taking a nursing hiatus?

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Hello everyone...I am thinking about taking a temporary break from nursing, mostly because I would love a break from it due to the stress (I work in med/surg and it's seriously about to kill me I think). Also, my boyfriend has the opportunity to take a temporary, 5 month long job in Florida soon, and I'm currently working as a travel nurse, but I haven't had any luck finding assignments that would be anywhere close to where he'd be if he takes it. So what I'm considering is going with him to Florida and either working at someplace like Starbucks (I've always wanted to work there) for that time or trying to get a temporary office-type job (and yes, willing to take a huge paycut for the time being). But I'm also wondering if this might look bad/weird on my resume, and/or make it hard to get back into nursing afterwards? And would I even have a chance trying to get a non-medical job with a nursing degree, even if temporary? Thanks!

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Specializes in Gerontology/Home Health CM, OB, ICU, MS.

I did that & it ended up being a 9 year break from full-time nursing. It did me a whole lot of good, because I had gotten to a very negative place. (I thought that negative place was all about me & nursing, but it turned out to be about me & the way I live my life).

It turned out I had undiagnosed depression, and taking that break was one of the things that led me to get some help. I would encourage you to take that break, if you want to.

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I did that & it ended up being a 9 year break from full-time nursing. It did me a whole lot of good, because I had gotten to a very negative place. (I thought that negative place was all about me & nursing, but it turned out to be about me & the way I live my life).

It turned out I had undiagnosed depression, and taking that break was one of the things that led me to get some help. I would encourage you to take that break, if you want to.

Thanks for your reply...what did you do in the meantime? You sound like me actually...I have a lot of negativity in my life I'm trying to deal with but I think it stems mostly from disliking my job. I've also been diagnosed with depression, which I'm sure contributes to it.

I would so love to take a break from it...I'm just trying to weigh the pros and cons of doing that.

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.

:up:

Hello everyone...I am thinking about taking a temporary break from nursing, mostly because I would love a break from it due to the stress (I work in med/surg and it's seriously about to kill me I think). Also, my boyfriend has the opportunity to take a temporary, 5 month long job in Florida soon, and I'm currently working as a travel nurse, but I haven't had any luck finding assignments that would be anywhere close to where he'd be if he takes it. So what I'm considering is going with him to Florida and either working at someplace like Starbucks (I've always wanted to work there) for that time or trying to get a temporary office-type job (and yes, willing to take a huge paycut for the time being). But I'm also wondering if this might look bad/weird on my resume, and/or make it hard to get back into nursing afterwards? And would I even have a chance trying to get a non-medical job with a nursing degree, even if temporary? Thanks!

I had kind of the same offer after I had been nursing for about 14 years and didn't take it and I wish now I had. Like you, I had been on a BUSY med surg unit and some ER. Now I can't work at all right now because I am off work with lablie HTN and Bibemeny and runs of vtach at times. I often wonder "what if I had taken off that time for a little while...''. I'm just saying if you are stressed and thinking about it, please give it some thought. I had found a non-nursing job, and just didn't follow through. It probably would not be hard to find a non nursing job. Just my opinion.

Anne, RNC:up:

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