What did you do when you got burnt out?

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Apr 27, 2015

I did agency work and travel nursing for 4 years. Found my dream job , working from home, through an agency position.

If you need a major change,I think it's necessary to get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.

allnurses Guide · Apr 28, 2015

went to camp as a nurse .... went to Asia and volunteered in a couple of countries .... changed floors and specialties .... got my master's degree and became a nursing instructor .... teach overseas once in a while .... volunteer in children's homes .... Boy & Girl Scout volunteer as the event First Aider ....

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Apr 28, 2015

Had a nervous breakdown. I'm not kidding. And then I took a two-month sabbatical while I figured out what to do next. I wound up taking a job as director of nursing services in an assisted living facility, which I thoroughly enjoyed until I allowed myself to be lured away by another facility offering me $12,000 more per year than I was making. Big mistake---I lasted exactly three months, and then I went back to the bedside at an LTC, where I thrived once again. :)

martymoose, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2015

I'd love to know the answer to that OP- I have nothing available to me to change, am too old to start over, and would ruin my family by taking a minimum wage job ( which is the only other thing i would possibly qualify for) Still countdown every minute I am in that that I can punch out and leave.

I guess I'm an example of the nurses you see on the floor.

BSNbeauty, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2015

Go part-time :)

dreamer30 · Apr 28, 2015

Go part-time :)

I told her that but she said it was a no go because it was a pay cut. She wants a different nursing career and the same or more money.

nursemeg444 · Apr 28, 2015

After working for 3 years at a very busy psych hospital I began to dread going to work each day. Unfortunately, or maybe "thankfully" I ended up breaking my humerus pretty badly and had to have surgery. I took 3 months off, and it was during that time that I realized that I was totally burnt out! I ended up resigning and finding a new job in a completely new area : pediatric private duty! So far I am loving it. Sometimes you need a change of pace or scenery.

Libby1987 · Apr 28, 2015

Timing and circumstances allowed me to go SAHM and when I initially returned to HH it was in the middle of reform and those were ugly times. I ended up looking for something else and was hired by an insurance conas an onsite utilization review nurse. This was 14 yrs ago and the job may not look the same now but I really liked it at the time. I went back into home health 8 yrs ago and it was much better and I love it now.

Farawyn · Apr 28, 2015

I work on a pediatric unit as a tech and a lot of the nurses I work with are burnt out. I can see it in there faces. They are looking for a change but don't know what to do because of pay or hours or just scared.
Has anyone ever got burnt out of being on the floor? What did you do? What new nursing area did you take up? Was the pay comparable?

I became a school nurse. Giving it time, but I think I'll end up back on the floors.

Pay is nowhere near comparable, but if they are peds nurses and can do that and work per diem on the side it may be an option for them.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2015

I told her that but she said it was a no go because it was a pay cut. She wants a different nursing career and the same or more money.

yes that would be why I havent left. i carry the insurance and the mortgage. If i dont work, we have no insurance and no house - and believe me , its not a fancy expensive house.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 28, 2015

I work on a pediatric unit as a tech and a lot of the nurses I work with are burnt out. I can see it in there faces. They are looking for a change but don't know what to do because of pay or hours or just scared.
Has anyone ever got burnt out of being on the floor? What did you do? What new nursing area did you take up? Was the pay comparable?

Only the nurse who is "burned out" can do anything about the situation, and I'm not sure that, as an outsider, you're in the best position to ascertain whether they are, in fact, burned out. There may be personal issues that you are completely unaware of.

That said, I've been in the position of being burned out several times over my career. Yet I'm still at the bedside and still think it's the best job in the world. (Well, maybe in the country.) First, you need to take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise and journal if that helps. Vent to a friend, write an article for All Nurses. I used to walk my dogs after work -- normally 2 miles, but after a really bad shift, more. I walked 11 miles one night and had to call a friend to come pick me up because the dogs' pads were raw and they couldn't walk home.

Sometimes, all you need is a change of shift to re-ignite your interest. Sometimes you need to change jobs within your hospital or within your specialty. That might meaning transferring from telemetry to the ICU at your institution, or from the ICU at Man's Best Hospital to the ICU at St. Elsewhere across town. Sometimes nothing but changing hospitals AND specialties is enough. And a couple of times, I've been so burned out that I packed up my things, sold my house, said goodbye to my friends and moved clear across the country. (OK, once that was burnout and once it was a spouse's "dream job.") I had a whole new set of problems then, but it cured the burnout.

Hopefully, this information is helpful to you for your future burnout issues. (And most of us face such issues soon or later.) But only the nurse involved can choose to make changes or deal with her own burnout.