unsure what to do

[cantdoit]

I'm sorry to come on to here to complain. I just was hoping to get some advice from people who have been in my shoes.

I have been working as an RN for about a year and a half. At this point, I just feel so worn down.

I should say that I like a lot of the aspects of the job itself. I like patient care and interaction. I like being busy and working hard. I like thinking on my feet. But I just feel stretched so thin.

I've gotten so physically and mentally tired lately. Working 12s is getting harder and harder. Staffing is always so low that I literally can't take breaks during my shift. I feel like I have no control over many situations, but am held accountable for all of it. And it doesn't feel safe. I even changed hospitals and specialties, but it hasn't gotten any better.

I know these are common complaints, so I apologize for being redundant. I try to explain this to my family, but everyone looks at me like I have 3 heads when I say I hate nursing.

I just don't know how I'm going to get to that magical 3 year mark, when you can qualify for non-hospital jobs.

thanks for listening.

[CorazonDeOro]

I was/am feeling the same way. I have been an RN on a surgical unit for just over a year (and an extern on the unit for a year before that). I am completely burnt out. I work 3 12's but my manager likes to make me work days with random 11a-11p shifts thrown in (with no rhyme or reason to when they are). I love having 4 days off a week but I spend most of them exhausted. I decided to apply for a job I thought I had no chance at getting (my hospitals gastroenterology/endoscopy clinic (inpatient and outpatient). They prefer ICU nurses but picked me over some of them. Its Mon-Fri 10-7. Weekends off/holidays (except call on the occasional weekend). I think this is just the change of pace I was looking for. More focused. I told the manager in my interview that being pulled in a million directions by 5 or 6 patients at a time was becoming too overwhelming. I suggest looking into different areas that have more flexible shifts or a better pace. There are lots of opportunities out there, even with only 1 year experience I got calls from all sorts of jobs (outpatient surgery centers, pain clinics, ER, etc).

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

I think part of the problem is some or most nurses liking 12s, then you have like a quarter or third of nurses who want 8s. Well, that becomes an issue when you have to schedule people. If you have a bunch of nurses who want 12s, where do you put that person who wants 8s? It seems like it is an all our nothing thing. Either everyone does 12s or everyone does 8s. I think it's something that needs to be brought up in a staff meeting and maybe management can get everyone's opinion and go from there.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

It sounds like you're a bit crispy. Take a vacation if you can. Changing shifts might help. Or starting a new hobby that has nothing to do with nursing. Exercise may help. Or journalling. Good luck!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I think part of the problem is some or most nurses liking 12s, then you have like a quarter or third of nurses who want 8s. Well, that becomes an issue when you have to schedule people. If you have a bunch of nurses who want 12s, where do you put that person who wants 8s? It seems like it is an all our nothing thing. Either everyone does 12s or everyone does 8s. I think it's something that needs to be brought up in a staff meeting and maybe management can get everyone's opinion and go from there.

I've worked units where 12s and 8s co-exist. It takes the scheduler a little longer to make the schedule BUT it worked. Here was the nice thing - there were a couple of unfilled four hour slots every week which translated into short, manageable OT hours for those who wanted OT but didn't want an entire extra 12 hour shift. Our PRN people were WAY more likely to pick up as it did not require committing to giving up and entire day as a 12 hour shift would. I loved it and wish I could work in that system (but not that hospital) again.