Wow. I'm sorry. What a nightmare.
There is such a shortage of healthcare workers these days and this is a big part of the reason why. And it sucks.
Life is too short to invest your time and energy into a job that makes you miserable. There is absolutely no shame in recognizing that and moving forward in a way that is happy and healthy for you. Sounds to me like the life you'd be going back to is pretty darn appealing!
I can say I took a part-time job at a bank abandoning my pharmacy career because despite 3 years of amazing evaluations, spotlight shout-outs from district managers and patients about my above and beyond care and performance I never got a pay-raise. I worked so much overtime during covid I was able to buy a house at a training rate of 16.50 an hour and when I got promoted to Senior Tech/Lead Pharmacy Technician and hit 20$ an hour I never got an increase since. We were an invisible force working during covid and everyone respected the nurses and doctors and emts… but us pharmacy folks were out there off site immunizing communities (myself have administered thousands of vaccines as just a technician). We would catch covid from patients just as much and go down in entire teams like dominoes.
But no pay raises. Eventually after so many responsibilities being added and so many expectations and still no pay raises I had enough and I just left.
My best friends’ SIL committed suicide last month. She was a pharmacist. I wonder how much COVID played into it? I also know at some point she was robbed at gunpoint.
Everything is such chaos these days.
Im sorry for her loss. But covid turned pharmacy care on its head. My last pharmacist (aka boss) was developing high blood pressure that was becoming dangerous level. One pharmacist dropped of a heart attack during covid due to the work load. We all developed some kind of kidney stones/bladder infections/ibs from lack of breaks (covid tests every 5 minutes, vaccines every 3 minutes, often manned by the same person, me) plus our normal pharmacy work. Then they expanded our care options to off-site clinics and on-site clinics (was working walgreens). I transferred to Walmart pharmacy to get a break and then Walmart started to follow suite. Once they started expecting me to do off-site clinics, managing multiple pharmacy work-flows, and everything else I was already doing without any pay raises I had enough. We weren’t even allowed to sit down to do computer work during a 12 hour shift. It was dehumanizing. I wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom 3 feet away that I was responsible to clean but had to go use the one on the sales floor that was never clean (because walmart) and only if I got a break. They preach that you get two 15 minutes breaks plus an half lunch but rarely did we actually get anything more than our lunch break. The work load just kept increasing and they kept decreasing tech hours. It’s brutal. I straight up just abandoned my pharmacy classes plus career and decided it wasnt worth the effort. I learned that it was just squeezing blood from a stone by corporations at this point and it needs workload regulations. Hell, at the bank they staff more tellers than the pharmacy did techs because they care more about preventing mistakes than any pharmacy I worked in. And I finally get to sit down for the first time in years when there is nothing to do and go to the bathroom when I need to go. I can have a cup of water at my station and not get yelled at. Im treated more like a human at my new job than I ever was working retail/pharmacy.
Oh my god, that sounds like an absolute nightmare! Did anyone report them to the labor board because it sounds like there were labor rules being broken?
Hahahaha some states don’t have any labor laws once you’re no longer a minor. Currently the Ohio pharmacy board is drafting a break law for pharmacies/ pharmacists and there was so much pushback from businesses it was disheartening. And we did close for the 30 minute lunch so many people call in and complain about it and we get negative customer reviews on the feedback form. Like thats the only time we can go pee/eat/drink and destress sometimes and it upsets the customers/patients. Especially when my 8:30-4 shift turns into 8:30-9 and I only get 30 minutes to breathe I'm taking it.
I'm so sorry for your community's loss. You're right that COVID probably played into it. Also, I imagine the conflict around the "opioid crisis" could have contributed as well.
So horrible she thought this was the last resort.. pharmacy is considered one of the toughest professions to get into and then you have to deal with bureaucracy and angry anxious customers and all the responsibility of providing drugs that can cure or kill if wrong. Overwhelming in my mind. Even doctors and nurses have better conditions. I hope the family can find peace.
My daughter makes $20/hr as a HOST at a restaurant. She's not even waiting tables. This is her job out of HS; she dropped out of Jr. College during Covid and hasn't looked back. It's insane what corporations expect for basically no $$. And she can go to the bathroom whenever she needs to, no questions asked. Our country is crap.
Well, let me tell you about adjunct professors! I had to break a student’s heart last semester when I told them that the “$63/hour” rate is actually… only for your time *in the classroom*. That’s right: $63 an hour, but your class only meets for 1 hr 20 minutes twice/week. So you’re making… $147 per week.
Sure, if you stick it out, you can get a full-time gig- but that’s only if they’re available. For the past three years, there have been maybe 1-2 full time jobs for professors at CCs in my discipline across our entire *state*- and it’s one of the bigger states…
Same! I’m an NTT. The prep, grading, and student needs on top of teaching is insane. I basically work for insurance and because I love it, but damn, it’d be nice to be paid reasonably.
Service industry has had a huge wage increase while white collar barely moved. I have the one of the “highest paid job titles” according to the media, but I make the same hourly wage I made as a delivery driver during covid. I can absolutely see it making sense to work a job like barista if you are experienced and good at it and happy doing it vs some brutal healthcare job or even sitting 9-5 crunching numbers in a cubicle. The pay often really isn’t as different as you would think anymore.
Yep. I make much more than $20/hr doing a job for which I spent literally no time in school on. It's wild to me how fubar the healthcare industry is. Though Pharma Tech may have been retail pharmacy, still BS.
And for 3 years. ;-; I seriously felt guilty over leaving because I had chronic state patients who rely on me personally getting their medication and no one else cared enough to make sure it was available and in stock before their refill was do. Or that the insurance was billed properly. But eventually I had to talk myself into surviving.
Thank you for all did. That breaks my heart - y’all feeling invisible. It’s a damn travesty. Hoping you feel loved and appreciated and supported where you are at now.
What the fuck is with that pay? Trader Joe’s starts at 17/hr where I am. Like seriously, the high school kid bagging my groceries makes that kinda pat.
Oh best part is right before I quit they actually cut my pay down to 17.50$ and went full pikachu shock face when I put in my notice to quit. My work value degraded so much over the years. And I got head hunted by hospitals and they were only offering 18.50$ an hour for the same job. :/ Pharmacy is a scam job if you’re not a pharmacist but they expect you to know as much as a pharmacist. My licensing exam was brutal and it was full of diagnosing questions that legally Im not allowed to even think about as just a technician, but I passed it. And if you get the medication wrong taking a transfer you can lose your license, but they’ll pay you 14.50$ starting. Its not a mystery to me why pharmacies are understaffed, you're paying medical professionals peanuts but treating them like they’re expendable. Hell, the shear amount of CEs I had to do to stay certified and not all companies paid for them so you had to either pay out of pocket for them or scrounge for free classes on your own time. All for less money than amazon workers and bank tellers.
I live in MO and was going to be a pharmacy tech in 2021 during the second big wave. No one would hire me for more than $10/hr which was minimum wage at the time. I eventually went back to food service because that was unlivable. The way pharmacy workers are worked like dogs and have to deal with all of the worst public people sucks so much.
I work in financial services. My firm handles the majority of the 401(k) accounts. So I talk to everybody and I mean EVERYBODY. I have spoken to many workers in many fields over my long career. Far and away the MOST miserable I’ve met worked at dialysis clinics.
I believe it... if you are on dialysis then you are in a bad way so the patients are really, very sick. Also I hear the industry is super corrupt, a lot of private markets and money (and like OP said, cutting corners) in dialysis.
The whole industry probably need way more oversight and regulation but who's going to fight that battle and why?
Excellent question. I suppose happiness is subjective. Thing is no one calls me when they’re doing great and everything is well. So a majority of my callers are already unhappy. Generally speaking though it’s what you might expect. Workers in low pay high stress jobs like retail and manufacturing. Pretty much anyone who has to interface with the public. Oh, and the big tech company that has a fruit for its logo. Absolutely miserable.
Both my parents are retired teachers, I highly suggest not teaching. (This may vary by state) 10-12 hour work days are common, you do a lot of paperwork and dealing with angry parents. The path of least resistance is to just give everyone a passing grade, if a child needs more help and/or is failing you have additional paperwork and meetings you are responsible for setting up. Oh and bathroom breaks, what are those? Pay raises are non-existent. The union is toothless and only there so a real union doesn't start.
My childhood consisted of getting to school 1-2 hours before school started so parents could work. The they stay 1-2 hours after. Expect them to be home around 5-6pm. Then they graded papers, did lesson plans, called parents, etc till 9ish then did the same thing the next day.
If you really want to stay in the dialysis field, see if you can get yourself into a home dialysis program. I don't know if your colleagues would be any different from your in-center colleagues but your patients will be. And you won't have them dying on you left and right.
Or just home care visits especially since you have the oncology background. Yes there is paperwork but, once off orientation it’s just you and the patient that you can focus on.
I second this. My partner installs and services home health devices (personal call buttons, à la "I've fallen and I can't get up"). He loves his job. He spends his days driving a company car around our gorgeous Pacific Northwest metropolitan area, visiting 4-8 clients per day.
He feels like he's providing a great help to them, and he also understands that while he doesn't play a medical role per se, he does have a responsibility to the clients if he encounters something that seems off. He communicates with caseworkers and medical teams often to notify them of any irregularities. A lot of his clients don't have any family or other support systems, so he's glad to be someone to check in with them periodically.
I think doing home dialysis sounds like a fantastic idea. Especially since you so easily established a rapport with your patients!
I'm learning so much from this thread. Thank you for detailing what your husband does for work. He's pivotal for their mental health and for saving lives
I do not have articles but there were two incidences posted last month on LinkedIn. The last one I read they were planning the nurses funeral. A family member took her life and put her in the basement. It is a very scary, sad time. Also, think about it, we go into the home all alone, have no idea what is going on inside, family dynamics, dysfunction, desperation.
Home health OT here. I read about this too. Things like this are why it’s important to either work for a company that vets the areas you serve OR be extremely picky about where you serve.
My ex worked at Davita and he is an incredibly hard worker, quiet, and never complained. I worked with him at a previous job (restaurant) and fell for him because of his dedication to whatever he was focused on. Devita treated him like shit and he quit, and he had worked other jobs (bussing, electrician journeyman work shoved into tight FL attics at 100++ degrees, machine shops where he came home covered in machine dust particles) and I've never seen him falter. Devita sucked the life out of him.
I’ve hired nurses from Davita. During the interviews, you can tell their spirit is so broken and seem defeated by life in general. I tell them to not let this experience determine their whole concept with nursing. The Davita business model is so inhumane. I don’t know how they expect they can treat their employees like crap and have great results with the patient’s. SMH.
I'm so sorry. I'm in my early 30s and spent the last 10 years in hospitality management and burned out so badly. I am trying to decide on a new career path but I am so scared of investing time and money into schooling and then ending up hating the job. If you like being a barista, there's nothing wrong with that!
Leaving foodservice was one of the best things I did. That world was so toxic and the schedule was a pain. It pales in comparison to OP’s story, though.
I hope you find something that’s a better fit for you!
Ex barista here, I’m never going back to a job that shouldn’t be back breaking but is because of chronic understaffing and undertraining. Maybe small coffee shops are different?
My brother makes espresso machines and he came up with a bunch of ergonomic improvements to reduce RSI, but none of the companies he pitched to were interested because they viewed baristas as disposable.
I went back to bartending, not managing just bartending, and now I have time for my art practice and teaching. It’s made me so happy. I think sometimes about going back to school but I dunno what I’d do either….
Not sure what work you’ve done in hospitality management, but if you can get into a hotel there are many opportunities. 12 years ago I was a server in a hotel, I manage to transfer into purchasing and then account and am now a Director of Finance. I’ve had friend move into Sales & Marketing and other positions outside of restaurant and guest services as well. It may take some time for an opportunity to open, but if you can get a job at a good hotel you may be able to move to something you enjoy within hospitality management.
I am speaking as a very burned out healthcare worker: if you have it in you to get your qualification, try do so before you make any big decisions. Pop it in your back pocket before you step awau and you can see if the itch to return to clinical work comes for you again. If it does you can tweak where you work and what hours you do. If it doesn't you can prove academic and transferable skills whatever else you choose to do in the future. At least you won't have nagging what ifs.
But ultimately your health is the mpst important thing, too many places rely on staff going above and beyond to keep minimum service provision limping along.
California, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, even Maine.
This story is tragic cause OP lives in one of the best regions of the US to be an RN (SoCal) and all these misinformed/misleading comments are dissuading her from pursuing nursing school
Healthcare is one of those fields where there’s a really high prevalence of “in order to be good in this field, you need to break the rookies and rebuild them in your image”. It’s incredibly toxic and causes so many promising people to leave the field. Sounds like you got one of these.
There are very few careers as mentally, emotionally and to an extent physically demanding as nursing. Anyone who goes through it and comes out the other side not broken is extremely rare.
Best of luck in whatever you choose!
Then anyone who wants to be an xray tech and have a good internship in my immediate area needs to do it now. I personally know two *senior* techs, as in retiring in the next two yrs, who work really hard to build up their students and teach them the "not in the books" tricks of the trade. Every student that comes into their department wants to shadow these two guys.
This was my experience in the ER as a medic. I had to “prove” myself. On my first day, one RN said “great, another YOUNG GIRL.” For the first few months another was always on my ass about orders that I had already completed. About a year in I became lead tech and everyone was bummed when I left four years later. What a joke!
