Career burnout

[Notanurse]

Im a registered nurse and im beginning to hate it and regret ever going into it.

I just feel so burnout, the work load is too much, theres never enough staff, management is the worst and putting more and more pressure on us each week. I hate it! Absolutely hate it! I dont want to go back but i dont know what else id do for a job!

I always thought being a nurse was where i want to be but since working where i am now theyve just killed all desire i once had.

How do i find out what else id want to do for work?

Right now i feel like theres nothing id be good at or will like and its sending me into another severe depression. I havent been able to east for 2 days now because im so stressed and anxious, i just feel too sick to eat. And i dont see my phychologist until the end of the month..

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

So, as a nurse I'm guessing you are on rostered shift work. If so I can say, as a former security guard on shifts, that alone can be significantly damaging to your mental health, add to that the pressures you mentioned.

Many years ago I had a friend in the same situation

She left nursing, returned to uni to become a teacher in a high school. Sadly she like many teavherts (including my daughter) found that very stressful.

Imo, any job that gives you respite from nursing is like a holiday. Career side shifts like pathology, day shift only might be considered. It wont hurt to do something else for a couple of years.

In the meantime some serious dedication to relaxation would be beneficial.

Google

Beyondblue topic anxiety, how I eliminated it

Beyondblue topic the timing of motivation

Beyondblue topic fortress of survival (workplace)

I hope you feel better soon and you are more than justified in your frustrations.

TonyWK

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Notanurse,

Thank you for your post. I'm sorry to hear how much you are struggling with burnout; it sounds like you're seriously looking at changing your career to something with less pressure and demand.

Thinking about where you might be able to go, this is some things I've come up with:

- working in aged care

- general practice

- maternal and child health

- oncology or palliative care

- community health services / home visits

- schools/universities

- mental health (wards I imagine would be quite stressful but there's also mental health services or places like Headspace)

- going into research, administration, health promotion, etc

- working with NGO's and small businesses/organisations

- triage nurses (Medibank offer work-from-home positions starting from 19hr per week)

Hopefully this gives you some things to think about, and hopefully your appointment with the psychologist will be helpful and they'll have some ideas too.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

RT

[Notanurse]

Aged care is where i currently work. Its where i dont want to go back to. Ever. As for many other areas in nursing you need to get additional qualifications before you will even be considered. Midwifery you need the midstart program. Child/family health you need postgrad in that area. Mental health, a mental health post grad is ideal. General practice requires immunisation training. Its all so draining.
When i start looking into other careers outsode of nursing it just all spins in my head and gets me more anxious and depressed.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Notanurse,

I just did a bit of a job search then after reading your post and can find jobs that don't require any additional qualifications - i.e. Mental health nurse inpatient unit, a Community RN, General practice nurse, etc. None of the roles I saw required additional qualifications/training - some a minimum of being a general registered practitioner.

With that said though, I can see that it would be really daunting and overwhelming, especially if you have seen roles before with criteria you can't meet. From what I've seen though I know that there's ones out there that you can.

Hopefully your psychologist can provide you with some more support.

RT

[Checkthebatteries]

You could try a career aptitude test. There are many online. Or perhaps its worth paying someone to guide you through the process. My experience is career consultants are great for helping with career choices but not so much with the application process.

[sparrowhawk]

Hi Notanurse, I echo all the advice given here but just wanted to say I can really get your burnout. I work in a hospital and was previously in an aged care, though not in a nursing role. I see how hard nurses work, how difficult shift work is, and how physically and emotionally demanding the job can be. Is there anything you like to do for yourself to recharge and gain energy? You may not feel like doing those things if you are depressed, but it also helps to be mindful of what might help you to strengthen.