Sick of being a nurse

[Pocketfullofsunshine8995]

I’m a nurse, I have been qualified for 3 years and I feel like I’ve had enough.
I’m not sure I want to work in the NHS anymore but really don’t want my degree to go to waste.
I’m thinking of going non clinical but have no idea where to start or whether to just completely leave nursing. This was my dream job so I feel sad that it’s came to this.

Many factors have contributed to me feeling this way e.g. pay, staff shortages, tension in teams, shift patterns and overall job satisfaction.

Has anyone else felt like this? Any ideas of what I could do?

try a different team - they all have different feels depending on leadership. Also look at more specialist roles that tend to be 9-5 jobs or school nursing team, immunisation team etc. nursing is quite broad and doesn’t have to be on a ward.

Are you currently ward based or community?

What area interests you, what babd are you. There's loads of different opportunities from nurse specialist, clinic, district, theatres, drug rep, teaching, if you move into a 9 to 5 post you will lose unsocial hours payments.

I was ward based and wanting to leave, took a job very near to home community nursing and it reignited my passion. Maybe you need a change?

Have you tried a different working environment?

I went from the wards to community and love my job now and could never work in the hospital again. It’s done my mental health wonders.

I’ve said Yabu as you’ve barely given the clinical side of things a go. There are so many roles in nursing and as others have said- community etc and other working patterns etc are available. What are you passionate about in nursing? Why did you choose it etc?

A friend felt like this with the NHS. She is now a district nurse working out if a gp practice and loves it.

Hi OP,

Can you outline a bit more clearly what you are finding difficult? For example, you mention shifts- is it working nights? Weekends? You also mention team tension- is this within your nursing team?

What sort of area/speciality are you working in currently?

Are there any aspects of the job that you still enjoy?

Sorry to fire off a lot of questions, just wanting to understand the situation a bit more so I can offer better advice (having been in a similar position to you)

That is still NHS

Sorry. Hospital

Come and work in General Practice. I've been qualified 8 years and since moving to gp land I've felt so much more supported, more valued and less stressed. Its a totally different ball game.

I agree with everyone saying community nursing. It’s still busy, but you can focus on the patient in front of you without a hundred other people trying to get your attention.
Im now a CNS and love it.

A family member is a nurse and has worked in various jobs in research that she enjoyed and is now in a job for a private company that is a charity and provides end of life care in people’s own homes. 3 days a week mostly week daytime hours but 1 weekend per month and 1 early and 1 late per month. Nursing can be so varied, it might be worth looking around to see where you could go? Oh and I dated a guy who was a trained nurse and managed a blood donation team.

If you go into a completely different field of work your degree will not go to waste. There are many transferable skills from nursing that you can apply to other roles.

But if you feel like you don’t want to leave healthcare/the NHS there are lots of non-patient facing roles out there.

• Learning and Development - be a trainer/facilitator in clinical skills, risk assessment, life support etc.
• Health & Safety/Compliance/Patient Safety teams.
• Operations/Projects

Would you ever consider self-employment in aesthetic treatments/Botox?

Same. I qualified and spent 3 years on a well, I don’t want to call it horrific, but just a bad bloody ward. Unfortunately for me by the time I was able to get off that ward, my mental health was in absolute tatters and in all honesty, the thought of just moving to another ward or department was still just too much to even contend with. It was still clinical and I had got to a point where I just couldn’t cope.

I was in such a state I would have to take antihistamines even walking into the ward for handovers because I was covered in stress hives - combination of the constant and unrelenting pressures and senior nurses bullying and going out of their way to torment the baby nurses (aka moi).

I do laugh at this now because when your body is legit having a reaction to the place you’re working - probably time to leave, right?!

I went into Occupational Health Nursing, not NHS, private company - Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, more money, clinical but nothing like the constant pressures that you get ward based, really interesting learning different things. I’d never go back, yes I still enjoy nursing and my current role - but I value my mental health far too much (now I’ve built it back up) to ever, ever go back to ward nursing.

There is zero shame and YANBU for realising that certain parts of nursing are not for you - nursing opens many different doors, you’ll find one that fits before long.

Best of luck xx

I’m community 0-19 …..Monday to Friday 9 to 5….option to work full time compressed hours…,eg over 4 days or 9 day fortnights…..flexi working …..start late…..or start early and finish late

Please report these bullies. It's awful how toxic some of the senior nurses can be! Well done for finding your niche and prioritising your mental health. 😀

I have nursed for over 20 years, completely burned out and desperate to get out. Experiences in the job have left me with PTSD and I no longer have the enthusiasm for the role. I am interested to hear what other careers ex nurses have chosen as I have no idea what to do. A drop in pay is inevitable but a consequence I am willing to take.

3 years is nothing.... try a different path... progress... do a masters/prescribing cert.
So many opportunities with a nursing degree.
Try primary care or community.
Shame to waste your degree-it can open many doors and lead to a really good income.
( For the record... I qualified in 1993... partially retired now at 55 on 76K for 3 days a week.)