I quit bedside nursing after 31 years and retired early 2 years ago, I am still recovering from the physical, mental and emotional trauma of a life lived at the bedside. My chronic back pain and the bilateral degenerative joint disease of my knees from 30+ years of constantly being on my feet for 12+ hour shifts for 3 decades is my lasting "reward".
I've been nurse for 15 years, end up working on ER. I'm sooooo ready to move on. Yesterday was my interview for pain clinic....wish me luck!!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏🤞🤞🤞🤞
I’ve been a RN for 10 years and went from the ICU to non bedside roles, but I’ve gotten to the point where I am thinking of going back to the bedside. Working 9-5 sucks. But that’s the beauty of nursing, you can go back and forth and always find something different to do within the field
That’s the beauty of nursing. Sometimes you just need a break for a while away from acute and full on stressful roles. Then when youre de-stressed , you return to what you love. Remember no experience is ever wasted. From a 🇬🇧U.K. RN! God bless all RNs xx
After being in healthcare for 40 years I retired from nursing a years ago. I'm still recovering. Nurses give so much of themselves we eventually have nothing left for us. It's not the hundreds of codes, deaths, or even abuse that ruined. It was the betrayal from leadership as they let the standard become understaffed, expecting the high performers to make it all happen. I did clinic for the last 17 years doing telehealth, but the load was 30-40 patients per day and after 150,000 patients, the stress became unbearable. It was like running a marathon daily at sprint speed. You work unpaid overtime daily while leadership came and left on time. The COVID hit, nurses quit and the floodgates opened.
If you think peds have your back hurting my gosh imagine working on a regular med Surg floor with full grown adults and overweight patients with minimal staff. It's crazy out here.
I’ve been a RN for 6 years and I’m already hitting severe burnout. I don’t know how much longer I will and can continue this career. The only thing I enjoy about nursing is care for my patients, I HATE everything else about nursing -from the toxic work culture, poor management and to unsafe nurse:patient ratios. It’s the worse career to be in! I regretted bedside nursing the first week of my 1st nursing job!
Thank you for always being real! I’m learning so much about nursing and nursing school from your experience and it’s making it all a bit less scary as I’m starting my medsurg semester!
Hey Dee, I did the NP route to and that's no joke either. Your responsibility goes up times 100 plus you have to deal with the hospital politics and the doctor's ego. Bedside nursing with 3 12 hour shifts would be great if the Nurse had a decent patient ratio and the floor had more Nursing assistances. If the Hospital Administration allocated for the Nurses, bedside nursing would be great.
I want the very best for the patients and I find enjoyment and satisfaction to the fullest with I see patients get better during their stay. I feel the new RN's who faced the covid outbreak has gotten burnt out...that with the office dramas...gossips....omfgoodness...to me, I can deal with critical patients with physically demanding work...what I can't deal with are immature people around me who get in the way of effective teamwork....people who come to work to play, hang out, talk and gossip...yea..thats what burns me out..not the 6-10 patients I need to take care of at any given time....glad ill be leaving bedside too...after 6 and a half years...now that I am applying the medical model in treatment plan in addition to the holistic approach of nursing, it feels so gratifying...i love knowing and learning about the pathophysiology of diseases....knowing what medications are to be prescribed...I feel that i can really help this community so much more now as a practitioner....
I am currently on this state. I am going to work night shift 5x 10 hrs shift and 12 hrs night shift. 62 hrs next week straight.. slowly drifting away and getting depressed. I working as a nurse for 10 years. bedside, homecare, ped ED. I love children but I am not able to take care of myself anymore. I dont want to die and get sick and just be replaced in a glimpse. Im sorry. I just have to let this out. I dont have anyone to tell.
You need to take a job that you enjoy. If unhappy then do something else. I quit my job after working 20 years as Physical Therapist. Started and diligently studied how to invest in stocks. Today my ROI is over 2,000 percent. My annual salary in my previous job, I could easily earn it in few weeks or just a month and only working or monitor the stocks few hours only in one day.
