What are the things that make you want to leave nursing?

Nurses General Nursing

Updated:   Published

What are the things that seriously make you want to leave nursing and healthcare? To start a career doing something different. 

I may be the odd one out since I am not a nurse, but soon to be PCT. However, I have been a teacher for 12 years, trying to get my foot in the door of healthcare. I was thinking of doing nursing sometimes down the line, a few years from now. 

I did leave teaching for same reasons many nurses here say make them want to leave nursing. 

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Specializes in Psych/Ortho-neuro rehab.

DON'T GO INTO NURSING!

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Having a chronic illness and my supervisor, who is not medically affiliated (she came from Nordstrom), threatening to fire me. I have IBS and a tortuous colon. I took a job doing dialysis in the hospital and you can't leave the pt's room at all. That was not in the job description and they refused to make accommodations for me. Also, 14 years of seeing death and dying and having no support from my employer to talk about it. Basically, management. I want to find my happy place and I'm still searching for it. 

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Specializes in Dialysis.
10yearsundermybelt said:

Having a chronic illness and my supervisor, who is not medically affiliated (she came from Nordstrom), threatening to fire me. I have IBS and a tortuous colon. I took a job doing dialysis in the hospital and you can't leave the pt's room at all. That was not in the job description and they refused to make accommodations for me. Also, 14 years of seeing death and dying and having no support from my employer to talk about it. Basically, management. I want to find my happy place and I'm still searching for it. 

If you like dialysis, try incenter/clinic. You can usually leave the floor momentarily to 'take care of business'  

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

The ever increasing nurse to patient ratios. I had a med-surg job in 2021-22 where the norm was 6:1, frequently one or no techs for the 28-bed unit, and I hit a wall. I was no longer able to give the nursing care I felt good about, even some of the time; nor was I able to develop any solid closeness with the team because we were essentially all drowning all the time. In my area, most hospitals are now doing at least 7-8 at night and 6 during the day. I enjoyed med-surg and miss it terribly (sometimes, LOL), but I knew I wouldn't be doing a good job if I took a position knowing that this is the expectation. I'm now on a same day procedure unit, and while it's not a very compelling job (to me at least) I do have time to give my patients attention beyond throwing their meds at them and running off to the next room.

Not being able to use what little PTO I accrue and the clearly warped priorities of all levels of management are runners-up.

I really am so tempted to move on from nursing, but all the other careers I'm interested in also have high levels of burnout - and don't pay quite as well. I just want to do something I'm proud of, not spend my entire life at work, and not live paycheck to paycheck.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Developmental Disorders.

Poor management, nepotism, and getting terminated after being falsely accused of leaving a note in which the writer threatened to kill people with a keyboard and a stapler. I never saw this note, but I was told that HR did a handwriting analysis by comparing the note to my work and found that I was the one who wrote it. Never mind that we only chart on computers. I'm set to start another job a week from now, but I'd love to leave healthcare altogether. 

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Developmental Disorders.
10yearsundermybelt said:

Having a chronic illness and my supervisor, who is not medically affiliated (she came from Nordstrom), threatening to fire me. I have IBS and a tortuous colon. I took a job doing dialysis in the hospital and you can't leave the pt's room at all. That was not in the job description and they refused to make accommodations for me. Also, 14 years of seeing death and dying and having no support from my employer to talk about it. Basically, management. I want to find my happy place and I'm still searching for it. 

If you work in a hospital and your supervisor has no medical experience/expertise, what on earth is she meant to be supervising? I once read somewhere that America spends twice as much as it really needs to on the administrative side of healthcare. 

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
sideshowstarlet said:

If you work in a hospital and your supervisor has no medical experience/expertise, what on earth is she meant to be supervising? I once read somewhere that America spends twice as much as it really needs to on the administrative side of healthcare. 

Americas not alone on that. We have a national health system called Te Whatu Ora which was meant to replace the current District  system. All that its done is landed on top of what was already there and now we have twice the uncessary bloat

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Specializes in ER.

When staff that are trying to advocate for better patient care get written up for logicless offenses, and sometimes fired.

sideshowstarlet said:

Poor management, nepotism, and getting terminated after being falsely accused of leaving a note in which the writer threatened to kill people with a keyboard and a stapler. I never saw this note, but I was told that HR did a handwriting analysis by comparing the note to my work and found that I was the one who wrote it. Never mind that we only chart on computers. I'm set to start another job a week from now, but I'd love to leave healthcare altogether. 

Your typing habits gave you away (roll eyes)

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Developmental Disorders.
canoehead said:

When staff that are trying to advocate for better patient care get written up for logicless offenses, and sometimes fired.

Your typing habits gave you away (roll eyes)

....what?

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Specializes in Private Practice/Family Healthcare.

Stopping at a well known Gas Station in the Southeast, with their "Pay per Position" listed on a board outside.  More than 80% of the Positions are paid more than I can pay my LPNs, and some make more than me(base salary).  And, I don't think you need to be a Car Wash Manager at Buckees'.  But, then again, I was born without the Customer Service personality, hahaha.  $125,000/Year + Benefits in the Deep South.

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