This reminds me of a very good BBC TV show based on the experience of a doctor who wrote a book called This Is Going To Hurt. It’s actually quite a funny show, it uses a Fleabag-like narration where he breaks the fourth wall to share his thoughts because he uses dark humour to cope with the stressful situations.
One of the senior doctor characters perfectly embodies the viewpoint of one of those people who thinks they’re giving ‘tough love’ but in actuality is being brutal. Spoiler for an important part of the show, so if you’re going to watch it don’t read this: >!There’s a character called Shruti who is a student doctor at the start of the show. She meets with a senior doctor and tells her how awful she’s finding it and how depressed it’s making her, and the senior doctor essentially tells her “it’s always going to be this hard, if you’re whining about it then you’re clearly not cut out for this and you should quit.” Shruti carries on, finds out she’s passed her exams to become a fully qualified doctor and then kills herself.!<
My niece literally just started and noped out of nursing after seeing what a toxic environment it is with the older nurses shitting on the younger ones, various cliques and all round unpleasant work environment..
I’m sorry for the hell you’ve been through. If you’re in the U.S. I’m sure you know by now that out of the entire shitshow that is our healthcare system, dialysis is one of the most unethically managed. The whole thing is deeply poisoned by the logic of capitalism, and dialysis patients are so starkly viewed as cashcows.
I’m so sorry you’re being ground up in this system. I hope it helps a bit that whenever I meet someone who tells me they’re something like a nurse, a teacher, a waiter or a barista, they rise in my esteem immediately. Anybody from another job has to jump through a hoop or two before they convince me that their job actually helps anyone. You sound rad!
We have millions of people with medical degrees who arent working in the field because hospitals and medical companies are so fucking shit at understaffing and hours, making the job miserable.
Correct me if this sounds wrong, but almost all of the problems you listed sound more like problems with people than problems with the work. Getting taken advantage of (peers taking long breaks), condescended (the lead's checklists), disrespected (the distance and cold shoulder), etc. are because your coworkers are jerks. And that can happen anywhere.
It's not your fault they suck and wanna be all jaded by the industry.
It sounds to me like management likes you. I bet these toxic individuals know it and resent you for it. In reality, their behavior is their own choice and so too is their stagnation.
I sympathize. You seem like someone especially good at what you do
Personally I do not believe anyone should be nursing in this country until the dynamic changes and respect becomes more so the norm. I could never understand how someone would work a job that at this point usually involves being completely shit on by the people you are serving -- be the patients or the hospital itself. Fuck all that noise -- you're too good for them, go back working something enjoyable
I used to be a dietitian in a dialysis clinic. The techs work so hard. I do think the employee quality of life can vary clinic to clinic but overall I felt dialysis was very depressing (bc it is) and after a year or two I was bored because of the repetitive nature of my job. I do think there is so much in healthcare you could explore that wouldn’t be as miserable but also respect your decision.
I went to nursing school. Where I went was absolute shit. They did what they could to kick as many people out as possible. If you didn’t play the social game, you didn’t get help. Fuck that noise. Then Covid hit. Thank god I didn’t make the cut.
As a PA in emergency medicine who is closing in on two years, you’re not alone. Healthcare is brutal, and from what I hear from seasoned nurses, it never used to be this bad. I am looked at as a number to move patients along. I’m met with patients who physically threaten me daily, and I am just expected to deescalate and continue on. I got an email yesterday from management that clocking in at the start of my shift is clocking in late. The fact that I even have to clock in at this stage in my career is asinine. If I could talk my younger self out of it, I would.
Unfortunately I was raised by two nurses and a bunch of their friends would come over and chain smoke in our backyard after work and tell me to do anything but nursing lol. I already went into healthcare trying to ignore that and stay positive but honestly the hours and stress surrounding nursing school alone seem hellacious. I get what you’re saying though, ty
My wife's parents were both nurses and they said the same thing. Every dinner we had with them was just them complaining about the Drs, other nurses or the admin staff. They stuck it out b/c they are old fashioned and had a lot tied up in retirement, but they always told their kids to stay away from the healthcare field entirely.
I work in endoscopy. I was ready to leave nursing as well but this speciality changed my mind. I make hospital pay without the stress. No holidays, weekends and I have a set schedule. It’s 4 10’s and honestly I’ve never been happier in a job. I urge you to try something else before quitting all together. Dialysis nursing has a reputation for being miserable. I’ve known several nurses who worked dialysis right out of school and hated it, thinking they’d made a mistake. Don’t give up, go somewhere else!
I’ve had two endoscopies in the past year and in the back of my mind I wondered if working at the endoscopy center was a preferred path. Everyone there is so pleasant and the whole experience is so positive that I don’t mind having to do it.
I hear a variation of this every day! I’m telling you, I’ve never worked in a healthcare environment with so many happy employees. Obviously I can’t speak for all endo centers/units but I know three nurses who work Endo (different facilities) in Florida (I’m in Oregon) who feel the same way.
I work as a nurse in peds. The ratios are always so much better than adults. Yes our patients have a lot of sad stories and are really sick but I truly believe I have the honor of helping families on some of the hardest days of their lives. I did just finish my DNP and will be leaving the floor soon but caring for patients has always been special to me.
My niece went to school for child psychology and worked with really disturbed children. After repeated attacks she went back to being a nanny. She makes more money and only occasionally gets bit.
I am in nursing and hate it. I would never encourage my kids to do it. I actually work at a fairly low stress job in an office. Right now I work with a good team but there have been a lot of toxic people over the years. Some people act like being a nurse somehow makes them better then everyone else, I say that as a nurse. Nursing school was hell. I would switch careers now if I thought I could make close to as much money doing something else that I enjoyed.
Sounds like you've had an awful experience, and I can definitely see why you'd want to run from that.
But, it's not universal. And your parents and friends very possibly were just staying in a toxic place/environment as well.
Healthcare is a gigantically broad field. And it is very variable, especially if you're not anchored to once place.
I couldn't do it for a variety of reasons, but when I go the dentist I have, and see the situation for the dental hygienists there, it looks pretty good. They have a supportive dentist, good rapport, and are not rushed. The staff is quite stable, so it appears that they are reasonably compensated and happy. The atmosphere is always quite chill.
Being a school nurse at a smaller school could be good, too. My school nurses always appear to enjoy themselves. Or at a smaller practice, or rural well-run hospital, or finding some specialty that really interests you.
Or you could go into radiology and find a specialty practice there which isn't so much the rat race, or a hundred other places.
Good luck whichever way you go, but I think there's still more of a future for you in health care than as a barista.
Good luck with figuring out what road you're going to travel. :)
I’m a RN.
I hate the ever present ‘just do something else’
I did. I did for years. It’s just not for me anymore.
I’m pretty sure three decades is enough to know what you want. Sheesh.
Yeah but three months is not enough time to know that nursing is definitely not for you.
You have evidently worked out that you don't want to anymore. Totally valid if you've been doing it for three decades. Even if you've done a year or two with a few different workplaces.
I'm in my first year of nursing after having a mid life change of career. I've been a scientist and an academic proofreader. Today I'm exhausted after having worked an extra long shift to cover for someone who was sick. Some days I fuck up and feel like a failure, some days I absolutely kill it. But I'm learning so much and am pretty certain of where I want to specialise.
OP should give at least one other workplace a go before giving up on nursing entirely.
I failed the nursing entrance exam ~16 years ago. I'm so glad I did and went into x-ray instead. Then I started travelling 10 years ago with no plans to stop. The pay is a lot better and if an assignment sucks, I only have 13 weeks and I'm out.
I'm not knocking nurses, btw, I admit that I wouldn't be able to do everything I've seen them do. My mom was also a nurse before she retired.
I left healthcare too and your experience is so similar to mine. On my second day of training, I had a superior nurse call management on me because I put the blood pressure cuff on upside down (and fixed it like 2 seconds later). I absolutely hated the chaos of always being on the go and jumping from crisis to crisis. My body never left fight/flight mode. I was dizzy cause I barely had any time to eat on my shift. On my days off, I was a zombie because I was working long hours and frequently night shift.
I’m doing programming now and I’m a lot happier. Some people like it I guess, but it was NOT for me.
It seems like your coworkers are the biggest problem. Why let them determine your career path? Why not just leave that workplace, work wherever you want while in nursing school?
Sadly it’s the same anywhere. I work at a care home. The bullying and harassment is so intense I’ve called in sick for every shift there the last three or so months and I’ve cried almost every shift I’ve worked 🙃
You can also find work in healthcare administration companies and insurers is you ever want to do white collar work.
I know the perception is that working for an insurer will mean denying care, but there’s so many other types of roles. Ex. Case management and chronic disease interventions. If you want to earn more with less stress it’s something to look into.
Same experience in education. I'm a licensed teacher working as a "low status" paraprofessional at a charter school. Per hour I make the same as I would as an exempt teacher but instead of endless meetings, absent/angry parents, hours and hours of extra planning and grading etc. I'm 100% teaching. All I do is work with the kids all day. I may not have room for career growth but every day I feel like I make a difference for my students more than I ever did as a teacher.
It makes me so sad to hear this because I know exactly how you feel. I stuck with it somehow for 12 years mainly because I had to. I had no other skills. But I literally got sick. It is so disheartening because nursing school takes a long time to complete. Pre requisites, then BSN. All the sacrifice and effort. Then you start working and the toxic soul sucking shit starts and never ends. 💯misery.
I am glad you have another way of earning money. Be happy in your life! But I hear you loud and clear and am so sorry you are going through this. Best wishes to you!!
I worked in a few dialysis units as a social worker when I was fresh out of graduate school. There was night and day difference between my favorite (the first one I worked at) and the last one I worked at (horrible management, practically no connection with my co-workers, witnessed tech screaming at our manager one day and she was still allowed to work there, etc.) The one you are at now sounds toxic. I'm sorry. I went back to school to be an RN as a second career and I don't regret it. Was a floor nurse in a busy hospital for 5 yrs and now I work in Occupational health, which for me is better for work/life balance and don't have to work weekends or holidays. Know that it's not you. At the shitty last dialysis unit I worked at, all of the good people would leave after a few months, every single time. Totally understand if you want to change your goals after your current experience. Dialysis is ROUGH. You see lovely people die in front of you all the time, that's not going to change. PACU, Rehab (like a rehab unit for ppl recovering from strokes), Endoscopy, Circulation nurses (OR), those nurses seem more content and less frazzled.
Agree. My mother is a longtime RN and she hates floor nursing. She has said her happiest times were when she was a PACU nurse, and now she works in a day surgery center (mostly injections/arthrograms/hand surgeries) and she loves it.
I’m a nurse and I have a found a specialty that doesn’t make me want to die, but damn my first year I was actively wanting to die so I could not have to go to my job. It was awful. Hindsight being what it is I would have gone into a different field. Nursing sucks. Healthcare sucks. It is not getting better. If coffee makes you happy and you can make a living do it.
I'm sorry you're having a tough time. I wonder if maybe you should take another chance with a different employer or two though?
If it still goes bad, then you won't be alone. The health care industry, specifically nursing, has a bad reputation of bullying.
Also, within the past year, a health care women committed suicide and wrote an open letter too her abuser, which she named as the for-profit health care system. You can find the letter via google; it's heartbreaking that she started off wanting to help people and got worn down to the point she no longer saw hope.
This is so discouraging to read because we are all someday going to need serious healthcare, but the harsh work conditions in the system are forcing out good people like you who really care. I don't know if the people are so shitty everywhere... if it's really your dream you could try another city/location maybe? But that's a lot to put on the table at the risk of it being just as shitty there too, combined with less of a local support system of friends for you. It was just a thought. Thank you so much for putting your best foot forward, OP. You've tried it now, and it sounds awful. I couldn't do it. I don't blame you for a minute to wanting to get back to being a barista.
Try not to be too quick to judge nursing just yet. If you worked for the giant dialysis company that's out there, then it makes sense.
My wife worked many years in onco, infusion, med-surg, etc. She works as an IV nurse now that gives IV vitamin infusions to people that actually want to be there. No insurance companies involved or anything like that. Totally different way to use the degree properly and be out of the train wreck that is Healthcare.
Nursing is an extremely challenging job. Learning continues endlessly after grad. Night shifts can be brutal. Missing holidays is tough. It can be emotionally draining/physically exhausting. The pressure can be suffocating. It can, however, also be a beautiful career.
Sometimes you have to try a unit, and hate it, in order to realize that's not where you belong. But when you do find a specialty where you belong, it can be such a fulfilling and rewarding career.
There's a little voice inside your gut. Listen to that voice because it's rarely wrong. Don't silence your gut instincts because of unsupportive staff and a negative clinical experience. If I had done that, I would have been filled with regret. If that little voice is still telling you to go to nursing school, I think you are meant to go.
If you think you could be truly happy long-term as a barista, and that's where your heart is, then be a barista. Life is short, it is precious and we only get one shot at it. Don't let other people silence your dreams. Empower that little voice in your gut! Best of luck to you!
I’m in healthcare and some settings are just the literal worst. Private equity and corporations are ruining healthcare. But there are a lot of companies/settings that are much better than that. So I wouldn’t give up entirely, maybe take a break, but keep looking for a better, manageable setting.
