Undecided

[sheedie70]

Hi all, I guess i'm just looking for some insight. I am a nurse now for 12yrs, currently working in an out patient ambulatory setting, pediatric doctors office, as a staff nurse. I am so ready for change, i'm truly bored! I feel there are no challenges with this job anymore and there is no room for growth. Most people would say i'm crazy, as this is a true laid back position. I prep the patient's for the providers, doc's and np's. Prep meaning height, weight, vision, hearing, bp's, etc. I give immunizations all day, everyday and give other med's depending on the reason for the visit. I rotate and triage phone call's once or maybe twice a week, this is probably the most challenging part of the job. I just feel it's time to move on. Right now the job market is a challenge within itself and they are looking for the cream of the crop, not unless you know someone that know's someone. I have done everything from med-surg, to L&D and in between. I feel at this point in my career, I should know what I want. The problem is I know what I don't want and have been evaluating what my interest are, but I'm truly stuck! I enjoy teaching, but not in the realm of a nursing instrutor. I thought about gyn nurse practitioner, but that doesn't make me bubbly inside, I'm also thinking of going back to school for a master's but not sure which route to take. I want something on the administrative level maybe, but not management. Has anyone experienced this issue, can you give me some insight, please and thank you.

[Davey Do]

Okay, sheedie70, here's some insight:

You stated you were bored, as if that were a bad thing. First, in the words of Graham Green, "Only boring people get bored." Now, if that didn't put you off, I've got more.

Daniel Gilbert in his book, Stumbling On Happiness , says that bored people are generally happy. Think about that. If one is bored, is one feeling any other negative emotion such as fear or anxiety? Not bloody likely. We feel bored by redundancy, or knowing what to expect. There's some security in feeling bored.

Exciting or interesting is not always fun. Excitement is stimulating, causing our sympathetic nervous system to kick in, adrenals to excrete, dialating our pupils and bronchials, quickening the heartbeat, raising our blood pressure, and affecting us in other ways. Sounds rather stressful on the ol' bod, doesn't it?

Now, when we're relaxed, or bored, if you will, our parasympathetic nervous system is in play and body functions are in a homeostatic pace. We go about our business, sometimes not even having to use our gray matter in order to carry out our tasks. Sounds rather even keeled, doesn't it?

But I understand your concern: Atrophy through disuse. If we're not stimulated, our dendrites are gonna slow down their connections to other various neurons. We can even lose information and inhibit our intellectual growth.

So what's a body to do? There's always the obtion of blooming were you're planted. Surely not EVERYTHING in your present situation is a total doldrum. There's always room for improvement and growth in any situation. Expend energy on that aspect.

Oh well. For whatever it's worth.

Dave

[itsmejuli]

I call it the "poop or get off the pot" syndrome.

Time to do some soul searching and lots of research into the different nursing career options then decide which one will inspire you.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

consider nursing education in a hospital - more challenging than you expect