burn out
Nursing can be and is a profession that takes a lot out of a person. Dealing with the pain, the stress, the death, the etc etc takes a real toll. You need to come to accept that you will burn out. You are only human, you will pay the human price.

Changing the type of nursing you do can help a lot. I have also worked in other professions, sometimes for fairly extended time periods. This helps me keep a more balanced perspective. The whole world isn't just death, dying, bleeding, and pain.

As I say, you will pay a price for helping others. But by expecting to pay this price, you can prevent it from destroying you.

In my personal experience--I could feel myself getting burned out at one job. We were overworked and well underpaid =) Typical complaint right?


I decided to take a float pool position until I found somewhere I liked. Loved it. Loved the variety and seeing what I was good at and what I wasn't.

I found out that I do not want to do floor nursing. I enjoy the ICU and the fast paced and critical patients. I have since moved to that type of floor.

I think the key to avoiding burnout is realizing when you are getting to that point and making an effort to fix it when you see it.

Feeling it myself Please help
Hi Ive been a nurse only 3 years. I worked as a Cna for 5 years before I went to school. Straight after passing the nclex I started working at an Assisted living facility, which as it turned out was borderline nursing home. Most of the residents should not be in a ALF. One nurse to aprox 65 pts. who at least98% are med assist and prob 60-80 % have psychological issues and need lots of nursing time. I found myself becoming almost parinoid that emergencys were going to happen. And with good reason. I had alot of things happen on my shift, when I was the Head of the building. Still being in health care I know stuff will happen, I just got to the point where I was not coping with all the stress. It started effecting all aspects of my life and I knew it was time to go. Did not know what else to do.
I loved being a CNA! Being a nurse is a whole diff. ball game. I just dont even know if I want to be a nurse any more. I recently quit the Assisted living facility, and have accepted a job at a nursing home. I dont know if this is a solution for me. I hope the comfort knowing there are other nurses to get information from will help. Plus the number of pts I will be responsible for will be alot lower. Still Im scared. I should not be feeling the way I do. I should be excited, new job, new experiences... I just dont know. I thought about doing something else for a while and tring to go back to nursing, but I'm scared I wont ever want to go back. Working so hard to get my licence I cant imagine throwing that away. Plus I became a nurse because I love helping the pts. I love working with elderly people. I'm just feeling messed up, confused, and dont know what to do.
Please any advice or help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Burn Out
I have been in nursing for almost 29 years. I have always loved taking care of people -- I work in the ER. In the past few years, more and more people have taken to using the ER as a cliinic for their "colds/flu/ingrown toenail" type of complaints and that really bothers me. Plus I am so tired of working weekends and holidays and with a 2 year degree, I am not likely to find another job where I will get those days off. Any suggestions?

Re: BurntOut is a MINDSTATE!


And how long have you been a nurse? I disagree with what you said but you go with it if it works for you. Until people learn to be accountable for themselves, things will not change.