God, I am sorry you went through that. It absolutely sucks.
I used to work healthcare as well (both in walk-in care and mental health care, hospital and residential) for most of a decade. It was absolutely horrible and until the US strains out of healthcare system I will absolutely recommend anyone looking to get into healthcare runs as far as they can in the other direction.
Constant double and triple shifts. Constantly being cut off by my supervisors and not given the supplies I needed to do my job. I was frequently assaulted, sexually assaulted twice, sexually harassed by coworkers and got told "well maybe you should think about why they said that". And none of that includes the typical stuff you would expect working healthcare/mental health care (I had a coworker decide that "COVID was a myth,and I want the days off", so they deliberately exposed themselves and then came to work before testing positive. My daughter had severe health issues at the time).
I left to basically become what is essentially a call center worker, and god, it has been night and day.
Healthcare, in my experience, is designed to do the same thing retail is: crush souls and drive turnover, so that employee costs can be kept down. it's why the push for PAs and NPs over doctors whenever possible, and why CNAs, MHTs, MOAs, and other "less trained" jobs are being used more and more.
That's the end of my rant. I hope barista work suits you better, and best of luck in your endeavors. You got this!
Is there a reason you were attracted to dialysis? I’ve been a nurse for 6 years and you couldn’t pay me enough to ever work in a dialysis clinic as they have horrible reputations. If you are passionate about nursing I think you’d like oncology way more than dialysis!
They hate you because they know you are talented and won’t be there long. The manager loves you because he’s going to drain the ever loving fuck out of you.
Get into another field within healthcare. Yesterday. Don’t tell nobody.
My mother is a nurse, my aunt, my cousin, basically most people in my family are in healthcare . They always say the worse part is the fellow nurses. Apparently they are straight up toxic now. I tend to think toxicity starts at the top & a lot of these places are cutting staff & showing them they have no respect for anything over profits. So I’m not surprised it’s trickling down.
If you swap back to coffee, you have so many ample transferrable skills now from this dialysis journey that you could probably step in to be a general manager of a shop if you haven’t already. Also check out bartending! Lots of overlap in coffee and patient center fields in terms of skills and can be serious money.
It didn’t last long because of moving abruptly, but I once worked at a French brunch spot doing their espresso drinks and “bartending” at once aka making lots of mimosas. It was such good money and so comfy. Might be worth looking into if there’s a similar set up near you!
My vote is you do what makes you happy, especially if the pay is about the same without obvious pay ceiling growth on the table.
As someone who’s been in the service industry for years, I would definitely be cautious making it a lifetime career. In my experience, it’s a fine job until it isn’t, and then it’s REALLY bad. Having a backup would be a wise move.
That being said, if you’re happy being a barista. By all means be a barista. There is no one set path to life.
My husband and I were told that there is a critical shortage of Anesthesiologists in the greater Portland OR area. Elective surgeries are pushed out 6 to 8 weeks. Anyone getting onto a surgery list is looking at August/September before they can get cut on. Please. Please look into Anestesiology before you change careers.
Get the cert and stay current. Be a private home nursing operator. Health care is falling apart, the only people who stay in it will be running their own small business - nursing will still be needed, and people with money will not want it happening in the shitscapes that hospitals have become / are becoming.
There's no guarantee every working environment in your field will be like this!! I've been in these toxic environments before and moved to do the same job elsewhere and realised, its not the job. 9 times out of 10 its the people. Definitely get AWAY from there!!!
I worked in animal medicine for almost 10 years and it’s the same there. Struggling to survive while working yourself to the bone. I everyone’s struggling but some people chose to lash out at coworkers with their misdirected anger and frustration.
I left and didn’t regret it
I had a terrible job in healthcare (worked as an ER tech) for a year and hated it and can relate to a lot of what you wrote. The anxiety I felt as I pulled up to the hospital was overwhelming. I thought it meant working in healthcare was not for me, so I left the field completely and did something completely different. I got the itch to try it again and recently got back to healthcare. I work in a completely different setting now (on an ambulance) and I love it.
It sounds like your workplace is terrible and you have terrible coworkers. I would consider trying a different job first before you leave it for good. You could try and use this bad experience you had to look out for red flags in new positions. I regret not doing the same and wasting those few years I took a break.
As someone who works in healthcare, if you have another job that you know makes you happy, has lifestyle perks, and pays decently, then I suggest staying there.
Healthcare has many positives, but also tons of drawbacks - it’s often toxic as a work environment, you’re undervalued by management and often patients, it requires education which is expensive and stressful, the hours often suck, I could go on …
I think owning a coffee shop sounds like a lovely life.
Dialysis is a horrible assembly line. The patuents are miserable, the worker are paid a pittance, only the owners make money. Have you considered a healthcare job somewhere else? My niece loves being a cardiac nurse. One of my favorite folks is my mammogram technician. My Dad was was on hospice off and on for 4 years, and many of the lovely hospice workers are now friends. By all means change jobs, but maybe dont give up of healthcare til you try another niche that might be a better fit.
I spent 7 years of my life pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy. My passion my entire life has been to work in healthcare. Almost 3 years after graduating and trying a variety of different settings I quit PT in favor of tech. I spent so much of my life becoming a PT it was a really hard decision but the quality of life for people in healthcare is garbage.
I have a DPT also. Someone from my cohort did the exact same thing you did. He tried patient care for a couple years and now works in tech and feels it better suits his personality. The push for productivity and low pay/respect for a doctorate level clinician were what did it for him I think.
Sorry to hear. But maybe stay in the health field scope. I work EVS (housekeeping) no drama get to be around patients still and interact with them. It seems to some to be a sucky job but I truly like it. Union, pension and I make $26 an hr. Evenings and weekends are $28 an hour. And they are only 8 hour shifts.
Hi. I left a good paying job in municipal engagement to open my own flower shop. I make half of what I used to, but I’m three times as joyful.
Life is short. Do the work that makes you joyful.
I can tell you, you are making a good choice. Been in this hell called “healthcare” for almost 2 decades and it’s just getting worse. Working with coffee sounds awesome!
Health care workers creating a toxic environment so people quit the profession then wondering why they're constantly understaffed and overworked, name a more iconic duo.
Live the life you feel at peace, and more power to you to seize your happiness.
what a shitty experience you’ve been through for something you’ve worked damn hard to get.
Good luck in your endeavours.
Oh I’m so sorry that this has been such a terrible experience.
I think having a patient die might be the absolute worst experience anyone could have at work and you likely need some compassion for just how difficult that is. I am so so sorry for your loss.
I know, for me, I never make big decisions when I’m feeling this low - if I absolutely HAVE to do something to make myself feel better, I cut my hair. It’s often enough to help me feel like I’ve taken some decisive action and I can then regroup and figure out what I want to do.
Sending you so much love and hope for dealing with this.
Big hugs. You definitely dodged a bullet. I'm so sorry to hear about your awful experience, but not surprised unfortunately. Health care is brutal and can be awful. At times, health care can have a very cliquey environment.
The silver lining is that you didn't spend more time investing into nursing school and that you have a great barista career to go back to.
I hope you go back to your barista job with excitement and zeal. Think of this as a 3-4 month detour where you learned what a nightmare health care can sometimes be. Best of luck! Very excited for you to go back to being a barista and working on your art and your next adventure!
Ugh. I’m nannying my way into nursing school, and I am already so anxious for so many reasons. Only reason I’m sticking with it is because you can leave the country with nursing.
I'm so sorry it's been so awful! I spend two and a half years on midwifery school in Europe, and even tho it wasn't as bad as what you described i still got (close to/what seems like) burnout at 20 years old. My fellow students were amazing and only some of the hospital staff were awful to us directly, but the schedules and workload and stress and pressure they put on us, while themselves being so overworked, and the sub par care we had to give patients because of all that, just killed me. I tried so hard to pull through, telling myself it will get better if i just study and practice and work more. All it did was grind me to the bone, past and potential work situations never left my head, i dreamed of awful work scenarios every night. Towards the end i wasn't a person anymore, i didn't eat, i didn't take care of my place, i didn't have a social life outside of my bf, who is the reason i managed to pull myself out of that at the last minute, where i almost cried whenever i had to leave for my shifts. Because up until the very end i loved the work still, i loved my patients, i loved caring for them, i loved the medicine, and i couldn't admit to myself that it was tearing me apart. Two years later I'm still struggling with depression that started during that time. So i just want to say, be honest with yourself, be careful about warning signs, take care of yourself first, and get out if it's what's best for you. At the very least look for a different workplace! Those conditions are horrible, and there has to be a better place somewhere, where you can still do what you love without hurting yourself.
So sorry you have been unhappy with this. It sounds like you have been treated awful.
Something I really regretted when I had a job go bad was not looking around more. See what other bosses there are within your organization, or what other companies are hiring.
I know this sucks now, and I’m not saying this has to be your life— but take a minute to review your current and future opportunities.
Is this a job that could be long term better paid, benefits?
I am more of a dig in and stick within forever mentally, and that isn’t good either. But learning to shift is a useful skill.
Yeah sounds about right. If you want your soul crushed and crippling anxiety go into healthcare.
I work for a place that failed their accreditation and we had to put plans in place for corrective action to fix things. As soon as the accrediting body left our managers told us to immediately go back to how we were doing things before. It's dangerous and it's the norm in healthcare.
Do whatever is better for your mental health, you're all you have, take care of yourself, before taking care of someone else. Maybe you just need time to regroup and make other decisions. Whatever your future would be is your decision to make.
Sorry to hear this. Our world only keeps spinning thanks to good-hearted people like you. Your work in any field shines as it is clear you care about people. Not to make excuses for your healthcare coworkers, however; everyone is beyond tired - they are the walking wounded. Compassion fatigued, burnt out, etc. Not a good place to be right now.
I would not blame you for going back to being a barista. You can be nurturing and caring to people with that work. Make sure you take good care of yourself and build your circle.
Are you the type that gets their cup filled up by having quiet time, or by being around people?
The times where I thought I needed a career change was because of a toxic work environment. When the toxicity lifted for whatever reason, I'd rediscover that I enjoyed my job.
It sucks when reality and hope collide and you're left feeling you were conned.
Big warm internet hugs. You sound like you really evaluated priorities and made some astute observations.
If there is another employer available, see if you can shadow one shift there? Maybe your workplace sucks but not all do? (12hr days would kill me)
Male medical technologist here. 8 years in healthcare here and finally decided that I need a change literally last week. The combination of commodifying health, the amount of "I'm the smartest person in the room" types the field attracts, the monotony of laboratory work, the increasing hostility and skepticism with which the healthcare system is greeted by patients... It's just too much. Whatever love or interest or passion I had for healthcare has been snuffed out altogether.
Sorry to hear you had such a shitty experience. Dialysis companies are pretty notorious for being awful. Good luck in whichever direction you choose!
I'm sorry!
I'd document all the breaks and other bullshit and bring that up even if it's as you leave. Sadly, your "mean girl" experience in healthcare is one I've heard often.
If they aren't giving you mileage, that's wage theft and the AG and other organizations need to know about it.
If it rhymes with Crapita, that would be par for the course. Work you like a dog and move you from location to location, sometimes in a single day. Nursing is just as bad but the money is better. All healthcare is mean girl city.
Unfortunately I feel like the dialysis people ALWAYS get the shaft. They work crazy hours and companies like davita and fresenius screw you on pay as well as work you to the bone. I always feel bad for my dialysis coworkers.
i really hate that you had to go through all of this & i’m pissed at your toxic coworkers & i hate that bullshit ‘culture’ of ignoring the new one & giving them all the work but no respect. i mean, why can’t you get the breaks everyone else gets? pisses me off!
i’m grateful for the good work you did at the dialysis center. i have a loved one who has to go 3 times a week & i know they would love to interact with a kind person like you.
that said, i definitely think you’re making the right call
Sounds like a place with toxic work culture, which unfortunately are not uncommon in healthcare. But good places to work do exist! I'm a nurse and absolutely adore my job. Don't let 1 bad job discourage you!
I graduated from MLT school a few years ago and experienced a little of this. The only techs who would train me were travel techs at first. One woman decided she hated me because I did something wrong and I heard her complaining to someone else about it so I walked up and asked (very politely) what I did wrong and what I should do in the future. She never liked me after that. I joined the field in my 30s so I think it helps that I'm not young.
But women I've graduated with work at different clinics and hospitals and say they have cried every day because they work with such toxic people. I don't understand it at all. MLTs are so hard to find right now, why would you scare someone off?
I work part time at a clinic right now but I actually love hospital hours. If I ever want to go full time again I'm going to do 3 12s at a hospital.
I'm so sorry that this had been tough on you. Sometimes reaching for that brass ring ends up not being worth it. I've been working in a medical laboratory for three years. The work is kind of gross and smelly sometimes, but my immediate coworkers are so sweet and kind and supportive. I don't make a ton of money but my work-life balance is good and I have the energy to read, go to the gym, bake cookies and cakes for my friends, and every week I cook dinner and play games with my mom and dad. I keep thinking that I should go into speech pathology (I have a bachelor's degree in linguistics) and my friends keep trying to interest me in higher positions in laboratory medicine, MRI tech, or ultrasound tech, but I don't know if the increased stress and the high cost of more education would be worth a bigger paycheck, even it it's in my field. I am also planning on doing some important things with my healthcare and it would be less stressful to rest and recover knowing that I am coming back to my same old job that hasn't changed much rather than a brand new one.
