jadams92

I work for a school district with 24 schools and 14,000 kids. There are only 2 nurses. It's my first year as a school nurse so I do feel a bit overwhelmed since I have 11 school sites I'm responsible for. But I am very fortunate that the other nurse has been slowly guiding me and we have 3 health techs who are AMAZING and really help us out a lot. I like the workflow, being out and about without having someone watch over what I'm doing, and being able to go about my day how I like. For our mass hearing/vision screenings we are bringing in retired school nurses and student nurses from the nearby college to help us out. Maybe this could be an option for you?

Hello all! I just signed my contract for this upcoming school year. I'm excited but nervous as this is a completely different field of nursing for me. I worked bedside for 2 years and in a clinic for the last 2 months. I guess what I'm most nervous about is I don't know what to expect. I don't know the workflow, the duties, exactly what I'll be asked to do. So I want to ask, what is your typical day as a school nurse? What exactly do you do from the time you come in till the time you leave? How many kids do you see a day? How many schools do you cover? How much paperwork is there? Any tips on how to survive my first school year and what to expect would be most appreciated! Thank you!

So I finally had the guts to do it. I quit my job. I graduated back in Dec 2014, started working Jul 2015. And now it's been almost 3 years since I've been working bedside. The first 6 months of working was ok. I was content with my job, the paychecks were nice, and I was learning so much. I can't remember exactly when bedside went wrong for me. I think it might have been a collection of things. Ungrateful patients, all the politics in the hospital, bad management, dealing with the different personalities of your coworkers, the stress, racing against the clock all day, a job that was more task-oriented than patient-oriented. The list can go on and on. I felt miserable working on the floor. I dreaded going into work every day but kinda felt trapped. I loved the pay and the schedule so I coulnd't get myself to apply for other jobs. It got to a point where I developed serious depression and axiety and would have random anxiety attacks for no apparant reason, and I went to go see my doctor for it. The anxiety attacks were terrible. My heart would race, I breaths would get harder, and I would feel as if something was wrong when, clearly, there was no danger. My depression would make me feel disconnected from the world and at times would find it hard to accomplish even the simplest tasks. I became a whole different person. I wasn't the creative, ambitious, positive guy everyone knew me as. This is when I realized that my life needed to stop revolving around my job. This was around Aug 2017 when I decided to make some changes. I knew I needed to quit. However, I couldn't just outright quit. I needed to do it slowly. I dropped my hours to per diem only working the bare minimum of 4 days a month. I did this for 2 reasons: 1. so I can force myself to live off a smaller paycheck, and 2. so I don't have any attachment to my coworkers that would make it harder to quit. Sounds messed up, but it makes sense. Once I dropped my hours, my whole life changed. I was happier, I was less stressed, I could focus on my relationships with family and friends, I could focus on my health, most of my anxiety and depression disappeared. Sure, my paychecks were very bare, but you can't put a price tag on my health and happiness. Fast-forward to today and I am 3 weeks away from my last and final day EVER working bedside. I have no regrets with my life. I believe everything and every experience you have happens for a reason and I'm grateful for my expereinces and the things I've learned. As of right now, I don't have anything lined up for me. I don't have a job after 3 weeks but as weird as it may sound, I'm not worried. I'm just glad to have my life back. For those nurses who are feeling the same way I was, you're not alone. If you're in a job you don't like, then get out. You're the only one who has control over your life so don't let your job control it. Life is too short to be miserable. I'm turning 26 next month and I've never been more excited about my life than journeying into the unknown in 3 weeks.

I've been a nurse for a little over 2 years now and am planning to quit within the next few months. I feel so disconnected from my job and absolutely DREAD going to work. Over the last 5 months I've gradually dropped my hours from 0.8 to per diem and have absolutely no shame in telling people that I'm trying to leave. I'm at a point right now that I'm actually hoping to get called off or trying to think of ways to get out of work, even with the pay cut I took dropping to per deim. I hate the stress and politics of the hospital, I feel unappreciated, and it's killed my creativity. On top of that, it's affected my health. I have gone through episodes of depression and have developed work related anxiety. I'm absolutely terrified of quitting because it means I will have no income, but thinking about quitting gives me a sense of relief and bliss that I otherwise wouldn't have. I don't know if I'll ever work as a nurse again. No other nursing job appeals to me now. The only thing I look forward to is my last day at work. As far as your situation, if you feel anything like me, I say quit your job! If you don't want to do something as bold, then firstly, try to drop your hours. If you can't or if that doesn't help, then look for another nursing job. Possibly something completely different than what you're doing now. Case management, school nurse, clinics, hospice, home health, and ambulatory care, informatics, research, insurance, just to name a few. If you are still feeling the way you are feeling after trying these things then maybe it's time for a career change. You can't keep feeling like that and at some point you have to start looking after your own health. Otherwise, it will eat you up inside.

I would say you need to focus on your strengths. Ask yourself, what are your strengths as a person? What are the things that come natural to you? What are the things you've grown up around? What things do you have a genuine interest in that you lose track of time? What things can you talk about effortlessly on a Saturday night with your friends? Understanding yourself will help guide you in the right direction and will make it easier on finding your niche. I've been working in a tele/onc/step down unit for awhile now and have been burned out for the last 9 months or so. I'm changing career paths to become a school nurse because I love working with kids, I like being able to educate and teach, I'm very active and healthy and a big advocate of preventative care so I see this as an opportunity to organize health fairs for children. Also, as a person, I love to have freedom, be my own boss, work in a stress-free environment, and still have time/energy to work on my side projects. I haven't started this job yet but asking myself these questions have pointed me in the direction of school nursing. Good luck to you!

Hey Emoni, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm a 24 year old already working my second job because of the frustration and disappointment at my first hospital. However, I'm still experiencing the same frustration and disappointment. Maybe it's just bedside nursing in general that I do not like. I'm curious as to where you're at now? Did you stick with it or did you leave nursing altogether? I know this comment is a few years late but I hope you'll see this and respond as I have been looking tirelessly for answers. Wish you the best!