ebart03

Only you can decide this. But I do have a couple thoughts as a second career nurse who graduated with a class of twenty somethings. First, many hospitals are moving toward a BSN so you may have more school ahead of you if you get hired at a hospital. However, many of them offer some form of tuition reimbursement so that may offset the expense of additional schooling. Second, bedside nursing can be very physically demanding, and it's not easy to get a job away from bedside care as a new grad. Third, you may face age discrimination as an older new nurse. Some employers may be reluctant to invest in training someone who is closer to retirement. But with anything, ask yourself if you will regret NOT doing this in five years. It's a lot of work but anything worthwhile usually is. If your heart is absolutely set on it, don't let your age alone discourage you. Best of luck!

I'm absolutely miserable in my job as a bedside nurse. The hours, the stress, high patient loads, the physical lifting and rotating shifts are literally taking years off my life. I don't think I'm really cut out for this and feel very uncomfortable with high pressure situations. But I have found one area that I really like and think I'm good at...patient education. I'm good with people and am able to break more complex concepts into relatable instruction. I get compliments from patients and family members on making them laugh and feel comfortable, that I really listened and heard what they needed. I know I absolutely cannot continue the bedside for much longer. What jobs focus on patient education, are more low stress and don't involve heavy physical demands and what experience/education do you need for them? TIA

We still have to document a pain assessment every time we give pain meds, which can be q1-2 for some of our patients, but you can't do it from the MAR. We have to give the pain medication, close that window, open another window, pull up the vital signs then find the pain section and enter it there. You can guess that it sometimes gets forgotten. It would be so much easier if it was right there on the med screen in one dialog box rather than in an entirely different window. You can't just Alt+Tab to see it. You actually have to close the med screen and open the assessment screen. It's ridiculously inefficient.

I've used EMRs in the past where it showed the latest blood glucose (and when) in the med screen where you are documenting giving insulin. If you're giving pain meds, it allows for you to document the pain on that dialog box. Same with BP and HR for cardiac meds. One we're using now, Allscripts, doesn't show any of that. You can't even access the information without closing out of the med window. This seems slow and ineffective at best and dangerous at worst! Surely there's a way to modify the templates to pull that info into that screen. Don't all EMRs show such relevant patient info for each medication or at least have a quick way to access it?

I'm still there. I did get put on amitriptyline HS which is making a fantastic difference in my ability to sleep. The side effects are awful though. My mouth is a desert! But I'm still having really hard days and feeling incredibly stressed even when I'm off work. I've developed pretty bad HTN in the last couple months. I just dread work so much. I still regret becoming a nurse and am looking for another position even if it pays less. My health is not worth the extra money. But thank you for all the helpful advice! :)

Thank you all for the kind responses. I did talk to the EAP who said that I was headed for a breakdown if I didn't make a change. She said that I need to consider a) another job where I'm not rotating shifts and to b) see a psychiatrist to get on new medication. I scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist before I left her office and then went to work where I proceeded to have the worst crash and burn shift ever. One patient spiking a high fever, another whose surgical site began hemorrhaging, another trying to get up and falling and me being late on medications while I tried to process all the orders the drs put in. In the midst of all that chaos, I asked another nurse how to place one of the specific orders. She was in melt down crisis mode too and snapped at me in front of everyone that I should be able to do this by now. I just lost it and started crying. I removed myself and went to the nurse's lounge, but I'm pretty sure everyone heard me sobbing in that room for several minutes not to mention walking around the rest of shift with red, puffy eyes and anyone could tell I'd been crying my eyes out. I feel humiliated. I ended up staying 4 hours past shift to finish work and I'm sure I still missed something on charting. I had to have a meeting with my manager to go over my actions and what occurred. She was kind but said that I need to get my emotions under control and work on my anxiety and remaining calm under pressure situations. She's right. I have an anxiety disorder that had previously been managed via medications but it's not enough now. My anxiety is through the roof because I'm sure I'm going to make a serious mistake. And I know my high anxiety will increase the chance of making a mistake which is why I'm not sure if I can do this. I was lucky to have today off but I have to go back tomorrow and face everyone who saw me burst into tears. I am embarrassed and not sure how to handle it.

I admit it. Nursing is not at all what I thought. I have never been so unhappy. I've been doing bedside for 10 months and have sunk deeper into depression than I ever thought possible. I have been looking for another job but no one will hire me for anything but bedside without a BSN (I was planning to get a BSN until I actually started nursing and realized I hate it.) It isn't just this job. I started to feel this way during school, during clinicals but everyone told me it would be different when I graduated and got a job. I thought I was a compassionate person but have found out that I am not. I started out going into patient rooms with a sincere smile. Now I force myself to smile and be pleasant, trying just to focus on the task for fear I will start to cry. I am selfish and unhappy no matter what I do. I took a job on an ortho floor but resented the patients who constantly told me to warm up their sandwich and get them a Sprite. I would get them pudding and more ketchup packets and help them to the bathroom but my back and knees were constantly in pain and I felt like I was ruining my health caring for other people who aren't always appreciative. So I changed jobs and started working with more critical patients, most of whom are terminal. And now I am always crying because the death and suffering is overwhelming. It is too heartbreaking to hear the cries of family members. I know it's selfish but I can't handle it anymore. I hate the hours. I never see my family or friends. I have to work rotating shifts and take pills to sleep and drink caffiene to stay awake. I envy the patients sleeping in their beds. I have never been so exhausted in my life. I have no social life. On my days off, I lay in bed all day, too tired to move and wish that I was doing anything but nursing. I thought I would make close friends but the nurses have not been welcoming and they often talk smack about each other as soon as someone leaves the room. I'm sorry to be so negative. I know I sound horrible and awful and many of you will say good riddance because I'm not the person who should be a nurse. It seems so many of you are so selfless and caring and I am in awe but I guess I am not that person. I know I need to talk to someone. I have an appointment with EAP next week. Thanks for letting me vent.