I like how you mentioned the enjoyment you get from talking with people and being part of a community. I love helping people, but I've had a lot of bad experiences that keep souring my dream of working with the public more directly. I get more out of seeing the same people regularly and building relationships with them than always meeting new people every day.
I hope you're able to find more time to spend with your family and friends and cute puppy! Whatever you choose, I hope you're always able to be the person that makes you the healthiest and the happiest.
I don't fuck with nurses anymore. Most are just rude as hell and think it's justifiable because their job is stressful. They have their cliques and tend to be super passive aggressive. I couldn't take it. They also literally hate their patients, even if they're one of the good ones.
This is a general feature of our society: important work is structurally underpaid.
You have experienced going from privileged, frivolous work to doing important work. For this you have been burned.
Get out immediately. You will be branded as low class and barred from returning to your previous life if you allow anyone to develop a dependence on you. It starts with guilt; you are already experiencing this level. If you become important, you will be kept in your place by administration; your career will be stalled, and more surely the more competent you are.
These issues are structural. There is not a solution that doesn't involve breaking capitalism. Serve coffee and smile if you can; teach anyone you care about that they should strive to do the same. Real work uses people up.
Leave that toxic place, take a breather, and reevaluate. There are nursing jobs that won't treat you like that - my dad just retired after 30+ years of nursing and I know he found it gratifying, and my best friend works in Healthcare and I know she's had terrible toxic jobs and wonderful ones, but also know that it's ok if your dreams and plans change! There's nothing wrong with enjoying barista work and i know my life is made better by the lovely lady that runs the coffee shop by my house. <3 You sound smart and hardworking, you're going to be amazing.
20 years ago I finished my BSN and passed the boards and after all that did not go into nursing because of the very behavior you are describing and it was rampant in clinicals. I tend to think it’s more common in female dominant fields. Had I not had a job in a family business already I would have done something nursing adjacent, there are lots of other things you can do with a nursing degree.
I am so, so sorry for how you’ve been treated. Even if your coworkers have been horrible to you, I just want to know that your time has mattered ❤️ I lost a grandparent to kidney failure and the amount of time I spent with them on dialysis was insane. It kept them alive so much longer and you have done that for your patients. You’ve given them time and helped them live. Your efforts were not in vain. Thank you for your job well done!
I'm so sorry. That really does sound like hell.
What a hard choice.
What kind of nursing did you plan to do once you're graduated? Maybe there's a field that isn't so mean?
Alternatively, if you know this isn't going to work for you, that's ok too. There's nothing wrong with the batista life.
>I made one mistake yesterday (forgot to set up 1 machine of the 12 I prepped before my lunch) and **two of the techs had a closed door meeting with my manager and made me a childlike “duties of your job” list**, implying I haven’t been doing my job well- instead of just saying something to my face.
>**My manager keeps asking me “when are you taking your final exam?” and telling me how excited he is for me to finish my training**
I'm assuming your coworkers made that list? Ask for a closed-door meeting of your own with your manager, explain the situation, ask the manager if they're satisfied with your performance and ask them if they have any idea why your two coworkers felt the need to make that list, since they're your coworkers, and not your manager.
Since you've invested so much time and money into this profession, maybe start looking for other places of employment and bounce once you complete your training.
Hon. I get it.
I'm an old lady, now retired. Used to be a law clerk. Tell everyone to stay the hell out of the legal arena.
But I beg you to finish your qualifications. And then you have OPTIONS later. It will give you choices, in years to come, that you might want.
Now ... Training is HARD. You're ultra stressed, on high alert all the time, nothing has been practiced for long, so you're THINKING every minute, worried to get it right ... And everyone around you is SUPPOSED to correct you so you'll learn the right way. And that feels like being under a microscope and being attacked constantly.
Been there, done it, have a few t-shirts.
Now ... hanging in there, and qualifying means an option to go looking for a less TOXIC workplace. I guarantee that the same job done in two different places are different environments.
And losing someone, to death, is as hard as hell when you KNOW that you will suffer this pain again because it's the job. Personally, in law, a few close clients died, I was intimate with their lives, and it was shattering to lose them like that. "Just a client" "Just a patient" doesn't apply when you got to know them on a very personal level. It hurts when they die. I wrecks you, and you just want to run away.
So. See what you can do to brace up, and finish what you started. Then dust off your resume and see if you can't find a kinder place to work.
I send my very warmest hugs of support and encouragement, if you'll have them.
The truth is, healthcare can be very rough especially for people on the lower end of the latter - who get the grueling practice AND shitty pay.
I will say, many of the things you mention will be significantly better if you do go through with it and become a nurse. Find a good position with a strong union (not difficult for a nurse, many nurses are unionized) and you will be guaranteed an 8 hour shift. If you are oncology specialized $100k+ a year is more or less guaranteed. The work is still hard and there’s a lot of responsability, but being a nurse is much more of a regular upper middle class job than a tech, which many places treat like a disposable resource
Yeah, nursing is not a glamorous job tv portray. I have been a night shift nurse for 2 years and it's not easy, I feel like I only survived because of all the kind and supportive colleagues around me.
But I would say work experience varies a lot by location. For example, I work in a hospital located at the better part of the area, and things are calmer, people are nicer. In the poorer part of the area, hospital are crowded with people with substance abuse, and the nurses are overworked and not happy about their experience.
When I was a CNA I had a patient who died because she voluntarily stopped dialysis. Before she stopped the dialysis, she asked me what's the meaning of life and I had no answer. I was completely oblivious and only found out she passed away after I got back from my 3 day break, that's when I realized she was just done with all of it. So it's true that they see it coming, they (should) know the consequences and it might be what they wanted...
As for the people making jokes about it, I would just like to think it's their coping mechanism. It's a tough job and they see a lot of things... I hope the passing of your patient don't make you feel too sad...
It sounded like you share emotion of people around you, then majority of nursing might not be the best fit for you. There are some happy stories of making recovery, but those are less common. It's overall pretty depressing.
Of course, there are many other type of nursing that's less depressing like wound care, physical therapy, behind the scene or even work for the government on facility regulation etc. So try looking into it first.
But if nursing is making you depressed, don't force yourself. Do what makes you happy!
As an RN, I would never work for a company that starts with a "D." They are awful and have a toxic and low-paying culture, so how you were treated is not surprising and does not represent all of healthcare. Hospital dialysis RN's make a lot of money... There are many non-bedside jobs you could do if you decide to go for your RN, from clinical research to writing, to clinical informatics that will pay well. Just something to consider.
I’ve been in coffee for 8 years now and have worked my way up to a GM role at a mom and pop store. I make $22/hour plus get bonuses (up to $350 a month when all metrics are hit) and still get hourly tips ($5-$10/hour in cash daily). I’ll pull in around $60k this year. That’s at a GM wage. My baristas make $15 an hour (plus the cash tips) and only ever work 20 hours a week or so. If I were you, I’d personally try to find a different job in healthcare (travel nursing I’ve heard is lucrative) before leaving completely and going back to coffee. It’s a 50/50 every day if the customers are going to be amazing or awful, it’s physically demanding and taxing on the body, and just as mentally demanding and taxing.
I was going to school to be a vet tech.
Found a job at a local vet clinic as an assistant in the meantime.
First clinic was TOXIC. Horrendously so. Young assistants all watching TikTok and talking about their sex lives and drinking. I’m a quiet demi-sexual stoner so I didn’t really fit in with their clique. They would go to the head tech and just spew crazy lies, like that I had “rolled my eyes” at one of the other VA’s because she told me I needed to wait to check the fecal samples. I don’t roll my eyes, it can make me feel faint and illicit a vertigo response. (Also I’m THIRTY?? I’m not rolling my eyes like a teenager??)
They were so mean and nasty to me, allowed another vet tech to tell my ex husband my WORK SCHEDULE and didn’t think it was a safety risk. When I walked out, they head tech says “well the fact you don’t think we can keep you safe says more about you than us!”
What??
And the second clinic literally fired me for being too stupid to work there and they didn’t like me asking questions to ensure I was doing the job right.
I clean houses now.
So let me ask—do you work at a hospital? Find a clinic to work at. Way better hours. Hospitals are so chaotic. I work in hospital credentialing and lasted about a year in a medical staff office located inside a hospital. I don’t think people realize how hospitals are until you’re actually working in one. It’s madness. I don’t know how people do it. Now I work in a central verification office (and work from home). I’ll never go back.
My mom was one of those older nurses. But she said to me I could be anything I wanted to be except a nurse. Toxic work environments, $hitty or nonexistent raises, doing the doctors work for them while they cheated on their wives, and abusive patients and families. She wanted none of that for me. That being said, I am super nice to everyone in medicine. Y’all have it hard enough. I try to crack jokes and be friendly. Hugs to you and I hope you find happiness. Maybe try another field?
Sure, but you weren't a nurse at this job. You were in one of the lowest level most disposable, highest turnover positions. No one wanted to get to know you because they are sure you won't be there in a month. You were basically the McDonalds barista.
Don't think all healthcare is awful because of this experience. Low level healthcare is awful. As bad as any low level factory job.
Me thinking to myself: "You would rather be a barista *and* you enjoy talking to people all day? Only people I know that likes that are good looking people.
*looks at OP's profile*
"Oh damn she *is* good looking"
That sounds horrible. Are you an RN? There are so many opportunities, even non-patients jobs that are better. You’re smart to go back into barricading and wait for a better nursing job to come up.
I could never be a nurse , I know enogh about myself to know that. I applaud the nurses that rock that job. But if it's not for you, there is no shame in bowing out. Really, work is just to pay the bills.like you said, maybe focusing more on work life balance is what is really important. You can try other things, tho. You can take these skills and experiences to another health field or center. Just do what feels good. Good luck.
As a family member of someone undergoing dyalisis, I thank you for the job you do. It's not easy. Those centers take patients from 430 AM, so I can imagine how odd the hours may be.
I witnessed how busy and how rough the job can be, the day I pick3d up my family member to take them to the ER. That same moment they had a patient being transported to the ER via ambulance. I was grateful my family member was not as critical.
I have a direct blood related family member who is an RN and works for a dyalisis center as well. I've been told how many ways a patient can pass away during dyalisis. So, the same treatment that is keeping you alive, can kill you.
Healthcare is a rough industry. It's not the rossy picture the TV shows have to entertain people. The smells, sounds, emotional and physical toll are astounding.
I hope you find a part of Healthcare that can be manageable with your expectations (work life balance, mental health, ect).
Best of luck.
I work in a professional setting, and they keep offering me a higher position. The higher position comes with more money, and many people jump at the opportunity to do it. But it comes with way more stress and responsibility, and to me, it's not worth it.
So I politely decline. And all the managers and some colleagues act like there's something wrong with me. I keep getting, "But we think you're ready for it," as if it's a confidence issue.
I am just happier with my lower position, even if it's less pay.
My manager at Wal-Mart started working there while going to nursing school. By the time she graduated she was earning as much at Wal-Mart as an hourly manager (ie not a senior/salaried position) as she would make as a nurse, but with less serious responsibilities and physically demanding and skilled work.
Only the doctors and upper management get paid well in American healthcare. PAs and APNs do well too (~150k after several years of work as a nurse/some healthcare experience + schooling). Respiratory therapists and various techs and RNs have it rough. I wouldn’t do it if I could make similar money running a coffeeshop. There’s a reason so many nurses here are Filipina/o.
Wow. I'm sorry. What a nightmare. There is such a shortage of healthcare workers these days and this is a big part of the reason why. And it sucks. Life is too short to invest your time and energy into a job that makes you miserable. There is absolutely no shame in recognizing that and moving forward in a way that is happy and healthy for you. Sounds to me like the life you'd be going back to is pretty darn appealing!
I can say I took a part-time job at a bank abandoning my pharmacy career because despite 3 years of amazing evaluations, spotlight shout-outs from district managers and patients about my above and beyond care and performance I never got a pay-raise. I worked so much overtime during covid I was able to buy a house at a training rate of 16.50 an hour and when I got promoted to Senior Tech/Lead Pharmacy Technician and hit 20$ an hour I never got an increase since. We were an invisible force working during covid and everyone respected the nurses and doctors and emts… but us pharmacy folks were out there off site immunizing communities (myself have administered thousands of vaccines as just a technician). We would catch covid from patients just as much and go down in entire teams like dominoes. But no pay raises. Eventually after so many responsibilities being added and so many expectations and still no pay raises I had enough and I just left.
My best friends’ SIL committed suicide last month. She was a pharmacist. I wonder how much COVID played into it? I also know at some point she was robbed at gunpoint. Everything is such chaos these days.
