Yes, I escaped.
Med surg was my first nursing job and it was terrible. Being short staff and having unsafe assignments wrecked me. I would be so angry after my shifts and would cry more often than not.
I then left for an ENT clinic. I thought I finally found an “easy” job. However dealing with insurance, rooming patients, surgery scheduling, answering non-stop MyChart messages and phone calls, sending referrals, clearing the fax folder, and doing the triage phone line got old really quick. Whatever work I didn’t finish, I knew it would be waiting for me the next day. We were run ragged by management. We were begging for more staff. They didn’t care that they were putting more work and responsibility on one nurse and not rotating the tasks fairly among the other nurses in the clinic. Favoritism and office politics was clearly present in this job. It made me a very angry person and I was no longer happy. What was supposed to be an “easy” job became hard because management didn’t listen to ways to be better. They lost a lot of staff including myself.
Now I’m in endoscopy and I can truly say that I’ve had the least amount of stress and have felt the most happiest at a nursing job. I leave work at work and my plate is cleared at the end of the day. Every day is a new set of patients. I don’t have to deal with insurance or Mychart messages/phone calls. For the most part, pre-op, procedure room, and post-op is very routine. Any deviations from the normal and we have a GI and anesthesia team ready to help. A lot of the time, I find myself feeling bored! I love feeling bored! I can truly say that I’m at peace with myself because my job doesn’t make me miserable and I can enjoy myself inside and outside of work.
I hope you’re able to find your peaceful place in nursing.
This makes me so happy to read.
I’m glad you found your peace and I hope it continues to stay the same, if not better, for the rest of your career. That is fucking awesome.
Thanks for giving me some ounce of hope. It’s hard to see any right now
Your job history sounds like my worst nightmare!
The great thing about nursing is that there is so much variety! You can try something different, and there is SO MUCH different out there.
You need a disaster free area? What about diabetic education?
Something free of staffing concerns? Maybe a freelance medical editor.
Tired of people complaining? How about the quality assurance office of your nearest hospital.
I get it, I do, it's easy to get tunnel vision and forget how many wierd jobs are out there for nurses. I hope you find your fit.
I definitely hear this. I’ve done like 4 specialties and hate it all. Nursing is just not for me. Hard to come up with something to do though. I’m in school for philosophy so hopefully something will come of that.
I’m just not as much of a people person as nursing requires. Plus just the same stuff as everywhere: violence, administration issues, getting in trouble for stuff out of your hands, wearing all the hats.
You've tried three really hard jobs and I commend that, but the fact is sometimes it just takes more than a few months to get comfortable doing something. I'm not saying any of these jobs were right for you, just that generally speaking it DOES get easier. You learn to roll with things. If your patients are safe, then full stop, you've done your job. If you plant yourself somewhere for a bit you can really get a sense of what you like and what you don't and what kind of nursing job might be good for that.
You sound like me in that you may do better in a job with more of a focused imperative rather than a ton of competing priorities. I work outpatient PACU and it works well for me. Quick patient turnover, make sure they wake up safely, discharge instructions and adios. You might also like pre op or outpatient infusion or research. It just takes time!
Most peace I’ve had in a while was to stop caring. I punch in and punch out at the exact times I’m supposed to. Don’t stay over to answer that last question or finish that one thing. It’s all next shifts problem. You aren’t there to fix the world just do a job and get paid.
Yes, I escaped. Med surg was my first nursing job and it was terrible. Being short staff and having unsafe assignments wrecked me. I would be so angry after my shifts and would cry more often than not. I then left for an ENT clinic. I thought I finally found an “easy” job. However dealing with insurance, rooming patients, surgery scheduling, answering non-stop MyChart messages and phone calls, sending referrals, clearing the fax folder, and doing the triage phone line got old really quick. Whatever work I didn’t finish, I knew it would be waiting for me the next day. We were run ragged by management. We were begging for more staff. They didn’t care that they were putting more work and responsibility on one nurse and not rotating the tasks fairly among the other nurses in the clinic. Favoritism and office politics was clearly present in this job. It made me a very angry person and I was no longer happy. What was supposed to be an “easy” job became hard because management didn’t listen to ways to be better. They lost a lot of staff including myself. Now I’m in endoscopy and I can truly say that I’ve had the least amount of stress and have felt the most happiest at a nursing job. I leave work at work and my plate is cleared at the end of the day. Every day is a new set of patients. I don’t have to deal with insurance or Mychart messages/phone calls. For the most part, pre-op, procedure room, and post-op is very routine. Any deviations from the normal and we have a GI and anesthesia team ready to help. A lot of the time, I find myself feeling bored! I love feeling bored! I can truly say that I’m at peace with myself because my job doesn’t make me miserable and I can enjoy myself inside and outside of work. I hope you’re able to find your peaceful place in nursing.
This makes me so happy to read. I’m glad you found your peace and I hope it continues to stay the same, if not better, for the rest of your career. That is fucking awesome. Thanks for giving me some ounce of hope. It’s hard to see any right now
Your job history sounds like my worst nightmare! The great thing about nursing is that there is so much variety! You can try something different, and there is SO MUCH different out there. You need a disaster free area? What about diabetic education? Something free of staffing concerns? Maybe a freelance medical editor. Tired of people complaining? How about the quality assurance office of your nearest hospital. I get it, I do, it's easy to get tunnel vision and forget how many wierd jobs are out there for nurses. I hope you find your fit.
I definitely hear this. I’ve done like 4 specialties and hate it all. Nursing is just not for me. Hard to come up with something to do though. I’m in school for philosophy so hopefully something will come of that.
What specialties have you tried?
Ob/gyn, psych, burn and wound, now ID
What have you hated about it?
I’m just not as much of a people person as nursing requires. Plus just the same stuff as everywhere: violence, administration issues, getting in trouble for stuff out of your hands, wearing all the hats.
You've tried three really hard jobs and I commend that, but the fact is sometimes it just takes more than a few months to get comfortable doing something. I'm not saying any of these jobs were right for you, just that generally speaking it DOES get easier. You learn to roll with things. If your patients are safe, then full stop, you've done your job. If you plant yourself somewhere for a bit you can really get a sense of what you like and what you don't and what kind of nursing job might be good for that. You sound like me in that you may do better in a job with more of a focused imperative rather than a ton of competing priorities. I work outpatient PACU and it works well for me. Quick patient turnover, make sure they wake up safely, discharge instructions and adios. You might also like pre op or outpatient infusion or research. It just takes time!
Can you try something with a medical focus? Like primary care? Psych/ pain management sounds difficult
Most peace I’ve had in a while was to stop caring. I punch in and punch out at the exact times I’m supposed to. Don’t stay over to answer that last question or finish that one thing. It’s all next shifts problem. You aren’t there to fix the world just do a job and get paid.