I'm a Nurse and I'm burnt out.

[HorridHenree]

I'm back to work tonight on night shift and I feel sick and anxious thinking about it.

I love the job, but so fed up with the service I work in.

Not sure what I'm expecting people to reply... I am just venting.

I'm pretty sure, that if the emotion of implicit guilt was removed from public service - it would be better paid and have more men in it!

I often wondered if it was, in fact, severe emotional dysfunction which kept the whole shit show moving.

It really doesn't mean you have to be part of it, if you chose to - then that's completely fine of course, but being obliged too or feeling guilty for perfectly rational needs, just makes it unsustainable.

District nurse here- I hear you I don't have much in the way of advice which hasn't already been said, but please look after yourself x

I feel for you. Your clinical area is high stress at the best of times, it must be nightmarish at the moment.

I let my PIN lapse last summer, so I’m almost 12 months out, having burnt out. I was an adult nurse. I loved lots about my job but worked in a shrinking area and because I was a long time specialist in that area, I’d pretty much painted myself into a corner and upskilled myself out of everything else without starting from scratch again . TBH, talking to lots of my colleagues still in nursing, that feeling of stress, too much responsibility, seat-of-your-pants unsafe practice, no CPD, no support from management, the expectation that you’ll just ‘cope’, is not specific to my previous area, it’s the same in most specialities. Like you, I had tortured myself re time off, letting the team down, my love for the job and fundamental belief in the NHS kept me in longer than it should and in the end I had to finish to preserve my own physical and mental health.

Op, I am a merchanisder, a rep. I have had to work throughout this as well as apparently we are keyworkers. I don't do a job anywhere near as important as yours but I do understand, if that helps.

I've worked in a secure unit before, it's a very high stress area. Reduced staffing levels (because of cuts and inability to fill roles that were offered because of the nursing shortage) made it really dangerous at times, and some awful things happened.

There's no easy rides in nursing, but a job change might help. I'm now in a role where I deliver a lot of therapy which is stressful because of the ridiculous workload, but at least I'm not being assaulted on a weekly basis.

I have a number of colleagues who've left the NHS and say they are happier, so it might be worth seeing what else is around.

I am retired now but I have done around 8 very different specialist roles in nursing, retraining in around 5 of them. It is worth really looking into options because you might find something in nursing, or, you probably have some great transferable skills.
It is so sad when somebody highly trained and hard working is so undervalued and exhausted they leave the profession.
I had a colleague who actually set up and ran her own nursing agency. I would never have thought of that, but she did extremely well.
Clinical research is very interesting.
Teaching is rewarding.
I worked with several GP nurses and they all seemed happy in their jobs.
I hope you manage to figure something out OP. Life is too short to be miserable.

@ChippingIn I think I just felt at long last people would be convinced of our value and realise that to call us unskilled workers wasn’t remotely true and support would finally come , instead all I’m seeing online is ‘ oh the pandemic wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be’ and ‘ most hospitals and depts were fairly quiet’ the reality has dawned that we are back to politicians doing what they like and the public saying they have no influence but they support us .

I wonder if this is what people feel like in other jobs?

Yes of course we do. Everyone does at times, even SAH parents. Sometimes life just gets too much for everyone - too much work, unfair/unsuitable working conditions, under paid/under valued, horrible boss, don't enjoy the job, and so on.

It's not just nurses, not even now. Lots of us have worked hard, long hours in the background to ensure other people can work efficiently during The Covid.

Activity coordinator in a dementia care home and no time off since before Covid - 19. I too am burnt out, I simply do not have the patience, energy or enthusiasm anymore. Residents have really declined mentally over the past few months and I really feel I have had enough of everything.

I am a midwife and feel the same.

Handed my notice in about 4 weeks ago.

I've had 2 days of this year. Busy busy helping my employer make the necessary changes to make our offices safe to work in.

We were just talking about this at work. We all feel the same. All holidays & bank hols were cancelled so we've been flat out. We are exhausted & angry at the way we're being treated. Having to juggle childcare etc has been hellish. The only time off any of us had was when we were ill with covid then straight back into it. Not nurses but NHS staff. I think lots of people feel like this just now. Hopefully it will pass.

Another burnt out nurse here signing in.

I have done nearly 20 years and I am desperate to get out of nursing. Can't cope anymore. We have so few staff, i am doing 60 hour weeks for the next few weeks, not sustainable at all.
Can't remember the last time I had a lunch break at work and it's just relentless.

I am considering a pay cut and a complete change but it's a big decision and I don't think I could do it. The other alternative is bank work. I will ride it out until my children are through university and probably reduce my hours and take a role with less responsibility.

I think it's easy to get backed in to a corner in nursing and it can be hard to see a way out.

DW (60) left the NHS 24 years ago, when her old unit went to 12 x 3 days on, 36 off, 3x 12 nights, 48 off. Fuck that for parenting. Everyone she qualified with has gone. Not one of them would encourage anyone of any sense into nursing.