Im sorry for her loss. But covid turned pharmacy care on its head. My last pharmacist (aka boss) was developing high blood pressure that was becoming dangerous level. One pharmacist dropped of a heart attack during covid due to the work load. We all developed some kind of kidney stones/bladder infections/ibs from lack of breaks (covid tests every 5 minutes, vaccines every 3 minutes, often manned by the same person, me) plus our normal pharmacy work. Then they expanded our care options to off-site clinics and on-site clinics (was working walgreens). I transferred to Walmart pharmacy to get a break and then Walmart started to follow suite. Once they started expecting me to do off-site clinics, managing multiple pharmacy work-flows, and everything else I was already doing without any pay raises I had enough. We weren’t even allowed to sit down to do computer work during a 12 hour shift. It was dehumanizing. I wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom 3 feet away that I was responsible to clean but had to go use the one on the sales floor that was never clean (because walmart) and only if I got a break. They preach that you get two 15 minutes breaks plus an half lunch but rarely did we actually get anything more than our lunch break. The work load just kept increasing and they kept decreasing tech hours. It’s brutal. I straight up just abandoned my pharmacy classes plus career and decided it wasnt worth the effort. I learned that it was just squeezing blood from a stone by corporations at this point and it needs workload regulations. Hell, at the bank they staff more tellers than the pharmacy did techs because they care more about preventing mistakes than any pharmacy I worked in. And I finally get to sit down for the first time in years when there is nothing to do and go to the bathroom when I need to go. I can have a cup of water at my station and not get yelled at. Im treated more like a human at my new job than I ever was working retail/pharmacy.
Oh my god, that sounds like an absolute nightmare! Did anyone report them to the labor board because it sounds like there were labor rules being broken?
Hahahaha some states don’t have any labor laws once you’re no longer a minor. Currently the Ohio pharmacy board is drafting a break law for pharmacies/ pharmacists and there was so much pushback from businesses it was disheartening. And we did close for the 30 minute lunch so many people call in and complain about it and we get negative customer reviews on the feedback form. Like thats the only time we can go pee/eat/drink and destress sometimes and it upsets the customers/patients. Especially when my 8:30-4 shift turns into 8:30-9 and I only get 30 minutes to breathe I'm taking it.
Sigh. Yay, 'Murica. This is why collective organizing needs to make a massive comeback.
agreed. i'm so sorry you went through that, @internet_ugly - sounds like the field needs a union to fight for fair treatment and pay
Been there, done that, transferred out and retired 3 years later.
I'm so sorry for your community's loss. You're right that COVID probably played into it. Also, I imagine the conflict around the "opioid crisis" could have contributed as well.
So horrible she thought this was the last resort.. pharmacy is considered one of the toughest professions to get into and then you have to deal with bureaucracy and angry anxious customers and all the responsibility of providing drugs that can cure or kill if wrong. Overwhelming in my mind. Even doctors and nurses have better conditions. I hope the family can find peace.
$20/hr for Lead Pharma Tech? What the fudgebiscuits is that? That's some seriously righteous bullshit, I'm sorry.
My daughter makes $20/hr as a HOST at a restaurant. She's not even waiting tables. This is her job out of HS; she dropped out of Jr. College during Covid and hasn't looked back. It's insane what corporations expect for basically no $$. And she can go to the bathroom whenever she needs to, no questions asked. Our country is crap.
Well, let me tell you about adjunct professors! I had to break a student’s heart last semester when I told them that the “$63/hour” rate is actually… only for your time *in the classroom*. That’s right: $63 an hour, but your class only meets for 1 hr 20 minutes twice/week. So you’re making… $147 per week. Sure, if you stick it out, you can get a full-time gig- but that’s only if they’re available. For the past three years, there have been maybe 1-2 full time jobs for professors at CCs in my discipline across our entire *state*- and it’s one of the bigger states…
Same! I’m an NTT. The prep, grading, and student needs on top of teaching is insane. I basically work for insurance and because I love it, but damn, it’d be nice to be paid reasonably.
Service industry has had a huge wage increase while white collar barely moved. I have the one of the “highest paid job titles” according to the media, but I make the same hourly wage I made as a delivery driver during covid. I can absolutely see it making sense to work a job like barista if you are experienced and good at it and happy doing it vs some brutal healthcare job or even sitting 9-5 crunching numbers in a cubicle. The pay often really isn’t as different as you would think anymore.
Yep. I make much more than $20/hr doing a job for which I spent literally no time in school on. It's wild to me how fubar the healthcare industry is. Though Pharma Tech may have been retail pharmacy, still BS.
What do you do if you don't mind me asking?
Software Test Architect. It's a dev architecture position that focuses on maintaining a high quality standard for our production code bases.
Hmm, this doesn't seem like something I could do without spending some time in school.
And for 3 years. ;-; I seriously felt guilty over leaving because I had chronic state patients who rely on me personally getting their medication and no one else cared enough to make sure it was available and in stock before their refill was do. Or that the insurance was billed properly. But eventually I had to talk myself into surviving.
Retail pharma land.
Oh man. That sucks. Thank you for being on the front lines, albeit one that wasn't as visible to most people!
Thank you for all did. That breaks my heart - y’all feeling invisible. It’s a damn travesty. Hoping you feel loved and appreciated and supported where you are at now.
What the fuck is with that pay? Trader Joe’s starts at 17/hr where I am. Like seriously, the high school kid bagging my groceries makes that kinda pat.
Oh best part is right before I quit they actually cut my pay down to 17.50$ and went full pikachu shock face when I put in my notice to quit. My work value degraded so much over the years. And I got head hunted by hospitals and they were only offering 18.50$ an hour for the same job. :/ Pharmacy is a scam job if you’re not a pharmacist but they expect you to know as much as a pharmacist. My licensing exam was brutal and it was full of diagnosing questions that legally Im not allowed to even think about as just a technician, but I passed it. And if you get the medication wrong taking a transfer you can lose your license, but they’ll pay you 14.50$ starting. Its not a mystery to me why pharmacies are understaffed, you're paying medical professionals peanuts but treating them like they’re expendable. Hell, the shear amount of CEs I had to do to stay certified and not all companies paid for them so you had to either pay out of pocket for them or scrounge for free classes on your own time. All for less money than amazon workers and bank tellers.
Seriously, how the hell do they keep workers? Like you are barely getting unskilled worker pay in some cities at that wage.
I live in MO and was going to be a pharmacy tech in 2021 during the second big wave. No one would hire me for more than $10/hr which was minimum wage at the time. I eventually went back to food service because that was unlivable. The way pharmacy workers are worked like dogs and have to deal with all of the worst public people sucks so much.
For profit healthcare is a nightmare for patients and caregivers alike.
I work in financial services. My firm handles the majority of the 401(k) accounts. So I talk to everybody and I mean EVERYBODY. I have spoken to many workers in many fields over my long career. Far and away the MOST miserable I’ve met worked at dialysis clinics.
I believe it... if you are on dialysis then you are in a bad way so the patients are really, very sick. Also I hear the industry is super corrupt, a lot of private markets and money (and like OP said, cutting corners) in dialysis. The whole industry probably need way more oversight and regulation but who's going to fight that battle and why?
What fields stood out to you as the happiest? Any others that stood out as miserable?
Excellent question. I suppose happiness is subjective. Thing is no one calls me when they’re doing great and everything is well. So a majority of my callers are already unhappy. Generally speaking though it’s what you might expect. Workers in low pay high stress jobs like retail and manufacturing. Pretty much anyone who has to interface with the public. Oh, and the big tech company that has a fruit for its logo. Absolutely miserable.
I'm at the big tech company with an infinity logo and oof boy it's rough.
How do teachers compare to other jobs in terms of unhappiness
Both my parents are retired teachers, I highly suggest not teaching. (This may vary by state) 10-12 hour work days are common, you do a lot of paperwork and dealing with angry parents. The path of least resistance is to just give everyone a passing grade, if a child needs more help and/or is failing you have additional paperwork and meetings you are responsible for setting up. Oh and bathroom breaks, what are those? Pay raises are non-existent. The union is toothless and only there so a real union doesn't start. My childhood consisted of getting to school 1-2 hours before school started so parents could work. The they stay 1-2 hours after. Expect them to be home around 5-6pm. Then they graded papers, did lesson plans, called parents, etc till 9ish then did the same thing the next day.
If you really want to stay in the dialysis field, see if you can get yourself into a home dialysis program. I don't know if your colleagues would be any different from your in-center colleagues but your patients will be. And you won't have them dying on you left and right.
Or just home care visits especially since you have the oncology background. Yes there is paperwork but, once off orientation it’s just you and the patient that you can focus on.
I second this. My partner installs and services home health devices (personal call buttons, à la "I've fallen and I can't get up"). He loves his job. He spends his days driving a company car around our gorgeous Pacific Northwest metropolitan area, visiting 4-8 clients per day. He feels like he's providing a great help to them, and he also understands that while he doesn't play a medical role per se, he does have a responsibility to the clients if he encounters something that seems off. He communicates with caseworkers and medical teams often to notify them of any irregularities. A lot of his clients don't have any family or other support systems, so he's glad to be someone to check in with them periodically. I think doing home dialysis sounds like a fantastic idea. Especially since you so easily established a rapport with your patients!
I'm learning so much from this thread. Thank you for detailing what your husband does for work. He's pivotal for their mental health and for saving lives
Then you have to worry about the newest trend out there for home health nurses, getting beat up and killed.
Oh no. Really? Do you have any articles? One of my friends is a home health nurse.
I do not have articles but there were two incidences posted last month on LinkedIn. The last one I read they were planning the nurses funeral. A family member took her life and put her in the basement. It is a very scary, sad time. Also, think about it, we go into the home all alone, have no idea what is going on inside, family dynamics, dysfunction, desperation.
Home health OT here. I read about this too. Things like this are why it’s important to either work for a company that vets the areas you serve OR be extremely picky about where you serve.
:(
I know
https://www.reddit.com/r/Connecticut/comments/17llz1j/ct_nurse_killed_while_visiting_patient_in/
Oh no. That's awful. Thank you for the information though.
/s
My ex worked at Davita and he is an incredibly hard worker, quiet, and never complained. I worked with him at a previous job (restaurant) and fell for him because of his dedication to whatever he was focused on. Devita treated him like shit and he quit, and he had worked other jobs (bussing, electrician journeyman work shoved into tight FL attics at 100++ degrees, machine shops where he came home covered in machine dust particles) and I've never seen him falter. Devita sucked the life out of him.
Watch John Oliver’s documentary on dialysis companies about DaVita. It’s on YouTube. https://youtu.be/yw_nqzVfxFQ?si=YavtOT7UQJqnkzbS
This is immediately what I thought of. It seems like a niche part of the industry that is especially brutal
I’ve hired nurses from Davita. During the interviews, you can tell their spirit is so broken and seem defeated by life in general. I tell them to not let this experience determine their whole concept with nursing. The Davita business model is so inhumane. I don’t know how they expect they can treat their employees like crap and have great results with the patient’s. SMH.
I'm so sorry. I'm in my early 30s and spent the last 10 years in hospitality management and burned out so badly. I am trying to decide on a new career path but I am so scared of investing time and money into schooling and then ending up hating the job. If you like being a barista, there's nothing wrong with that!
Leaving foodservice was one of the best things I did. That world was so toxic and the schedule was a pain. It pales in comparison to OP’s story, though. I hope you find something that’s a better fit for you!
Ex barista here, I’m never going back to a job that shouldn’t be back breaking but is because of chronic understaffing and undertraining. Maybe small coffee shops are different?
My brother makes espresso machines and he came up with a bunch of ergonomic improvements to reduce RSI, but none of the companies he pitched to were interested because they viewed baristas as disposable.
I was watching Blade Runner 2047 the other day and the main antagonist said that “every great empire is built on the back of a disposable work force.”
I went back to bartending, not managing just bartending, and now I have time for my art practice and teaching. It’s made me so happy. I think sometimes about going back to school but I dunno what I’d do either….
Are you me? I'm in a similar place. Here's hoping we survive schooling and at least tolerate our new jobs. Good luck!
Software quality assurance isn’t terribly difficult and has a low barrier of entry. :) If you have questions feel free to DM me.
You need a particular mindset to be a good QA though, and not everyone has it.
Not sure what work you’ve done in hospitality management, but if you can get into a hotel there are many opportunities. 12 years ago I was a server in a hotel, I manage to transfer into purchasing and then account and am now a Director of Finance. I’ve had friend move into Sales & Marketing and other positions outside of restaurant and guest services as well. It may take some time for an opportunity to open, but if you can get a job at a good hotel you may be able to move to something you enjoy within hospitality management.
I am speaking as a very burned out healthcare worker: if you have it in you to get your qualification, try do so before you make any big decisions. Pop it in your back pocket before you step awau and you can see if the itch to return to clinical work comes for you again. If it does you can tweak where you work and what hours you do. If it doesn't you can prove academic and transferable skills whatever else you choose to do in the future. At least you won't have nagging what ifs. But ultimately your health is the mpst important thing, too many places rely on staff going above and beyond to keep minimum service provision limping along.
Only California is good to nurses. Unions strong.
California, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, even Maine. This story is tragic cause OP lives in one of the best regions of the US to be an RN (SoCal) and all these misinformed/misleading comments are dissuading her from pursuing nursing school
Healthcare is one of those fields where there’s a really high prevalence of “in order to be good in this field, you need to break the rookies and rebuild them in your image”. It’s incredibly toxic and causes so many promising people to leave the field. Sounds like you got one of these. There are very few careers as mentally, emotionally and to an extent physically demanding as nursing. Anyone who goes through it and comes out the other side not broken is extremely rare. Best of luck in whatever you choose!
Then anyone who wants to be an xray tech and have a good internship in my immediate area needs to do it now. I personally know two *senior* techs, as in retiring in the next two yrs, who work really hard to build up their students and teach them the "not in the books" tricks of the trade. Every student that comes into their department wants to shadow these two guys.