@@ally705 Idk if there is an equivalent in other states but in NY there is something called the uniform assessment system of NY for community based long term care agencies and health insurance plans. Most of the UAS nurses Ik work remotely from home or hybrid, and they also get pay a portion per assessments they complete on top of their regular pay. There’s alot of opportunities here in NYS for those types of roles.
I’ve been a peds nurse for 23 years. Seen all you talked about. Did peds oncology for 2 years of that time. I’m now 50 and I don’t want to be in healthcare period anymore. I’m just tired and worn out. Not sure what I’m gonna do. I quit hospital nurse in 2015, was in home health for a couple years, did case management (awful), school nurse (also, sadly, awful) and am back in home care. I’m down to one last patient. When he no longer needs me I’m done. I’m literally thinking about going to work at somewhere like Target or Starbucks and doing a channel on here. I have one, but it’s just got a cat video on it 😂. I need simple and where someone’s life is not in my hands.
Physical therapist here. I love being a physical therapist but it's hard on your body. Patients are great but they put a lot on you mentally, like I'm not a counselor. I love being there but it's a lot all pf the time. I have worked in every setting amd various states.. it's the same. Hoping my youtube channel grows and i can earn a few thousands a month 😂. I started posting videos in January and now have 5000 subscribers!!
Hi! You may not be checking your RU-vid, but I was just curious… why was school nursing awful? Just interested in possibly pursuing that big wondering what aspects of it you didn’t like? Thank you in advance!
There must b 100 videos for this topic. I watch them everyday as I try to figure out how to escape something I prayed for. Something I KNEW I wanted. Some how, some way, there is no way I’m doing this longer than I have too. #cantwait2quit😅
I'm only been working 2 months on my own as a nurse and Im already looking for a way out. I applied for med tech but It will take 3 years at least for me to finish. I am so miserable. I've never had anxiety before I started working as a nurse. Life is just horrible.
That’s so sad. I think we need to make sure nurses like you are treated with respect and care. Burn out is a real thing. I pray hospitals eyes are awakened to this.
I've been working as a RN for 3 years in the med/surg and 2 years in the ED. I kinda thought and expected that the anxiety will get better as I get more experience and career, but this pre-shift anxiety is killing me.. :/ I'm in primary NP school right now too.
This sucks to know. I'm an incoming nursing student. I believe that nursing is likely God's plan for my life since it's not something I thought much about, but somehow managed to get accepted. I know it will be hard mentally, physically, and spiritually, but I don't know if I can bear the burden and responsibilities. I hope the nursing field improves by the time I graduate. Do you mind sharing some of your struggles or experiences as a nurse?
@@greencandyy6632I think it's the uncertainty of the shift because we don't know what will happen during the 12-hour shift and we know how busy the shift is so I think that gives the anxiety. But some days are good and some days are bad. Nevertheless, I love nursing tho. There are so many different paths that we can pursue that not that many jobs have. Plus it's very rewarding to see the improvement of patients that you take care of :)
I'm a new nurse and I cannot deal with this pre and post anxiety. I've never felt such a horrible feeling of being scared to go to work. It's my first time dealing with anxiety and I can't take it anymore. I'm looking at other career options so far like med lab technologist or piloting even. But even that will take time and I'll have to suffer in nursing for a few years til I finish school. Any other options?
@@jennadeleon4017 Thank you for sharing. Can I ask what are some of the struggles that you are facing working as a nurse? Is it because of the nursing shortage causing more responsibilities or is it the nature of the work in general?
