Help me leave nursing!

[Gadzook]

Help help help. I'm a staff nurse and it's literally killing me. The politics are vile and I can't stand it any more. Help!

Can you transfer? I have only been qualified a year and I can't quite believe how different some wards are.

Politics with a big or little p? (National or within Trust?)

I can’t help but you’re not alone. I feel the same.

I've just escaped ( albeit for a much lower salary ). It feels great. No amount of money is worth the threat to my mental and physical health that my job was causing. I hope you find a way out .

what job are you doing now?x

Politics inside and out of the Trust. I've got 12 years under my belt as a nurse and it's just not for me anymore. We relocated to the countryside and I took a job at a tiny trust. Put it this way.... it wouldn't look out if place in the League of Gentlemen!

Watching as I too am trying to get out.

Is it nursing itself or that department?
Is there anything anything else within nursing you could do to get out of your current situation? Care home? Take calls as a nurse for 111 (the pay's not bad)? Bank work? Primary care settings? Research nursing?
It's also worth considering whether you want to lose your registration entirely or want to 'keep your hand in' somehow.

I've only been qualified 7 years but due to an awful experience in my first job ended up hating nursing and having no confidence in myself, leading to finding it very stressful. I did manage to find a care home post where I was happy but left nursing entirely to be a sahm/home educate my children. I have briefly been a call handler for 111 and pulled pints since but I wouldn't be able to get anywhere near the same level of pay as I did as a band 5 even if I did go back to full time work, so it's worth considering whether you could afford a pay drop.

What about moving sideways? I went into Occupational Health and no longer work for the NHS. It has its challenges but I know my life is less stressful because of the move.

What about working in custody?

I became a band 4 medical secretary and then moved to the private sector to work as a PA - more money and perks!

Can you specialise in something? Infection control? Blood transfusion? Train to be a practice nurse?

Uni lecturer?

If you still enjoy some aspects of nursing can you move to different department or speciality like others have said, what's your ideal job. Is there a larger trust near you,

A nurse I know has started work for a private company doing IV meds at peoples homes, cancer treatment I think.

Another I know does some sort of benefit agency assessments.

Another nurse on the run here.

About 13 years qualified and just stopped work to be sahp for a bit. Want to keep my hand in in case things improve but they are terrible at the moment, trying to do so much with so little resources.

I did try practice nursing for a bit but really didn't like the practice, poor training, attitude etc and it was very isolating when you are used to working in a team. I know a few nurses that have gone for the custody jobs as it is made to seem so appealing but they all left pretty quickly (couple of months).

There was a nurse on Victoria Derbyshire who had retrained through this company digitalmums.com/ but you have to be a mum. Might be worth a look if you want to get out completely.

I am doing benefits advice work for a leading Cancer charity. I still utilise quite a lot of my Nursing skills - people are often distressed when they come to my clinics and I help them complete applications for disability benefits. I visit patients on wards at major hospitals and assist them to make applications / sort out benefit problems and apply for grants. I am really enjoying it but is quite low paid compared to Nursing but relatively stress free. I plan to do some Nursing bank work in a few months time to keep my registration going and supplement my new job.
I would rather be in a lower paid job and continue working ( I also have a bad back and this job is not strenuous) than completely burn out through stress. My nursing job was becoming unbearable and unsafe and I was suffering anxiety just trying to get through the doors for each shift. The day I handed my notice in was tough but felt like a massive weight had been lifted.

I’m a RN and love my job in the Community! It’s super busy but less stressful than ward work as a large majority of the day you can independently work and you don’t go into work dreading who you’re going to be on shift with cos you don’t really see them!

But my friend left patient contact nursing and went into a phone triage role where she gets paid as a band 6! Only sees emergency failed discharge patients.

Maybe try another role and if you still hate it, then yeah maybe nursing isn’t for you!

I’ve been qualified 4 years and already know 3 people who have left it entirely! Sad the politics makes a lot of us feel like this :( xxxx

I moved sideways and reduced my hours. Keep an eye out for specialist roles etc. If you are happy to do bank work you could do some of that while also doing something outside the NHS.

I miss it and it was tough moving but it was worth it for a shot at family life. I have been doing bank work but even that is still stressful ward work so I am looking at what other jobs I could do on the side.

If the NHS was better staffed and supported I would never have had to make the career decisions I did .

Cloudhopping May I ask how you got into occupational health?
I’m in primary care but would love to get into this field

Could you work in a private hospital for a while? Less stress?

My friend was an A&E nurse and she went into university (nursing) lecturing. They put her through a PhD and she is doing very well by the sound of it! She also has a lot of flexibility with her hours etc. She said she would never return to the NHS.