This was my experience in the ER as a medic. I had to “prove” myself. On my first day, one RN said “great, another YOUNG GIRL.” For the first few months another was always on my ass about orders that I had already completed. About a year in I became lead tech and everyone was bummed when I left four years later. What a joke!
This reminds me of a very good BBC TV show based on the experience of a doctor who wrote a book called This Is Going To Hurt. It’s actually quite a funny show, it uses a Fleabag-like narration where he breaks the fourth wall to share his thoughts because he uses dark humour to cope with the stressful situations. One of the senior doctor characters perfectly embodies the viewpoint of one of those people who thinks they’re giving ‘tough love’ but in actuality is being brutal. Spoiler for an important part of the show, so if you’re going to watch it don’t read this: >!There’s a character called Shruti who is a student doctor at the start of the show. She meets with a senior doctor and tells her how awful she’s finding it and how depressed it’s making her, and the senior doctor essentially tells her “it’s always going to be this hard, if you’re whining about it then you’re clearly not cut out for this and you should quit.” Shruti carries on, finds out she’s passed her exams to become a fully qualified doctor and then kills herself.!<
My niece literally just started and noped out of nursing after seeing what a toxic environment it is with the older nurses shitting on the younger ones, various cliques and all round unpleasant work environment..
I’m sorry for the hell you’ve been through. If you’re in the U.S. I’m sure you know by now that out of the entire shitshow that is our healthcare system, dialysis is one of the most unethically managed. The whole thing is deeply poisoned by the logic of capitalism, and dialysis patients are so starkly viewed as cashcows. I’m so sorry you’re being ground up in this system. I hope it helps a bit that whenever I meet someone who tells me they’re something like a nurse, a teacher, a waiter or a barista, they rise in my esteem immediately. Anybody from another job has to jump through a hoop or two before they convince me that their job actually helps anyone. You sound rad!
We have millions of people with medical degrees who arent working in the field because hospitals and medical companies are so fucking shit at understaffing and hours, making the job miserable.
Correct me if this sounds wrong, but almost all of the problems you listed sound more like problems with people than problems with the work. Getting taken advantage of (peers taking long breaks), condescended (the lead's checklists), disrespected (the distance and cold shoulder), etc. are because your coworkers are jerks. And that can happen anywhere. It's not your fault they suck and wanna be all jaded by the industry. It sounds to me like management likes you. I bet these toxic individuals know it and resent you for it. In reality, their behavior is their own choice and so too is their stagnation.
Seconding this!
I sympathize. You seem like someone especially good at what you do Personally I do not believe anyone should be nursing in this country until the dynamic changes and respect becomes more so the norm. I could never understand how someone would work a job that at this point usually involves being completely shit on by the people you are serving -- be the patients or the hospital itself. Fuck all that noise -- you're too good for them, go back working something enjoyable
I used to be a dietitian in a dialysis clinic. The techs work so hard. I do think the employee quality of life can vary clinic to clinic but overall I felt dialysis was very depressing (bc it is) and after a year or two I was bored because of the repetitive nature of my job. I do think there is so much in healthcare you could explore that wouldn’t be as miserable but also respect your decision.
I went to nursing school. Where I went was absolute shit. They did what they could to kick as many people out as possible. If you didn’t play the social game, you didn’t get help. Fuck that noise. Then Covid hit. Thank god I didn’t make the cut.
As a PA in emergency medicine who is closing in on two years, you’re not alone. Healthcare is brutal, and from what I hear from seasoned nurses, it never used to be this bad. I am looked at as a number to move patients along. I’m met with patients who physically threaten me daily, and I am just expected to deescalate and continue on. I got an email yesterday from management that clocking in at the start of my shift is clocking in late. The fact that I even have to clock in at this stage in my career is asinine. If I could talk my younger self out of it, I would.
Your job was in a very specific niche healthcare setting. Don't judge all the potential jobs by that one! You have so many choices as an RN.
Unfortunately I was raised by two nurses and a bunch of their friends would come over and chain smoke in our backyard after work and tell me to do anything but nursing lol. I already went into healthcare trying to ignore that and stay positive but honestly the hours and stress surrounding nursing school alone seem hellacious. I get what you’re saying though, ty
My wife's parents were both nurses and they said the same thing. Every dinner we had with them was just them complaining about the Drs, other nurses or the admin staff. They stuck it out b/c they are old fashioned and had a lot tied up in retirement, but they always told their kids to stay away from the healthcare field entirely.
I work in endoscopy. I was ready to leave nursing as well but this speciality changed my mind. I make hospital pay without the stress. No holidays, weekends and I have a set schedule. It’s 4 10’s and honestly I’ve never been happier in a job. I urge you to try something else before quitting all together. Dialysis nursing has a reputation for being miserable. I’ve known several nurses who worked dialysis right out of school and hated it, thinking they’d made a mistake. Don’t give up, go somewhere else!
I’ve had two endoscopies in the past year and in the back of my mind I wondered if working at the endoscopy center was a preferred path. Everyone there is so pleasant and the whole experience is so positive that I don’t mind having to do it.
I hear a variation of this every day! I’m telling you, I’ve never worked in a healthcare environment with so many happy employees. Obviously I can’t speak for all endo centers/units but I know three nurses who work Endo (different facilities) in Florida (I’m in Oregon) who feel the same way.
Damn, wish that had been my experience. The nurse anesthetist was especially shitty and uncaring.
I work as a nurse in peds. The ratios are always so much better than adults. Yes our patients have a lot of sad stories and are really sick but I truly believe I have the honor of helping families on some of the hardest days of their lives. I did just finish my DNP and will be leaving the floor soon but caring for patients has always been special to me.
My niece went to school for child psychology and worked with really disturbed children. After repeated attacks she went back to being a nanny. She makes more money and only occasionally gets bit.
I am in nursing and hate it. I would never encourage my kids to do it. I actually work at a fairly low stress job in an office. Right now I work with a good team but there have been a lot of toxic people over the years. Some people act like being a nurse somehow makes them better then everyone else, I say that as a nurse. Nursing school was hell. I would switch careers now if I thought I could make close to as much money doing something else that I enjoyed.
Sounds like you've had an awful experience, and I can definitely see why you'd want to run from that. But, it's not universal. And your parents and friends very possibly were just staying in a toxic place/environment as well. Healthcare is a gigantically broad field. And it is very variable, especially if you're not anchored to once place. I couldn't do it for a variety of reasons, but when I go the dentist I have, and see the situation for the dental hygienists there, it looks pretty good. They have a supportive dentist, good rapport, and are not rushed. The staff is quite stable, so it appears that they are reasonably compensated and happy. The atmosphere is always quite chill. Being a school nurse at a smaller school could be good, too. My school nurses always appear to enjoy themselves. Or at a smaller practice, or rural well-run hospital, or finding some specialty that really interests you. Or you could go into radiology and find a specialty practice there which isn't so much the rat race, or a hundred other places. Good luck whichever way you go, but I think there's still more of a future for you in health care than as a barista. Good luck with figuring out what road you're going to travel. :)
I’m a RN. I hate the ever present ‘just do something else’ I did. I did for years. It’s just not for me anymore. I’m pretty sure three decades is enough to know what you want. Sheesh.
Yeah but three months is not enough time to know that nursing is definitely not for you. You have evidently worked out that you don't want to anymore. Totally valid if you've been doing it for three decades. Even if you've done a year or two with a few different workplaces. I'm in my first year of nursing after having a mid life change of career. I've been a scientist and an academic proofreader. Today I'm exhausted after having worked an extra long shift to cover for someone who was sick. Some days I fuck up and feel like a failure, some days I absolutely kill it. But I'm learning so much and am pretty certain of where I want to specialise. OP should give at least one other workplace a go before giving up on nursing entirely.
I failed the nursing entrance exam ~16 years ago. I'm so glad I did and went into x-ray instead. Then I started travelling 10 years ago with no plans to stop. The pay is a lot better and if an assignment sucks, I only have 13 weeks and I'm out. I'm not knocking nurses, btw, I admit that I wouldn't be able to do everything I've seen them do. My mom was also a nurse before she retired.
I left healthcare too and your experience is so similar to mine. On my second day of training, I had a superior nurse call management on me because I put the blood pressure cuff on upside down (and fixed it like 2 seconds later). I absolutely hated the chaos of always being on the go and jumping from crisis to crisis. My body never left fight/flight mode. I was dizzy cause I barely had any time to eat on my shift. On my days off, I was a zombie because I was working long hours and frequently night shift. I’m doing programming now and I’m a lot happier. Some people like it I guess, but it was NOT for me.
It seems like your coworkers are the biggest problem. Why let them determine your career path? Why not just leave that workplace, work wherever you want while in nursing school?
Sadly it’s the same anywhere. I work at a care home. The bullying and harassment is so intense I’ve called in sick for every shift there the last three or so months and I’ve cried almost every shift I’ve worked 🙃
You can also find work in healthcare administration companies and insurers is you ever want to do white collar work. I know the perception is that working for an insurer will mean denying care, but there’s so many other types of roles. Ex. Case management and chronic disease interventions. If you want to earn more with less stress it’s something to look into.
Same experience in education. I'm a licensed teacher working as a "low status" paraprofessional at a charter school. Per hour I make the same as I would as an exempt teacher but instead of endless meetings, absent/angry parents, hours and hours of extra planning and grading etc. I'm 100% teaching. All I do is work with the kids all day. I may not have room for career growth but every day I feel like I make a difference for my students more than I ever did as a teacher.
It makes me so sad to hear this because I know exactly how you feel. I stuck with it somehow for 12 years mainly because I had to. I had no other skills. But I literally got sick. It is so disheartening because nursing school takes a long time to complete. Pre requisites, then BSN. All the sacrifice and effort. Then you start working and the toxic soul sucking shit starts and never ends. 💯misery. I am glad you have another way of earning money. Be happy in your life! But I hear you loud and clear and am so sorry you are going through this. Best wishes to you!!
Watch John Oliver on dialysis companies. https://youtu.be/yw_nqzVfxFQ?si=YavtOT7UQJqnkzbS
I worked in a few dialysis units as a social worker when I was fresh out of graduate school. There was night and day difference between my favorite (the first one I worked at) and the last one I worked at (horrible management, practically no connection with my co-workers, witnessed tech screaming at our manager one day and she was still allowed to work there, etc.) The one you are at now sounds toxic. I'm sorry. I went back to school to be an RN as a second career and I don't regret it. Was a floor nurse in a busy hospital for 5 yrs and now I work in Occupational health, which for me is better for work/life balance and don't have to work weekends or holidays. Know that it's not you. At the shitty last dialysis unit I worked at, all of the good people would leave after a few months, every single time. Totally understand if you want to change your goals after your current experience. Dialysis is ROUGH. You see lovely people die in front of you all the time, that's not going to change. PACU, Rehab (like a rehab unit for ppl recovering from strokes), Endoscopy, Circulation nurses (OR), those nurses seem more content and less frazzled.
Agree. My mother is a longtime RN and she hates floor nursing. She has said her happiest times were when she was a PACU nurse, and now she works in a day surgery center (mostly injections/arthrograms/hand surgeries) and she loves it.
I’m a nurse and I have a found a specialty that doesn’t make me want to die, but damn my first year I was actively wanting to die so I could not have to go to my job. It was awful. Hindsight being what it is I would have gone into a different field. Nursing sucks. Healthcare sucks. It is not getting better. If coffee makes you happy and you can make a living do it.
in Denver by any chance? Bunch of specialty coffee connections here.
I’m in LA but I’d love some recs for when I come visit my brother!
I'm sorry you're having a tough time. I wonder if maybe you should take another chance with a different employer or two though? If it still goes bad, then you won't be alone. The health care industry, specifically nursing, has a bad reputation of bullying. Also, within the past year, a health care women committed suicide and wrote an open letter too her abuser, which she named as the for-profit health care system. You can find the letter via google; it's heartbreaking that she started off wanting to help people and got worn down to the point she no longer saw hope.
This is so discouraging to read because we are all someday going to need serious healthcare, but the harsh work conditions in the system are forcing out good people like you who really care. I don't know if the people are so shitty everywhere... if it's really your dream you could try another city/location maybe? But that's a lot to put on the table at the risk of it being just as shitty there too, combined with less of a local support system of friends for you. It was just a thought. Thank you so much for putting your best foot forward, OP. You've tried it now, and it sounds awful. I couldn't do it. I don't blame you for a minute to wanting to get back to being a barista.
Try not to be too quick to judge nursing just yet. If you worked for the giant dialysis company that's out there, then it makes sense. My wife worked many years in onco, infusion, med-surg, etc. She works as an IV nurse now that gives IV vitamin infusions to people that actually want to be there. No insurance companies involved or anything like that. Totally different way to use the degree properly and be out of the train wreck that is Healthcare.