@@greencandyy6632 I'll give you a few examples of my struggle as a new nurse. One is having to find someone to help you with the things you're unfamiliar with. Sometimes nurses are so busy so you have to wait or sometimes noones willing to help at all or if they help, they make you feel like you're a bother. Another is having to deal with rude doctors. Some of them yell at you for doing your job, like calling for a critical lab in the early morning. Patient and patient's family are another thing, they can be very demanding!. For example, they want you to change a patient's diaper who is 2x assist right away but no PSW is available to help you, so they get mad. OR they have so many questions that your'e not familiar. So many other things :(
Thinking the same thing too. I have been a nurse for 10 years, had a practice gap for 6 years, now I just started getting back in to bedside, my 2nd week in nursing to be exact but no matter how I try to push myself back to this profession, I still feel so very anxious pre-shift and God knows I have always wanted to become a photographer, be in creative arts. 😢
Are you going to pursue photography? This anxiety that were all facing as a nurse has become normalized which I think shouldn't be because NO job should give us anxiety. I hope you find a way to pursure what you really love
Good luck Alex,you sound a caring person and you have done a lot for 3 years.nursing is not easy job,I retired after 37 years ,now i am helping my grand kids,but nursing /helping sick people was my life .every morning i prayed to God to get the strength ,to help them out and i did very good.good luck Alex you are going to do very good.
Hey David, same here and I agree with you 💯 percent. This guy will find out soon enough how MDs treat NPs. Being a NP is not a walk in the park either.
I am an RN for 25 years. It’s 2023 and this is absolutely the worse. The rationale is those in charge want above all to have money and they seem to do whatever it takes to keep their leadership positions. Half of you will disagree but forced Covid policy was the catalyst. It’s more political now, more outsourcing, and above all less about patient care. Those at the top decided to take care of number 1, themselves first. The incompetence, bad spending, and novice attitude those in charge have is unbelievable. They say all the right stuff but their actions speak louder. I hope it works out for you, bro. I see trends that wages are down in nursing and multitasking is up. If you let them they will burn you out, don’t let them. Nursing still offers variety and if you move you can always have a job.
Today is my 1 year nurse-aversary! I am back in school for my BSN (I have an ADN) I’ll be done end of summer and then I plan on starting an NP program next summer. I know bedside isn’t for me
Yikes, scary to become an NP with minimal nursing experience, I think you are going to find your lack of bedside experience scary when you have to start being the provider!
@@bettysmith4527 They are completely different jobs with different roles. I have a friend who is a psychiatric NP and went straight through to NP school. She has always worked from behind a computer screen and does fine. What people don’t understand is the 2-3 years of Nurse practitioner school prepare you for the role you will take as a practitioner- ordering tests, prescriptions…not changing a bed pan and wiping butt.
@@guitarkatie That's not what I have heard ,I have heard schools just mill Nurse Practitioners without adequate education and practice!! At least with a bedside nursing background you have that experience to pull from!! If you want to be a provider right out of school go to PA school!!
@@bettysmith4527 The program definitely does matter but actually most NP schools require you to have a RN license with a preferred bachelors in nursing. You can’t get an RN license without an associates or bachelors. From there, they usually require at LEAST a year of bedside experience as an RN on a med/surg floor. The programs that are direct entry that you are speaking on allow someone to go from a bachelors degree (usually in anything) to a masters in nursing, but you need to take nursing prerequisites to even apply. These are the hard science courses that someone would take in a four year nursing program to graduate such as Anatomy and Physiology 1 with lab, Anatomy and Physiology 2 with lab, Microbiology with lab, Chemistry for health sciences with Lab, Nutrition and Developmental Psychology. Some programs require pathology and ethics as well, The science ones are quite difficult to the point that most people have to isolate them (take them one at a time) in order to devote a good 5-6 hours a day to the studying. Again, no one can get into a direct entry Masters of Science in Nursing program without taking these courses and having at least a B and most programs have enough people getting A’s in them that they won’t take anything else. Those courses, which often take more than a year to do coupled with a four