KC34

This is a wonderful topic. I've had many conversations with nurses about sleep habits and how they are feeling. I notice sometimes that I am just emotioned out and can't function at home or have difficulty giving attention to my family. I am not looking for sympathy. My point is I see a trend in nursing practice. The conversations I've had with other nurses seems to match what I feel. Some nurses have trouble with sleeping and eating habits. Some seem a little apathetic at the end of a difficult week. This is alarming to me because some symptoms seem to be that of burn out and then ptsd if this goes too long. Thank God I work with wonderful and helpful staff. Boy! does that ever help. I think my perfect work/life balance would be to go into work early and get off by 3/4. Off on most weekends. I'm quickly realizing night shift is not for me. I've been thinking about something a little more low key though. Thinking about dialysis outpatient or outpatient surgery. I enjoyed my surgical clinical a great deal. It is even better if you work with an enthusiastic doctor who likes to teach. Also maybe a private nursing home with time to talk to my patients. I love being able to talk to my patients. I once had the coolest conversation with a liquor runner (this was during prohibition). This is all missing in our practice with all the ridiculous charting. I know I seem to be rambling, but i am still enthusiastic about nursing and I feel that all this charting is taking away my joy and the lack of pay. Where I work since 2011, I have barely worked up to 21.50 (a little more with night diff). This seems pathetic to me! I can't afford to go part time like this. All they offer is a measly 403b.

I am careful to only chart what I did. Sometimes I have to go back just to make sure I didn't chart something just out of habit or get 2 pts mixed up. I've done that. If you didn't do it leave blank, but chart some sort of comment that the pt is resting. You can listen to heart sounds and do a focused assessment even when they are asleep most times. I would not wake a disturbed and/or CiWA patient-you are just asking for trouble. We get q 4hr vs on our floor, so I just follow them as the NA's are doing them. Do your turns at a certain time like every even or odd hour-much easier to keep up with. You can get good L/S that way too.

I was supposed to get PTO off this week. It showed that I had PTO and then the manager put me on for this week without asking me. I/m so angry. I really needed some time off. I will be working almost every other day the way she has scheduled me. I can't do this anymore. I am looking for alternative employment. My husband had already asked off this week to spend time with me. I'm DONE!

I have really enjoyed all of your ideas. For now I would like to drop down to part time. I will have to pay off a few bills first. I wish I could give care to all our nurses who need it. God knows our job is hard and thankless. We need attention and an ear to listen too. That's not selfish.

So right. I was once told how can we take care of others if we can't take care of ourselves. I plan on dropping to part time soon. I think this will help. I like the floor I'm on but it can really wear on me. I find it really chaotic most days.

You all may think I'm nuts, but I want to study Botany. I would love to teach as a park naturalist. I don't need a lot of money. I need a job that feels meaningful to me and allows for great creativity that nursing just does not allow for. I have enrolled in my community college and plan to start this fall for any pre-refs.

I became a nurse out of family pressure. I thought it would make my husband happy. It has, but I'm miserable. Not just miserable, but I thought about leaving him for this reason. In nursing school, though, I realized I had a skill that not many have. I can build rapport quickly. I love giving comfort. But, I've tried med-surg, nursing home, then I went to an office thinking the hours would be better. I ended up staying way passed office time just to catch up. I became even more disillusioned. I have never made my patients suffer from my unhappiness. On the contrary, if I can make someone feel better-I feel like I've made a difference. I am very good at finding resources for patients. I am famous for mending rapport between Doctors/midlevels and their patients. I am good at building trust with my patients and quickly put them at ease. I often end up with the difficult ones, because I usually can calm them down. And no....I don't threaten their lives and drug them like elephants. I feel I can no longer be effective and I'm so frustrated. Playing CNA and nurse is too much. I can't bath and clean everyone, do my meds, assessments, deal with acute issues, etc. I'm so exhausted I can barely keep my head up. My husband and children feel like a world away anymore. On my days off I can barely roll out of bed d/t the panic mode I'm always in. I have developed health issues. I keep having palpitations, dizziness, severe fatigue, SOB, can't eat or sleep. I've been in the ED 2x already. Once while I was at work. Can't focus to save my life. I'm only 34 years old. I have always been healthy and fit, but feel like I'm really suffering. I'm thinking about leaving the profession. It just keeps getting worse. What do I do?