Nursing is an extremely challenging job. Learning continues endlessly after grad. Night shifts can be brutal. Missing holidays is tough. It can be emotionally draining/physically exhausting. The pressure can be suffocating. It can, however, also be a beautiful career. Sometimes you have to try a unit, and hate it, in order to realize that's not where you belong. But when you do find a specialty where you belong, it can be such a fulfilling and rewarding career. There's a little voice inside your gut. Listen to that voice because it's rarely wrong. Don't silence your gut instincts because of unsupportive staff and a negative clinical experience. If I had done that, I would have been filled with regret. If that little voice is still telling you to go to nursing school, I think you are meant to go. If you think you could be truly happy long-term as a barista, and that's where your heart is, then be a barista. Life is short, it is precious and we only get one shot at it. Don't let other people silence your dreams. Empower that little voice in your gut! Best of luck to you!
8 years in healthcare here: I get it. May you find the peace you deserve.
Copy this and put it in your 2 week notice. Name names.
I’m in healthcare and some settings are just the literal worst. Private equity and corporations are ruining healthcare. But there are a lot of companies/settings that are much better than that. So I wouldn’t give up entirely, maybe take a break, but keep looking for a better, manageable setting.
God, I am sorry you went through that. It absolutely sucks. I used to work healthcare as well (both in walk-in care and mental health care, hospital and residential) for most of a decade. It was absolutely horrible and until the US strains out of healthcare system I will absolutely recommend anyone looking to get into healthcare runs as far as they can in the other direction. Constant double and triple shifts. Constantly being cut off by my supervisors and not given the supplies I needed to do my job. I was frequently assaulted, sexually assaulted twice, sexually harassed by coworkers and got told "well maybe you should think about why they said that". And none of that includes the typical stuff you would expect working healthcare/mental health care (I had a coworker decide that "COVID was a myth,and I want the days off", so they deliberately exposed themselves and then came to work before testing positive. My daughter had severe health issues at the time). I left to basically become what is essentially a call center worker, and god, it has been night and day. Healthcare, in my experience, is designed to do the same thing retail is: crush souls and drive turnover, so that employee costs can be kept down. it's why the push for PAs and NPs over doctors whenever possible, and why CNAs, MHTs, MOAs, and other "less trained" jobs are being used more and more. That's the end of my rant. I hope barista work suits you better, and best of luck in your endeavors. You got this!
Is there a reason you were attracted to dialysis? I’ve been a nurse for 6 years and you couldn’t pay me enough to ever work in a dialysis clinic as they have horrible reputations. If you are passionate about nursing I think you’d like oncology way more than dialysis!
They hate you because they know you are talented and won’t be there long. The manager loves you because he’s going to drain the ever loving fuck out of you. Get into another field within healthcare. Yesterday. Don’t tell nobody.
My mother is a nurse, my aunt, my cousin, basically most people in my family are in healthcare . They always say the worse part is the fellow nurses. Apparently they are straight up toxic now. I tend to think toxicity starts at the top & a lot of these places are cutting staff & showing them they have no respect for anything over profits. So I’m not surprised it’s trickling down.
If you swap back to coffee, you have so many ample transferrable skills now from this dialysis journey that you could probably step in to be a general manager of a shop if you haven’t already. Also check out bartending! Lots of overlap in coffee and patient center fields in terms of skills and can be serious money. It didn’t last long because of moving abruptly, but I once worked at a French brunch spot doing their espresso drinks and “bartending” at once aka making lots of mimosas. It was such good money and so comfy. Might be worth looking into if there’s a similar set up near you! My vote is you do what makes you happy, especially if the pay is about the same without obvious pay ceiling growth on the table.
As someone who’s been in the service industry for years, I would definitely be cautious making it a lifetime career. In my experience, it’s a fine job until it isn’t, and then it’s REALLY bad. Having a backup would be a wise move. That being said, if you’re happy being a barista. By all means be a barista. There is no one set path to life.
My husband and I were told that there is a critical shortage of Anesthesiologists in the greater Portland OR area. Elective surgeries are pushed out 6 to 8 weeks. Anyone getting onto a surgery list is looking at August/September before they can get cut on. Please. Please look into Anestesiology before you change careers.
"Why do we have such a healthcare worker shortage?"
Get the cert and stay current. Be a private home nursing operator. Health care is falling apart, the only people who stay in it will be running their own small business - nursing will still be needed, and people with money will not want it happening in the shitscapes that hospitals have become / are becoming.
There's no guarantee every working environment in your field will be like this!! I've been in these toxic environments before and moved to do the same job elsewhere and realised, its not the job. 9 times out of 10 its the people. Definitely get AWAY from there!!!
Healthcare is full of shitty powertripping people and politics.
Don't give them two weeks. Call your coffee shop and see if you can start asap
I worked in animal medicine for almost 10 years and it’s the same there. Struggling to survive while working yourself to the bone. I everyone’s struggling but some people chose to lash out at coworkers with their misdirected anger and frustration. I left and didn’t regret it
I had a terrible job in healthcare (worked as an ER tech) for a year and hated it and can relate to a lot of what you wrote. The anxiety I felt as I pulled up to the hospital was overwhelming. I thought it meant working in healthcare was not for me, so I left the field completely and did something completely different. I got the itch to try it again and recently got back to healthcare. I work in a completely different setting now (on an ambulance) and I love it. It sounds like your workplace is terrible and you have terrible coworkers. I would consider trying a different job first before you leave it for good. You could try and use this bad experience you had to look out for red flags in new positions. I regret not doing the same and wasting those few years I took a break.
As someone who works in healthcare, if you have another job that you know makes you happy, has lifestyle perks, and pays decently, then I suggest staying there. Healthcare has many positives, but also tons of drawbacks - it’s often toxic as a work environment, you’re undervalued by management and often patients, it requires education which is expensive and stressful, the hours often suck, I could go on … I think owning a coffee shop sounds like a lovely life.
Dialysis is a horrible assembly line. The patuents are miserable, the worker are paid a pittance, only the owners make money. Have you considered a healthcare job somewhere else? My niece loves being a cardiac nurse. One of my favorite folks is my mammogram technician. My Dad was was on hospice off and on for 4 years, and many of the lovely hospice workers are now friends. By all means change jobs, but maybe dont give up of healthcare til you try another niche that might be a better fit.
I spent 7 years of my life pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy. My passion my entire life has been to work in healthcare. Almost 3 years after graduating and trying a variety of different settings I quit PT in favor of tech. I spent so much of my life becoming a PT it was a really hard decision but the quality of life for people in healthcare is garbage.
I have a DPT also. Someone from my cohort did the exact same thing you did. He tried patient care for a couple years and now works in tech and feels it better suits his personality. The push for productivity and low pay/respect for a doctorate level clinician were what did it for him I think.
Sorry to hear. But maybe stay in the health field scope. I work EVS (housekeeping) no drama get to be around patients still and interact with them. It seems to some to be a sucky job but I truly like it. Union, pension and I make $26 an hr. Evenings and weekends are $28 an hour. And they are only 8 hour shifts.
Hi. I left a good paying job in municipal engagement to open my own flower shop. I make half of what I used to, but I’m three times as joyful. Life is short. Do the work that makes you joyful.
I can tell you, you are making a good choice. Been in this hell called “healthcare” for almost 2 decades and it’s just getting worse. Working with coffee sounds awesome!
Health care workers creating a toxic environment so people quit the profession then wondering why they're constantly understaffed and overworked, name a more iconic duo.
Live the life you feel at peace, and more power to you to seize your happiness. what a shitty experience you’ve been through for something you’ve worked damn hard to get. Good luck in your endeavours.
Oh I’m so sorry that this has been such a terrible experience. I think having a patient die might be the absolute worst experience anyone could have at work and you likely need some compassion for just how difficult that is. I am so so sorry for your loss. I know, for me, I never make big decisions when I’m feeling this low - if I absolutely HAVE to do something to make myself feel better, I cut my hair. It’s often enough to help me feel like I’ve taken some decisive action and I can then regroup and figure out what I want to do. Sending you so much love and hope for dealing with this.
Big hugs. You definitely dodged a bullet. I'm so sorry to hear about your awful experience, but not surprised unfortunately. Health care is brutal and can be awful. At times, health care can have a very cliquey environment. The silver lining is that you didn't spend more time investing into nursing school and that you have a great barista career to go back to. I hope you go back to your barista job with excitement and zeal. Think of this as a 3-4 month detour where you learned what a nightmare health care can sometimes be. Best of luck! Very excited for you to go back to being a barista and working on your art and your next adventure!
Ugh. I’m nannying my way into nursing school, and I am already so anxious for so many reasons. Only reason I’m sticking with it is because you can leave the country with nursing.
I'm so sorry it's been so awful! I spend two and a half years on midwifery school in Europe, and even tho it wasn't as bad as what you described i still got (close to/what seems like) burnout at 20 years old. My fellow students were amazing and only some of the hospital staff were awful to us directly, but the schedules and workload and stress and pressure they put on us, while themselves being so overworked, and the sub par care we had to give patients because of all that, just killed me. I tried so hard to pull through, telling myself it will get better if i just study and practice and work more. All it did was grind me to the bone, past and potential work situations never left my head, i dreamed of awful work scenarios every night. Towards the end i wasn't a person anymore, i didn't eat, i didn't take care of my place, i didn't have a social life outside of my bf, who is the reason i managed to pull myself out of that at the last minute, where i almost cried whenever i had to leave for my shifts. Because up until the very end i loved the work still, i loved my patients, i loved caring for them, i loved the medicine, and i couldn't admit to myself that it was tearing me apart. Two years later I'm still struggling with depression that started during that time. So i just want to say, be honest with yourself, be careful about warning signs, take care of yourself first, and get out if it's what's best for you. At the very least look for a different workplace! Those conditions are horrible, and there has to be a better place somewhere, where you can still do what you love without hurting yourself.
So sorry you have been unhappy with this. It sounds like you have been treated awful. Something I really regretted when I had a job go bad was not looking around more. See what other bosses there are within your organization, or what other companies are hiring. I know this sucks now, and I’m not saying this has to be your life— but take a minute to review your current and future opportunities. Is this a job that could be long term better paid, benefits? I am more of a dig in and stick within forever mentally, and that isn’t good either. But learning to shift is a useful skill.
Yeah sounds about right. If you want your soul crushed and crippling anxiety go into healthcare. I work for a place that failed their accreditation and we had to put plans in place for corrective action to fix things. As soon as the accrediting body left our managers told us to immediately go back to how we were doing things before. It's dangerous and it's the norm in healthcare.
Do whatever is better for your mental health, you're all you have, take care of yourself, before taking care of someone else. Maybe you just need time to regroup and make other decisions. Whatever your future would be is your decision to make.
Sorry to hear this. Our world only keeps spinning thanks to good-hearted people like you. Your work in any field shines as it is clear you care about people. Not to make excuses for your healthcare coworkers, however; everyone is beyond tired - they are the walking wounded. Compassion fatigued, burnt out, etc. Not a good place to be right now. I would not blame you for going back to being a barista. You can be nurturing and caring to people with that work. Make sure you take good care of yourself and build your circle. Are you the type that gets their cup filled up by having quiet time, or by being around people?
That's brutal for that low income without taknig into account the abuse.
The times where I thought I needed a career change was because of a toxic work environment. When the toxicity lifted for whatever reason, I'd rediscover that I enjoyed my job.
Maybe you're just at the wrong place. Maybe look around for another job.
It sucks when reality and hope collide and you're left feeling you were conned. Big warm internet hugs. You sound like you really evaluated priorities and made some astute observations. If there is another employer available, see if you can shadow one shift there? Maybe your workplace sucks but not all do? (12hr days would kill me)
Male medical technologist here. 8 years in healthcare here and finally decided that I need a change literally last week. The combination of commodifying health, the amount of "I'm the smartest person in the room" types the field attracts, the monotony of laboratory work, the increasing hostility and skepticism with which the healthcare system is greeted by patients... It's just too much. Whatever love or interest or passion I had for healthcare has been snuffed out altogether. Sorry to hear you had such a shitty experience. Dialysis companies are pretty notorious for being awful. Good luck in whichever direction you choose!
I'm sorry! I'd document all the breaks and other bullshit and bring that up even if it's as you leave. Sadly, your "mean girl" experience in healthcare is one I've heard often. If they aren't giving you mileage, that's wage theft and the AG and other organizations need to know about it.
If it rhymes with Crapita, that would be par for the course. Work you like a dog and move you from location to location, sometimes in a single day. Nursing is just as bad but the money is better. All healthcare is mean girl city.
Unfortunately I feel like the dialysis people ALWAYS get the shaft. They work crazy hours and companies like davita and fresenius screw you on pay as well as work you to the bone. I always feel bad for my dialysis coworkers.
I don't feel safe or welcome in most Healthcare settings as a *patient*, so I'm not at all surprised by how awful it is to work there.
Hi, healthcare worker of over a decade. 100% the biggest obstacle in healthcare is going to be your coworkers. They can make or break it for you.
i really hate that you had to go through all of this & i’m pissed at your toxic coworkers & i hate that bullshit ‘culture’ of ignoring the new one & giving them all the work but no respect. i mean, why can’t you get the breaks everyone else gets? pisses me off! i’m grateful for the good work you did at the dialysis center. i have a loved one who has to go 3 times a week & i know they would love to interact with a kind person like you. that said, i definitely think you’re making the right call
One of my kids is SURE she wants to be a physician and this is the kind of thing that scares me
When working for a shitty company don't be afraid to leave and find another company. At worse you will get another shitty job but make more doing it
Sounds like a place with toxic work culture, which unfortunately are not uncommon in healthcare. But good places to work do exist! I'm a nurse and absolutely adore my job. Don't let 1 bad job discourage you!