year undergraduate degree are seen as equivalent to someone who received a bachelors degree in nursing in terms of the prerequisites and gen Ed’s. The nursing component of that bachelors you would do in your first year during the master program and then the last year or so depending on the length of the program is graduate level. During this time, you also need to be attending clinicals for one twelve hour shift once per week and then you do a capstone in your last year in the area you want to work in, further specializing. From there you would need to then take the NCLEX (although some programs allow this after the first year and will also award you a a bachelors in nursing) depends on the program. Even after obtaining a masters and sitting for a NCLEX your distinction still is only RN (registered nurse) and your far more prepares educationally than any nurse who only has an associates or bachelors. Even still that doesn’t qualify you to be a Nurse practitioner. From there you need to get into a program that offers what TYPE of nurse practitioner you want to be (psychiatric, family medicine, womens health, geriatric ect) and get into that program and then sit to take an exam harder than NCLEX for that specific type of nurse practioner certification. In essence, A nurse practitioner has done close to 4 more years of schooling in a very specific area that allows them to practice in ways that RN’s can’t and in a very different way while at the same time they’ve educationally and clinically completed the same requirements as RN’s. It’s kind of like saying a surgeon can’t be a surgeon because they didn’t spend years doing family medicine. Completely different jobs with different skill sets. The direct NP programs are a lot more scarce as well, the majority of nurse practioner programs do require the BSN, and at least a year of bedside nursing as an RN. In terms of PA, that requires not only the prerequisites listed but also a year of biology 1 and 2, a year of organic chem, a year or inorganic chem, physics and often calculus. If you didn;t major in a chemistry or biology as an undergrad it will prob take someone close to two years to get the prerequisites done to apply. Unlike nursing you also need direct patient hours to get into PA school the lowest I’ve seen is 1,000 and the highest is 5,000. Most are on the higher end. You’ll also need to have shadowed a real PA and have a recommendation letter from them. A lot of people will find it difficult to do the prerequisites and WORK in direct patient care ( EMT, phlebotomy, ect) AND shadow. If you aren’t math/physics and chemistry heavy it can also be a deal breaker where as nursing gears more towards anatomy/physiology and microbiology which can be friendlier to people with those weaknesses. You also do not need need direct patient care hours. As someone who extensively researched these paths and decided to actually do nursing the old fashioned way (getting an associates and working up) and this is AFTER a bachelors degree in another field it’s a LOT more complicated than people think. You don’t get to “ just be a nursing practioner or a PA” simply by signing up to a program. I would explain a PA as all of what you need to get into nursing school plus about half of what you need course wise and patient experience and shadowing wise to get into medical school. They are VERY different. Additionally, PA’s can’t prescribe or have their own practices in many states. NP’s can completely go into private practice and then many further specialize and get their doctorate in a certain area of medicine like neurology ect. That would be about 8 years of education beyond what a typical RN does. The nurse practioner I see has a doctorate in neurology and works alongside a neurologist. She conducts research about rare conditions that I have and has been phenomenal. Again, a completely different job description and title than someone running around getting and giving meds, doing wound care ect. On a medical surgical floor.
You are so luck me. Unfortunately too many (actually it is very few)nurses are there just to make others miserable. The unhappy don't like the happy and try to being you down. I have been a licensed nurse for 18 years I took the last 10 years of doing live in, but financially I have returned to the ICU. I still feel it an honor to care for those. I do it for the patients and not the unhappy nurses. We have so many options. Mad respect for the nurses who go in each day with gladness and singleness of heart.
Damn, I feel old! 😂 I worked bedside nursing in Labor and Delivery for 32 years with the previous 7 years also teaching adjunct clinical. I am now full-time faculty and only work in the hospital as a clinical instructor. BS nursing is tough and isn't for the weak!
God bless you, I tried labor and delivery and absolutely hated it!! Constant baby monitor adjustments, constant documentation, constant position changes... too much aggravation so that the doctor can come in for ten minutes and do the best part!
