Hi everyone! I'm Lorelai, I have been a nurse for almost 9 months now. I work on a medsurg/tele unit. My one year mark will be in early June and I am really excited about it. Although I find that I am growing more comfortable and confident in my role as a nurse, I still am unsure if I want to continue to do hospital nursing....being a nurse is stressful on so many levels. It is very draining and hard on my mind, body and spirit. I do not like my current job....I do like helping people but if only being a nurse was as simple as that! I have learned so much but this job is so stressful and demanding, I have put on at least 15 pounds since I started working last June, I went through a period of moodiness-grouchy, depressed, edgy, miserable, anxious, I still feel depressed and miserable because I dont like my job - the politics, short staffed, lack of supplies, no respect, long hours, rude catty coworkers etc, if you are a nurse you know what I mean....I am sticking this out for a year so I can have some good solid medsurg experience, but I am unsure what I want to do next.......I wanted to be an NP when I was in nursing school but now that I have seen the reality I want to get another year in a different nursing area, maybe not in the hospital first. I am not sure I want to be an NP anymore to be honest.......I do know I will stay PRN to keep up my skills and to suport me financially.......I plan on getting a smaller apartment in June because my roommate is moving and I can get something cheaper thats still nice and I am gonna get a less expensive car. I would rather work less and have my sanity........I only know that I will work PRN to pay my bills......I would like to find another job that is less stressful and more enjoyable. The thought of going to work makes me feel sick.....thats sad. I am trying to be positive and find something positive in this career.....I am glad that I am able to take care of myself financially and that I have options in terms of jobs....even though bedside nursing isnt my thing, there are some positives to being a nurse. I am so excited that my first year is almost up though........I dont have children or a hubby so I will be ok taking a lower paying job but I will stay PRN to keep my skills up and for extra money.
Specializes in cardiac rehab, medical/tele, psychiatric.
Thank goodness I am not alone either! I work on a medical/telemetry floor and it is sooo crazy..patients leaving the floor for tests before you can assess them, implemeting hourly rounding (and having the NM survey random pts. to make sure they know what it is, regardless if they are AAOx3), NG tubes, heparin drips...etc.
I panic and fell like it will never come together for me (been on the floor 6 mos)
I am looking for a less stressful job as well. Would like to do something in which I can actually spend time with my patients.
Wish there was a local support group for us!:heartbeat
Seems as though, as medical technology keeps getting better & more complex, and regulations get more numerous & more complex, and patient loads get larger and patients more acute - this is all a perfect recipe for Burnt-Out Nurse.
And, voila, a continued bedside nursing shortage!
I mean, what human would continually put up with such a situation? I couldn't.
I'm wondering if we're going to have enough nurses in the future to tend to the coming wave of geriatric patients, as the Boomers age. I wonder if we will have to rely on new grads and foreign nurses at the bedside. Because, what nurses would put up with the stress year after year of bedside hospital nursing? The hospital biz asks too much of mere humans.
I think everybody has felt the same way you have at some point at their nursing career. I am on 19 months of experience. I have been charge nurse FOREVER on a medsurg floor, feeling like I'm drowning most nights. I've had a couple deaths, a couple of codes, and almost codes. I have 10 patients each shift and cover LPN patients. I love some of my coworkers, but it is poorly managed and I always feel leaving like I did a half assed job. I LOVE my patients for the most part and i LOVE helping people. I am sick of being ******* at and made to cut corners to save time and money. I am very close to going down to PRN or part time status somewhere else and work part time at a job I would like (i'm thinking daycare work, flight attending, bartending,even aveda school...random ideas i know!) I'm sick of dreading work and being upset and emotional because of it all the time. It's a shame there isn't more support for us nurses, it seems like so many of us are hanging right on the edge of losing our minds:bugeyes:
I am at my 6 month mark and I'm already planning when I'm going to leave and where I'm going.
I have great coworkers and I like my patients, but it is too much stress and the night shift is wrecking my family life (I NEVER see my kids cause I sleep all day even on my days off! Its not worth it!). I went to my family doc not too long ago and my BP was 150/80 and I've never in my life had BP issues and even she told me to get out of the hospital and find something better, it's not worth my health.
So I'm thinking about home health--anyone else?? I got a call the other day from a local agency and they know I don't have a lot of experience yet still called me. So I'm going to check it out. I know I don't like the hospital.
If I had to do it all over again I don't think I ever would have become a nurse, or at least I wouldn't have taken the path I took (right into ICU but I have got some great skills and seen a LOT). Sometimes I wish I worked in the lab or had taken another career direction completely. Yet, nursing is flexible and I am confident I will find something I love and enjoy :)
Pbelle I understand you totally. My one year mark is January 21. I work on md-surg tele. I love my patients but seriously don't like my co-workers. There's too much backstabbing, shadiness, and not any team work (unless you're in the clique). I have started looking for a new job. Trying to get on a military installation as I am a former Marine Corps Veteran and I only need 12 more years to retire from federal government. I find myself checking the schedule to see who I'm working with and sad to say, I'm willing to call in if I can't get anyone to trade a shift with me because of certain workers. Shouldn't be this bad should it?
I am just off orientation on a stepdown ICU unit and can definitely see how some of you guys are feeling. I love my unit and feel like it is a perfect fit for me with super supportive staff, but I can't help feeling stressed out constantly. I get worried the day before and as I am going into work about what kind of list I am going to get. I am stressed all day long (super stressed if it's a busy list.) I almost hate taking my break because I am afraid something will come up that I havent caught. I am stressed after I leave thinking of what I possibly could have forgotten and worrying that I might have missed something during my shift. I have also made some mistakes (nothing major, just enough to make me feel like an idiot :)....so now I am even more worried and overly concious so I don't make the same mistakes. I do have days when I love my job and leave thinking that I am finally getting the hang of this whole nursing thing, but there are also times when I think how great it would be to have a mindless job where mistakes just make your boss mad...not impact the health of others. But I knew this coming into nursing and also know that it is a rite of passage for new grads. Guess I will see what is to come in the next year or so and decide from there...
steelcityrn, RN
964 Posts
Plenty of options if you want a change. You have nothing to lose if you hate your job.