brad30

I agree with brandy. The nursing field is made up of either unhappy people that are stuck or those that are living an illusion. And the latter make perfect employees 🤑😷🤮

350+lb intubated/sedated pts and q2turns = worse back

I went to the ICU and it is better for me. Did not burn a bridge. The advice received was invalid. For those that have the same concerns in the future, do not be dismayed. If you want to do something else in nursing, do it.

Not a chance. The only way for me to make reasonable money in nursing is to work night, weekend option. That will be fun with kids on the horizon. I started to go to school again but quit. I do not see light at the end of that tunnel, for improving my nursing education. I am done following the blind pathways through education like all the other lemmings. These pathways promise high demand experience and high paying careers if you but only double or triple your debt. Four years later, the market is saturated and you're accepting low ball offers to get that experience. Education is the true crime of our generation. Who else has 50000+ in student loans, pays too much for rent in a gentrified city, gets paid what RNs have been payed for decades and loves it? There is no return on investment for certifications or increasing ones skills, only by working the hours that no one wants to work. I am not mad at the system, I am disappointed that I was such a fool and allowed myself to get dooped. Now, I am stuck.

250+lb intubated/sedated pts and q2turns = bad back

I am a 30/M, been working 1.5 yrs as an RN. Worked tele for a year and I have been in ICU for 6 months. I am pretty happy where I am at and will stay for a couple years to get that indispensible critical care experience. I thought that I would go into critical care and find my calling. I like it, but I don't want to be doing it when I am 40. I see burnt out nurses. I think it is related to the amount of mental and physical stress. I am also rethinking the 3-day workweek and working nights, weekends, holidays. I will get married this year and starting a family in a couple years. I think this lifestyle would be tough with kids. I am also seeing that I will need to make more money. I am looking at my options. I may take the NP route, possibly PMHNP. Critical Care and Trauma interested me before but for long-term, I need something with the possibility of a better work-life balance. How are you all doing with family, work-life balance and making enough $$?

Yes, I am required to stay on the unit. The first year is a residency program. And the second I work for the same floor.

I signed a 2 year contract on a med/surg floor. I didn't want to do it but it was the only job that revealed itself at the time. I am one year into the contract and I want to go to the ER. I want to travel as an ER nurse and I will need 2 years experience there first. I feel like I would be spinning my wheels if I were to stay on the floor another year. I hate to burn a bridge and break a contract though. You guys think I am being lame? A year goes quick and I have to do what is right for me.