Whenever I think about quitting, I think about all the people having the worst day(s) of their life. I had an office job for 20 years before I became a nurse. My neck was already shot. Fingers from typing. Eye sight from looking at the computer all day. Like shit. unless you're sitting at home being a couch potato (which your body will feel eventually too) your body is going to hurt. To complain about your body aches and pains or mental health while you're literally watching someone's life coming to an end is one reason why I honestly can't stand the younger staff these days. I became a nurse when I became healthy after being ill for a really long time as a way to be there for people the way nurses should be.
I couldn’t be a bedside RN. I’m fed up enough with being a medical assistant. Working for bratty docs who ironically can’t seem to internalize the simple concept that just because I didn’t study medicine at Dartmouth does not preclude me from being a generally intelligent human being. Some of the arrogance I’ve encountered is just gross. Clinics let their staff become so depleted and they don’t hire more MAs, you just get to pick up the slack without any real compensation. This whole role in medical is a joke and I often ask myself why anyone would stay on as an MA for any real stretch of time.
Respiratory therapist here for 29 years. I’ve NEVER been on call. I’ve worked in bigger hospitals, but now, at 52, I’m moving to a 100 bed hospital. I know SO MANY RN’s who are absolutely miserable…& they’re new grads & decades-long nurses.
May God bless you and all the positive energy follow you for all the sacrifice and heal you for all the trauma you have seen. If you feel it's right, I pray for protection of covering over you as you are trying to do and have already done so much good.
I'm an ultrasound tech. Being on call is why most techs quit hospitals. I'm so tired of it, if i'm going to have my free time wasted like that, i might as well be a travel tech and get paid for not enjoying my time outside of work. just 8 more months. to have 2 years experience and go into travel.
I’m having a similar situation. I have a bachelors in medical laboratory science and am a medical laboratory scientist (med tech, lab tech, etc.) and am applying for PA school. I figured it’d be a great transition considering i know the pathophys of all these diseases and how they correlate to every lab a doctor can order, and i am getting burnt from my job a little bit in a similar manner as you (besides the on call, we don’t usually have that in most circumstances).
I don't want to scare you but PA job is more stressful and has more risks to offer against your license. You have bigger responsibilities although those are 2 different jobs. Being in the lab and then becoming a provider are 2 different things. This is like having burnt out new grad nurses that are taking NP school thinking it will get better. It will not get any better. Healthcare system is broken and also aside from that consider work politics, bullies, work environment, work ethics. A job is just a job and the key is don't get married to a job if you want to have a life. I am a burnt out ED nurse and educator for decades and I quit my bedside job because it is sh*tty everyday. I found happiness in real estate and e commerce. Lol A totally different world.
@@JG-Photography9590 Do you think the nursing profession will get better? Was it already bad when you first started working? I'm an incoming nursing student and I'm scared if I will make it
@@greencandyy6632 I am not discouraging anyone to become a nurse if that is your passion and your dream. I mean, to each his own right? I was once an enthusiastic new nurse that always wanted the sickest patients so I can utilize my skillset and learn something from them on top of saving their lives. I've been a nurse for 1.5 decades and nursing before was different. We focus on the patients more than the charting and dealing with computers. I mean, it is very important to document. As the saying goes, if it's not documented, it wasn't done. It's brutal now and you see massive strikes happening recently from all the burnt out nurses. I'm happy we have nurse ratios here in California but out of state aside from low wages, they are out of ratio or no actual set nurse to patient ratios at all. There a lot sicker patients now and insurances won't even cover shit that the pt needs when they go home so there is what we call readmission. I work as a Case Manager now so I see how disrupted the system is. I am hoping it will change but more and more new grads are quiting nursing because they see how awful it is. Again, if it's your passion, you will be ok. Any job is stressful but if that's what your heart desires, you are more than likely to love your job. Nursing has many facets it's not just all about the bedside if I'll give you a piece of advice. 🙂
I'm not trying to be rude, but did you not know you were going to work three 12-hour shifts before you got into nursing? Did you not know that it was a back-breaking job? Did you not know people were going to die in the hospital? Did you not know you were going to miss a lot of holidays because sick people don't take breaks? Do people not know these things before they choose this career?
