Very unhappy with Nursing after 5 years, burnt out. PLEASE HELP

chare · Dec 27, 2017

...The thing I have to avoid though is working so short staffed and being expected to complete so much physical and mental work done in one shift without any help/resources. My body just can't handle it anymore. And I'm 25.

If this is your concern, you might want to remove both the ED and ICU from consideration. Looking into these areas from the outside the 1:4 or 1:2 patient ratios in the ED or ICU respectively can be tempting, but is often misleading.

However, just because your patient load is halved or quartered, doesn't mean that your workload was as well.

Best wishes.

RA0224 · Dec 27, 2017

I'm 24 and made the switch from a stroke unit to the NICU a month ago. A lot less physically demanding than having 6 patients a night for a year on an understaffed unit.

Accolay · Dec 28, 2017

What interests you? Are you looking for a job in the same hospital? Maybe your current employer is short staffed for a reason? And short staffed on every unit?

I agree that 1:2 is seductive, but you can find that it can be as busy with 2 patients as it is with 7. That being said, I'd say give anything else a try if you're really burnt that bad. Maybe the orientation time will be enough to give you some easy time to feel human again.

westieluv · Dec 28, 2017

I agree with the others, before you accept a position with low nurse to patient ratios, ask a LOT of questions. I work in an inpatient hospice unit with eight beds, rarely all of which are filled, that always staffs two nurses no matter the patient census. Sounds like a dream come true on the surface, but when you have six patients between two nurses and 3-4 of them have terminal agitation or dementia behaviors and really require 1:1 staffing to be safe but the facility does not staff for 1:1 care, it can go south very quickly. We have a lot of falls for this reason, which I don't find acceptable. My supervisor assures me that this is "just going to happen because this is hospice" but I can't reconcile myself to that explanation, it sounds like an excuse.

Guest716906 · Dec 29, 2017

Thanks for these responses!! It really helps. I'm not sure what direction to go in.. I love being a nurse and working on the units. Just wish my body could keep up:/ I don't want to leave the hospital but everyone tells me all units have the same issues. Low staffing, burn out, patient satisfaction score, feeling more like a waitress than a nurse. I wish we could just be nurses

mmseip · Jan 4, 2018

I have been thinking the SAME thing. I am 23 and work on a medsurg tele unit. It's been a year and I dread going into work everyday now. When people ask me if I like being a nurse, I can't give a straight answer. It's not the NURSING that I don't like. I don't like having 6 patients and trying to know everything that is going on. They teach you to critically think in nursing school, but I don't have time for that! It's so unsafe and I hate it. I feel like a slave at work...I don't know what I am gunna do.

Rachinq123 · Jan 9, 2018

I disagree ED and ICU are totally different than Med Surg. I could not do Med Surge but thrived and won awards in ED and ICU. My recommendation is see if you can shadow another nurse or float before you switch.

ilum3 · Jan 13, 2018

I agree with this comment. I LOVE med surg/IMC despite the challenges but I could not survive in acute rehab. My colleaguesâ€“â€“very smart people, sing praises and holler about how nice it is to work with very little IVs (or none!) and stuff...but I've noticed that they get more rapid response/code blue alarms than we do. Med surg/IMC is face-paced but this? I can't deal with it. So no, I'll keep my patient assignments.

montov · Jan 15, 2018

How did you get your resume looked at. I'm having the hardest time trying to get into the NICU from Oncology/Medicine floor. All the openings I come across want an experienced Nicu nurse

RA0224 · Jan 15, 2018

I mentioned a few of the skills I had gained from my med surg job, like hanging Tpn working feeding tubes etc. there a lot of hospitals near me that don't require nicu experience. I would apply to hospitals that are willing to take new grads into the nicu. I also went to the school that's associated with the hospital, which could get me a job anywhere. I had a clinical rotation in that nicu so it helped as well.

winniewoman9060ret · Jan 17, 2018

I went to icu from med surgery. There's lots to learn. The nurses and docs are smart and have good relationships. Shadow to see if it's something you want .