My friend has just handed in her notice. She hasn't had a break since before Covid, no lunch breaks. She was in the supermarket looking at tena lady as she never has a chance to use the bathroom during her shift and keeps getting urine infections. She snapped in that moment I think and decided that was it. I think her handing her notice in has started a bit of a chain reaction as two more people have quit this week. Management are panicking, but they have been ignoring the demands for a long time. Now with Covid on top people have finally burned out.

Why are people still saying that nurses didn’t get a pay award, the nursing unions have already negotiated a pay rise, prior to the recent announcement.
I nursed for 40 years and can understand how you feel. The main problem now is most areas are specialised and as such mean that a lot of employers want experience. If you want to stay in nursing, choose an area of interest and try and get some experience in that area.

@HorridHenree

""""""" I have ambition, but after numerous failed job interviews (always given excellent feedback, but never successful) I've lost confidence in applying for what I actually want"""""""""

Look at Trump.... Apply for everything you want, you just never know

Ive just left after 12 years nursing. It’s amazing, I didn’t know life could be this good. I understand about nepotism, they literally used to refer to jobs before they even interviewed as “Joans job”. Joan would generally be the wife/daughter/sister of someone who already works there. The Chief executive of our trust was appointed on a anti bullying mandate but sweet fa changed.

I am different person now I’ve left. I was always depressed and anxious but now it turns I’m a pretty relaxed person. I’m getting to know my lovely children who turn out to amazing. I have missed out on Christmas, bank holidays and birthdays. I have assaulted physically, verbally and sexually. I have been bullied repeatedly. I have seen things no ordinary person could imagine. I’m done, just finished. Enough.

I'm feeling very similar. Probate lawyer, one day off since Christmas, worked on my own in the office throughout lockdown, and I feel like I'm going to throw up every time I step into the office. I've got absolutely nothing left. No one to cover for me if I take time off.

Don't know what the answer is, sorry.

Oh you poor thing. Burnout is real. I am a GP - fortunately in NZ. To see the absolute hypocrisy of your PM clapping the NHS but their actual behaviours making life difficult for all NHS workers make me ill.
Go and get some help - see your GP, find a trusted mentor. Do you have any sick days? If so use them and take some time off.
You cannot be responsible for your service. As the saying goes - put on your own O2 mask before helping anyone else.
Shift work is often sole destroying and that alone without all the other sh-t can make you ill.
Best thing is taking time off of you can, get some sleep and gentle exercise. Talk to people. Be absolutely kind to yourself - hot baths, warm beds, candles..
You work in a very specialised area - and one of the hardest- in healthcare. That maybe is why you are finding it difficult. Don’t give on up yourself. You are absolutely worth It.

The culture in secure units can make them v challenging places to work, never mind the already challenging nature of the actual job. No wonder you are burnt out. If you are not getting jobs you are interviewed for then paying for a session with a careers advisor might be helpful - they can help you to hone your answers, formulate how to respond to competency based questions and give you the confidence to shine at interview. Focusing on your exit strategy may help to make your current job a bit more bearable in the meantime - I’ve found I could distance myself a bit when internally I was focused on other things and knew I wasn’t planning to be there for the long haul. Good luck OP, the world needs dedicated nurses like you and it is heartening to hear that inspite of your current situation that you want to stick with your profession.

I know this is about your job as well as Covid and that you are burnt out from that I’m so sad it has come to this in so many sectors. I work in social care not in as a responsible post as yourself.
I can honestly say this has been a terrible 5 months in care homes not just because of the loss of life as awful as that was. Staff have had to accept a new way of living stressed at home childcare worries shopping for elderly relatives and lack of time off.
On top of this I have been made to have home as my work base so no more office time and contact with colleagues for ever not just Covid they don’t want us back in the office.
I think some employers are using the cover of Covid to make huge changes redundancies etc and this is adding extra stress.
So many of us have bent and bent and changed as they have asked and now feel We have no more to give.
I was talking to a nurse yesterday and she said can we all have 3 months break now please paid or even a bit of extra holiday. It feels like the whole key worker sector has been screwed over.
I’m not having a go at those on furlough either just saying a bit of support would be nice.

I think most caring professions are feeling like this at the moment.

People used to put up with the crap because of job security and good benefits/ pensions etc. They have mostly been downgraded over the years to not be that different to the private sector.

They went through a bit of a stage where they could cope with the older disillusioned guard leaving in droves because the bursaries for nursing/ social work etc were guaranteeing a steady supply of fresh blood who were just grateful for a job. Didn't matter to anyone that the skills and knowledge above them had disappeared.

All the supplementary community services dried up because councils/ NHS can't afford to fund them anymore.

Then they stopped the bursaries and the fresh supply also started to dry up.

So now we have the old guard leaving, very little new blood coming through, and no one in the right frame of mind to train them properly if they do. No community services to take the strain and a workforce who has been worked to the bone during COVID and have very little left to give.

It's a ticking time bomb and I feel very sorry for families with vulnerable people in them at the moment.

And on a different thread we have people slating nurses for daring to think they deserve a pay rise I did say when all the clapping was happening that people would soon forget and nurses would be expected to get back in their boxes and shut up.