highly specialized care environment, and I never had to do a rotation there. OB was as close as I got. Perhaps, if mentorship were more like this discussions' environment, I might have tried it. As it was, I did get good mentorship in an ED during school, which is then where I went...and that mentorship saved me because I got thrown to the she-wolves after I graduated. Thank you all for a refreshing look and what sometimes can be such a negative topic.

There is also the consideration...become a nurse if you are passionate enough about that. There are schools that will allow you to slide right into a MS program, with education minor...whalla...teacher of nurses (teacher of CNA's, teacher of Health Aids, teacher of ....just about anything at a JC. I am an MSN...didn't burn out from nursing...got bad feet and went back to to school. I will teach nursing because I have a ton of experience. But there are a myriad other things I COULD teach. And I can sub at any of my childrens' schools. The MAIN reason, if you want an MS and to teach...there are government grants that will pay back your student loans if you agree to teach (at full salary) for a few years (at any school of nursing). I have gone that route and currently, there is a program ready to pay back 60k of my student loans. Another is paying back 35k. And that is pretty much all the loans I have. Good luck with your decision... PS...I have heard that Capella has one of the best programs and at about the same rates you are describing. I looked into distance ed and decided to go to face to face because there was a famous University nearby and I got accepted.

A $25 gift certificate....Yep...That's it. and a letter reminding us to be GRATEFUL for our jobs