Same Situation. All we can do as nurses is to sit down take a breather and be honest to ourselves that IT is taking a toll on our health (chronic back pain) and mental health. as we call each other in PH , "KABARO" (colleague or co-nurse) MAG PA TULOY KA LANG (carry on) ❤
So glad I do vascular access nursing!! It's A LOT of walking, but relatively low stress and no load of patients, every 3rd weekend!! It's not something I want to do forever, but for now it works. Day shift only 32 hours a week, 8 hours shifts on all holidays and weekends!
20+yrs here - private, critical care, then coordinator, now site leading... two sites. I do steady film for fun 😅. keep variety open for your mental health. congrats on you NP journey 🎉
How is nursing going for you? I'm an incoming nursing student. I'm worried about the future of the nursing profession and if I can manage and bear the burden. I hope it improves by the time I graduate.
I remember helping a manager at one place by picking up nightshift just to help out per request-needless to say...I ended up doing day & night shift in same week for over a year. - I was just trying to help but sort of felt forgot about-I agree- it can be extremely taxing on the body, no joke.
Work with us as a home hospital nurse! Help disabled children with multiple disabilities like my daughter and see them well and help catch problems before they happen. Take them to their therapies and brighten their day. Brighten their home lives. Also anyone else interested PM me. Have shifts Mon-Fri avail 6a-2p, 2p-10p, 10p-6a, respite shifts on weekends. Will keep you sharp; daughter is on home vent, gtube, trach, VP shunt, epilepsy, deafblind; see the kids. We're in OC.
I agree with everything you have to say on here, but really is the best to see sick patients leave. I have been seeing message therapist 4-6 times a year for the 10 years I've been a nurse. I love it so much. I've been a Travel Nurse for 6 year. I usually only work 9 months and take 3 months off to travel internationally and go for the long haul. Hope you enjoy your travel nurse life! It's truly hard to be a travel nurse and just watch nurses leave this profession. It's good reading all these comments on this video. It helps validate everything we've all been feeling. The best of luck to you in your NP life.
It can be because for some strange reason most hospitals won’t take you on as a new grad to become a scrub nurse. I would say I’ve possibly got lucky. But it doesn’t hurt to try them again. I’m in the UK so things are a bit different. Plus I did apply to a lot of hospitals and most of them rejected me because they said I was a new grad. it’s a completely different skill set and there’s so many different specialities as well, so it takes longer to learn everything plus not every hospital does every single speciality as well. Basics of being a scrub nurse. Is Learning general surgery inside out because that would be like a stepping stone into all the other specialities.
@@Pearlsena I sincerely appreciate the detailed reply!! it has put things into perspective. I would love to eventually end up in the OR bc the field fascinates me so much!!! thats even if i have to gain experience to get there! im happy for you that u were able to start right away. lets hope i get lucky as well.
@@tmc14121Late reply to but for any other new grads interested in being OR nurse, I have seen a few new grad nurses drop videos about getting that job, so check with your area hospitals, and maybe you will get lucky.
Geez. These are the very people we want to stay in nursing. We need to ensure their working conditions are good and that they don’t ever burn out because these types of compassionate nurses are treasures.
Hi! Thanks for your video. I was also thinking of PA school after my MPH/RD degree. Were you able to find a PA program online? I'd love to know how balancing your many goals and projects has been. New subscriber :)
PA programs are very stringent and it's like having a full time job, they are not online, it's a lot of clinical lab time and didactic in person. MUCH better education than NP school in my opinion!
L and D was awful!! Constant adjustments, constant monitor watching, even during "lunch break", constant position changes all so the doctor can come in and do the best part and leave ten minutes later!
