Nurses..need big hugs and support!!!

[minkydog]

I think alot of my fear is my thinking 'I am going to kill everyone by making some mistake'. The whole death and dying thing....I am not good at that. You don't have much death in psych, unless they do the taking.

I'll give you a piece of advice someone once gave me: it's harder to kill 'em than you think.

I don't think you're a horrible nurse, I think you're having an anxiety attack. I'm not getting why you have to quit your job--do you like your job? is there something about your job that is inherently dangerous? In the last 29yrs I've worked in med/surg, psych, ED, L&D, mother/baby, NICU and peds and I've been physically threatened at least once in every single one. I've come to the conclusion there is no perfectly safe job. You want a safe job, be a postal worker

Seriously, If you love working in psych, I'd suggest you stay in that field in some capacity. I hate, hate, HATE med/surg and my kids will be begging in the streets before I ever step foot on a med/surg floor again. In fact, I'd rather just do something else entirely, if that's my only choice. I would think with your supervisory skills and clinical knowlege that you would do well in an out-patient setting, perhaps working for a mental health program.

If it's your skills you are worried about, take a refresher course. Get your CPR up to date, take a first aid course, take some pharmacology. If it's just your DH who is worried and you feel he is being unreasonable, then you need to tell him that. Don't jump ship until you have a plan. Good luck

 

[wilderness01]

Sorry you are stressed. Good luck.

 

[babynurse1]

Maybe you can get a few months med-surg experience, and then move on to something else. If you're not comfortable, ask for more orientation. This happens at the hospital I work at all the time.

Best of luck, and remember as others have said, there are so many options in nursing from the newborn to the old, doctors offices, insurance office, home health. Or heck, move to WDW and apply to be their on staff nurse!!!

 

[Poppinsme]

If you feel that bad now then you need to find some thing else. One thing about nurseing there is so much lateral movement. So many choices. I work in a level lll NICU and am very busy. Med/surg is very busy and a demanding floor. You really have to love it going in or it WILL make you sick. Been in health care for 18 years now and I have never seen it this busy. The pay and benifits suck for what we have to do. Also anybody thats in management has no idea whats going on in the field unless they work it. Most managers dont know crap about the jobs they oversee. And ladies do you notice that 80% of health care workers are women but the management is 80% men? The one field where women should rule and we dropped the ball again. All the CEOs of the hospitals in my area are men. If they had to do my job once in awhile our pay would go up.
Dont be depressed theres nothing wrong with changing your mind and trying something else. It would be much worse if you stayed on Med/surg and were unhappy.

 

[RNMOM]

Oh Tinkerrn,

Nursing is such a difficult job on so many levels. When I trained, over 30 years ago, there were so few choices. ICU's were pretty new things, OR, ER, you know the drill. Now there are so many subspecialties.

I have never been able to do Medsurg. I just am not that kinda people. I am a very hands on person but my strength is talking to people, not meds/paperwork. I started out in OR and then IV therapy and then RR. I always worked perioperative and did well at it. I then went to a nurse advice line and found my comfort zone. I quit last Jan and am considering myself retired due to some health reasons but I understand your emotions.

I suggest you think hard about what your strengths are and try to find a place in that zone. With your psych background would you be comfortable working at an inpatient rehab center? (don't asking how I know they have nurses there. ) What about working in an outpatient clinic that does a lot of patient teaching but none of the IV, caths, proceedures. Diabetes or TB or Liver or OB clinics all come to mind. Yes they pay less than medsurg but the no weekends or holidays make up for it. It isn't fair to the other nurses on the floor you are working if you don't plan to stay. They need to hire someone who will be there so start looking now. If you are in a large hospital, speak with someone in HR and find out what the options are. Good luck and listen to your heart. You should not be a bundle of nerves at work, it is dangerous.

 

[mommy*RN]

If med surg isn't for you then you don't have to do it. There are a lot of opportunities as a nurse that you can try. A lot of people I graduated with did the med surg and moved on very quickly. They are now home health nurses, dialysis nurses, public health nurses, ER nurses, etc. Is there some part of healthcare that you find interesting? I've always though hyperbarics looked interesting and dealing with all the different wounds. Do any of the hospitals in your area offer day clinics for psych patients? I did a clinical rotation at a day clinic and it was very interesting. It was comprised of mostly eating disorder patients but there were a few depressed patients also. Basically they were all med/program compliant and came for group and individual sessions at the hospital. It was VERY low stress (even for a student) and interesting. They were all women when I was there and just hearing their life stories and such was amazing. I was very lucky they accepted me. I figured down the road that would be something I would LOVE to do. It was even nice because the clinic was open 5 days a week regular business hours so you wouldn't have to work weekends, holidays, or odd shifts. With your experience you would be a shoe in for a position like this!

I hope this helps. Not everyone is cut out for med surg positions. I'm not and decided to go right into pediatrics, and I love it for now. I do want to taste a few other options nursing offers me, but I will wait until my kids are a bit older.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do...

 

[karensi]

tinkerrn, I can totally relate to you. I am an RN and workewd in the Psych ER for 23 years. I could NEVER work in med surg or any real medical setting at this point. Anyway, because I wanted to work 12 hour shifts, I switched to the alcohol/drug detox unit about 3 years ago and I LOVE it. I work 3 nights, 7pm to 7am ( I am at work right now as a matter of fact). After working in the Psych ER for so long this job is a breeze. Every pt is voluntary, so if they want to leave they can....no wrestling with them,no agitated pts anymore either,because if they become agitated they are asked to leave. You know that isn't the case in Psych. They really aren't medically sick,s/s of withdrawal is usually about it and they are medicated for that. No IV's, no foleys,just po meds. Much easier than Psych IMHO. Good luck in whatever your final choice is.
P.S. I think if you are happy and comfortable where you are (were) you should stay there. Ask your husband how he would like it if you made him change jobs

 

[MagicalMom]

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Just remember that it will take a while to become comfortable in any new position.

. I have learned how to properly place a body in a body bag, prep the body before placing in the body bag, and first and formost notify our organ harvesting organization of a pt. close to expering.

That's really ashame that they you notifiying the organization. Our hosp. sup. deals with them, we never do. I guess every facility can be so different.

 

[tinkerrn]

Well...I have convinced myself and finally my hubby that med-surg is just not going to be my 'niche'. I just know myself better than anyone. There are sooo many aspects of nursing and this is just NOT one I want to partake in. I can handle the gross stuff, not problem. I just don't have the desire to work on a med-surg floor. I was originally told that the unit was an oncology floor....of the 21 beds, there are 4 beds. The other beds are for negative pressure rooms, hospice, etc.. I admire those that can work on med surg...it's a very stressful, labor intensive and the liability is over the top.
I am a psych nurse, and love working with adolescents and children. I am going to stay PRN at the psych hospital I am at now, but will continue to get on at the Childrens hospital we have in our city. My hubby and I have fought over this for the last few days. He married a psych nurse, not a psych nurse whom he hoped would be a med surg nurse. There are dangerous situations in all aspects of nursing. I am carefull and don't put myself in situations that would lead to a situation. I was frank and told him if me being miserable at a job he wanted me to have was that important to him, we needed to rethink our marriage. I told him, if he couldn't handle me being a med surg nurse than maybe he needs to think about getting a divorse. He was pretty upset over that, but I am not going to be maried to someone who has to control every aspect of my life...including my career. He is trying to be supportive and understanding. He really has no other choice. We leave in a week for WDW and its the last place on earth i'd like to be. I hate chaos in my personal life. Chaos at work is another story...kinda why I like psych...never a dull moment.