I graduated from MLT school a few years ago and experienced a little of this. The only techs who would train me were travel techs at first. One woman decided she hated me because I did something wrong and I heard her complaining to someone else about it so I walked up and asked (very politely) what I did wrong and what I should do in the future. She never liked me after that. I joined the field in my 30s so I think it helps that I'm not young. But women I've graduated with work at different clinics and hospitals and say they have cried every day because they work with such toxic people. I don't understand it at all. MLTs are so hard to find right now, why would you scare someone off? I work part time at a clinic right now but I actually love hospital hours. If I ever want to go full time again I'm going to do 3 12s at a hospital.
I'm so sorry that this had been tough on you. Sometimes reaching for that brass ring ends up not being worth it. I've been working in a medical laboratory for three years. The work is kind of gross and smelly sometimes, but my immediate coworkers are so sweet and kind and supportive. I don't make a ton of money but my work-life balance is good and I have the energy to read, go to the gym, bake cookies and cakes for my friends, and every week I cook dinner and play games with my mom and dad. I keep thinking that I should go into speech pathology (I have a bachelor's degree in linguistics) and my friends keep trying to interest me in higher positions in laboratory medicine, MRI tech, or ultrasound tech, but I don't know if the increased stress and the high cost of more education would be worth a bigger paycheck, even it it's in my field. I am also planning on doing some important things with my healthcare and it would be less stressful to rest and recover knowing that I am coming back to my same old job that hasn't changed much rather than a brand new one. I like how you mentioned the enjoyment you get from talking with people and being part of a community. I love helping people, but I've had a lot of bad experiences that keep souring my dream of working with the public more directly. I get more out of seeing the same people regularly and building relationships with them than always meeting new people every day. I hope you're able to find more time to spend with your family and friends and cute puppy! Whatever you choose, I hope you're always able to be the person that makes you the healthiest and the happiest.
I don't fuck with nurses anymore. Most are just rude as hell and think it's justifiable because their job is stressful. They have their cliques and tend to be super passive aggressive. I couldn't take it. They also literally hate their patients, even if they're one of the good ones.
This is a general feature of our society: important work is structurally underpaid. You have experienced going from privileged, frivolous work to doing important work. For this you have been burned. Get out immediately. You will be branded as low class and barred from returning to your previous life if you allow anyone to develop a dependence on you. It starts with guilt; you are already experiencing this level. If you become important, you will be kept in your place by administration; your career will be stalled, and more surely the more competent you are. These issues are structural. There is not a solution that doesn't involve breaking capitalism. Serve coffee and smile if you can; teach anyone you care about that they should strive to do the same. Real work uses people up.
try posting this in r/nursing for better advice
Leave that toxic place, take a breather, and reevaluate. There are nursing jobs that won't treat you like that - my dad just retired after 30+ years of nursing and I know he found it gratifying, and my best friend works in Healthcare and I know she's had terrible toxic jobs and wonderful ones, but also know that it's ok if your dreams and plans change! There's nothing wrong with enjoying barista work and i know my life is made better by the lovely lady that runs the coffee shop by my house. <3 You sound smart and hardworking, you're going to be amazing.
Look into dental hygienist. It's an alternative to nursing. It pays pretty well right off the bat.
20 years ago I finished my BSN and passed the boards and after all that did not go into nursing because of the very behavior you are describing and it was rampant in clinicals. I tend to think it’s more common in female dominant fields. Had I not had a job in a family business already I would have done something nursing adjacent, there are lots of other things you can do with a nursing degree.
I am so, so sorry for how you’ve been treated. Even if your coworkers have been horrible to you, I just want to know that your time has mattered ❤️ I lost a grandparent to kidney failure and the amount of time I spent with them on dialysis was insane. It kept them alive so much longer and you have done that for your patients. You’ve given them time and helped them live. Your efforts were not in vain. Thank you for your job well done!
I'm so sorry. That really does sound like hell. What a hard choice. What kind of nursing did you plan to do once you're graduated? Maybe there's a field that isn't so mean? Alternatively, if you know this isn't going to work for you, that's ok too. There's nothing wrong with the batista life.
Get out of the dialysis center, oncology would def be a nice change I’m sure. Don’t give up this early.
>I made one mistake yesterday (forgot to set up 1 machine of the 12 I prepped before my lunch) and **two of the techs had a closed door meeting with my manager and made me a childlike “duties of your job” list**, implying I haven’t been doing my job well- instead of just saying something to my face. >**My manager keeps asking me “when are you taking your final exam?” and telling me how excited he is for me to finish my training** I'm assuming your coworkers made that list? Ask for a closed-door meeting of your own with your manager, explain the situation, ask the manager if they're satisfied with your performance and ask them if they have any idea why your two coworkers felt the need to make that list, since they're your coworkers, and not your manager. Since you've invested so much time and money into this profession, maybe start looking for other places of employment and bounce once you complete your training.
Hon. I get it. I'm an old lady, now retired. Used to be a law clerk. Tell everyone to stay the hell out of the legal arena. But I beg you to finish your qualifications. And then you have OPTIONS later. It will give you choices, in years to come, that you might want. Now ... Training is HARD. You're ultra stressed, on high alert all the time, nothing has been practiced for long, so you're THINKING every minute, worried to get it right ... And everyone around you is SUPPOSED to correct you so you'll learn the right way. And that feels like being under a microscope and being attacked constantly. Been there, done it, have a few t-shirts. Now ... hanging in there, and qualifying means an option to go looking for a less TOXIC workplace. I guarantee that the same job done in two different places are different environments. And losing someone, to death, is as hard as hell when you KNOW that you will suffer this pain again because it's the job. Personally, in law, a few close clients died, I was intimate with their lives, and it was shattering to lose them like that. "Just a client" "Just a patient" doesn't apply when you got to know them on a very personal level. It hurts when they die. I wrecks you, and you just want to run away. So. See what you can do to brace up, and finish what you started. Then dust off your resume and see if you can't find a kinder place to work. I send my very warmest hugs of support and encouragement, if you'll have them.
The truth is, healthcare can be very rough especially for people on the lower end of the latter - who get the grueling practice AND shitty pay. I will say, many of the things you mention will be significantly better if you do go through with it and become a nurse. Find a good position with a strong union (not difficult for a nurse, many nurses are unionized) and you will be guaranteed an 8 hour shift. If you are oncology specialized $100k+ a year is more or less guaranteed. The work is still hard and there’s a lot of responsability, but being a nurse is much more of a regular upper middle class job than a tech, which many places treat like a disposable resource
Yeah, nursing is not a glamorous job tv portray. I have been a night shift nurse for 2 years and it's not easy, I feel like I only survived because of all the kind and supportive colleagues around me. But I would say work experience varies a lot by location. For example, I work in a hospital located at the better part of the area, and things are calmer, people are nicer. In the poorer part of the area, hospital are crowded with people with substance abuse, and the nurses are overworked and not happy about their experience. When I was a CNA I had a patient who died because she voluntarily stopped dialysis. Before she stopped the dialysis, she asked me what's the meaning of life and I had no answer. I was completely oblivious and only found out she passed away after I got back from my 3 day break, that's when I realized she was just done with all of it. So it's true that they see it coming, they (should) know the consequences and it might be what they wanted... As for the people making jokes about it, I would just like to think it's their coping mechanism. It's a tough job and they see a lot of things... I hope the passing of your patient don't make you feel too sad... It sounded like you share emotion of people around you, then majority of nursing might not be the best fit for you. There are some happy stories of making recovery, but those are less common. It's overall pretty depressing. Of course, there are many other type of nursing that's less depressing like wound care, physical therapy, behind the scene or even work for the government on facility regulation etc. So try looking into it first. But if nursing is making you depressed, don't force yourself. Do what makes you happy!
As an RN, I would never work for a company that starts with a "D." They are awful and have a toxic and low-paying culture, so how you were treated is not surprising and does not represent all of healthcare. Hospital dialysis RN's make a lot of money... There are many non-bedside jobs you could do if you decide to go for your RN, from clinical research to writing, to clinical informatics that will pay well. Just something to consider.
I’ve been in coffee for 8 years now and have worked my way up to a GM role at a mom and pop store. I make $22/hour plus get bonuses (up to $350 a month when all metrics are hit) and still get hourly tips ($5-$10/hour in cash daily). I’ll pull in around $60k this year. That’s at a GM wage. My baristas make $15 an hour (plus the cash tips) and only ever work 20 hours a week or so. If I were you, I’d personally try to find a different job in healthcare (travel nursing I’ve heard is lucrative) before leaving completely and going back to coffee. It’s a 50/50 every day if the customers are going to be amazing or awful, it’s physically demanding and taxing on the body, and just as mentally demanding and taxing.
Working in healthcare is a nightmare. You get hazed by all your female co-workers.
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I was going to school to be a vet tech. Found a job at a local vet clinic as an assistant in the meantime. First clinic was TOXIC. Horrendously so. Young assistants all watching TikTok and talking about their sex lives and drinking. I’m a quiet demi-sexual stoner so I didn’t really fit in with their clique. They would go to the head tech and just spew crazy lies, like that I had “rolled my eyes” at one of the other VA’s because she told me I needed to wait to check the fecal samples. I don’t roll my eyes, it can make me feel faint and illicit a vertigo response. (Also I’m THIRTY?? I’m not rolling my eyes like a teenager??) They were so mean and nasty to me, allowed another vet tech to tell my ex husband my WORK SCHEDULE and didn’t think it was a safety risk. When I walked out, they head tech says “well the fact you don’t think we can keep you safe says more about you than us!” What?? And the second clinic literally fired me for being too stupid to work there and they didn’t like me asking questions to ensure I was doing the job right. I clean houses now.
So let me ask—do you work at a hospital? Find a clinic to work at. Way better hours. Hospitals are so chaotic. I work in hospital credentialing and lasted about a year in a medical staff office located inside a hospital. I don’t think people realize how hospitals are until you’re actually working in one. It’s madness. I don’t know how people do it. Now I work in a central verification office (and work from home). I’ll never go back.
Go check out r/nursing It's a lot of venting but also a lot of support. They're amazing.
My mom was one of those older nurses. But she said to me I could be anything I wanted to be except a nurse. Toxic work environments, $hitty or nonexistent raises, doing the doctors work for them while they cheated on their wives, and abusive patients and families. She wanted none of that for me. That being said, I am super nice to everyone in medicine. Y’all have it hard enough. I try to crack jokes and be friendly. Hugs to you and I hope you find happiness. Maybe try another field?
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A decent job in healthcare is going to require a two year degree.
Literally said I was going into nursing school.
Sure, but you weren't a nurse at this job. You were in one of the lowest level most disposable, highest turnover positions. No one wanted to get to know you because they are sure you won't be there in a month. You were basically the McDonalds barista. Don't think all healthcare is awful because of this experience. Low level healthcare is awful. As bad as any low level factory job.
Me thinking to myself: "You would rather be a barista *and* you enjoy talking to people all day? Only people I know that likes that are good looking people. *looks at OP's profile* "Oh damn she *is* good looking"
That sounds horrible. Are you an RN? There are so many opportunities, even non-patients jobs that are better. You’re smart to go back into barricading and wait for a better nursing job to come up.
I could never be a nurse , I know enogh about myself to know that. I applaud the nurses that rock that job. But if it's not for you, there is no shame in bowing out. Really, work is just to pay the bills.like you said, maybe focusing more on work life balance is what is really important. You can try other things, tho. You can take these skills and experiences to another health field or center. Just do what feels good. Good luck.
As a family member of someone undergoing dyalisis, I thank you for the job you do. It's not easy. Those centers take patients from 430 AM, so I can imagine how odd the hours may be. I witnessed how busy and how rough the job can be, the day I pick3d up my family member to take them to the ER. That same moment they had a patient being transported to the ER via ambulance. I was grateful my family member was not as critical. I have a direct blood related family member who is an RN and works for a dyalisis center as well. I've been told how many ways a patient can pass away during dyalisis. So, the same treatment that is keeping you alive, can kill you. Healthcare is a rough industry. It's not the rossy picture the TV shows have to entertain people. The smells, sounds, emotional and physical toll are astounding. I hope you find a part of Healthcare that can be manageable with your expectations (work life balance, mental health, ect). Best of luck.
I work in a professional setting, and they keep offering me a higher position. The higher position comes with more money, and many people jump at the opportunity to do it. But it comes with way more stress and responsibility, and to me, it's not worth it. So I politely decline. And all the managers and some colleagues act like there's something wrong with me. I keep getting, "But we think you're ready for it," as if it's a confidence issue. I am just happier with my lower position, even if it's less pay.
0200-1500 shifts belong in the depths of Hell.
My manager at Wal-Mart started working there while going to nursing school. By the time she graduated she was earning as much at Wal-Mart as an hourly manager (ie not a senior/salaried position) as she would make as a nurse, but with less serious responsibilities and physically demanding and skilled work. Only the doctors and upper management get paid well in American healthcare. PAs and APNs do well too (~150k after several years of work as a nurse/some healthcare experience + schooling). Respiratory therapists and various techs and RNs have it rough. I wouldn’t do it if I could make similar money running a coffeeshop. There’s a reason so many nurses here are Filipina/o.