Aibu to be completely burnt out by working in the NHS?

[Ivyiris]

9 years of nursing in the NHS and seriously considering packing it in, always thought this would be my lifelong career but it's destroying my health. I'm going to try and stick it out until the end of the year.

Any other professionals left and what do you do now?

Not a nurse, but leaving was the best thing I ever did. I can handle shit from managers, or patients, or the public. But I couldn't do all 3 at once anymore.

There's tonnes of threads on here with useful advice from nurses looking for a career change. Personally for me I'm entering my 16th year nursing and still love it, fed up with the politics and some of the ridiculousness of the NHS but I can't do my role anywhere else so I think maybe I subconsciously am happier to deal with more crap.

I guess it boils down to what is burning you out, if its not nursing itself I'd look into roles outside of the NHS or in different settings. Some of my cohort now work term time doing schools vaccinations, some work in care homes but earn a decent wage part time etc? If its all of it then you can always revalidate in the future (or do just enough bank shifts to keep it active) there'll always be plenty of jobs about! You have a science degree, experience 'customer facing' and can demonstrate you can balance priorities and deal with challenging situations with attention to detail- plenty of transferable skills. I know some who have gone into entry level jobs in the civil service/Council but they've progressed quickly so I wouldn't rule that out if you can afford it.

Definitely not alone but lots of different career routes in NHS so look at a change first?

Are you in physical or mental health nursing?

If it's mental, you could retrain to become a psychotherapist via the (formerly) IAPT service.

I was a HCP (not a nurse) in the NHS in a former life. I left almost 10 years ago and haven't regretted it for a second. You will get a lot of people advising you to try out different roles and settings within the NHS. This isn't bad advice at all, but personally it didn't work for me. I think when it's time to walk away, you just know

Quite a few of the Nurses I worked with over the years have left the profession, for various reasons. For me, it was the constant pressure from 'higher ups' to compromise my standards, to deliver what I considered to be a sub-par level of care in order to meet targets, make efficiency savings and cover up systemic failings. I felt as though I spent half my working day apologising to ill, worried, desperate people for the shit deal they were getting and trying to justify decisions that I didn't agree with. I would go home questioning whether I'd actually helped anyone, or whether I was part of the problem.

I work in Education now in a Safeguarding role. The nature of my work in Health meant I came into contact with a lot of serious Child Protection cases so the experience has been invaluable. I have a much better work/life balance now. I think when I was in the NHS I bought into the myth that if you really care about patients you have to be prepared to 'live the job' and disregard your own needs. Now I know it's possible to make a difference in a job you're passionate about and have a life outside of work.

I know former Nurses and AHP's who are working in Education and training roles, one who has retrained as a social worker, one who has become a childminder, one who owns a B&B, and one who works in HR but I think she had to do some additional training.