help in leaving nursing

Hi All
I have been a Med-Surg Telemetry RN for 30 years, mostly part-time. I have been trying for almost a year to find a job outside of the hospital. I have been unsuccessful. I am a good nurse who is just too tired of being run ragged and expected to go without a break for 13-14 hours. I am tired of giving marginal care even when Im going as fast as I possibly can. If someone else tells me to "make time" I will explode. I am becoming extremely depressed and can't even do anything on my days off b/c all I think of is having to go back to work on my next day. Our floor is losing almost half of our staff AND theyre trying to introduce EPIC computer training. I will be having 8 patients, we have a few ventilator and trach patients also, with maybe a pca if I'm lucky on day shift. Have any of you quit with 20 years at one hospital? I dont even want to give thre required 3 weeks notice. I am 50 years old. If you quit, do you lose all your pension? Do I even get a pension if I quit at age 50? I also carry insurance for my husband, college age son and myself. If anyone else has or is in my position, can you please post your experience?
Thanks, Mary
Mary - I feel so sorry for you! Your frustration is palpable. Have you considered another area: case management, risk management, home health, education? I know that I'm 48 and I just finally felt that I couldn't do it anymore. I went back to school and am now very happy.
Quote from traumaRUsMary - I feel so sorry for you! Your frustration is palpable. Have you considered another area: case management, risk management, home health, education? I know that I'm 48 and I just finally felt that I couldn't do it anymore. I went back to school and am now very happy.
These posts were a little over a year ago but I would love to find out if the OP ever found a job she was happy with or if she still works at the hospital.
I'm not the OP but I'm a nephrology advanced practice nurse who works in chronic outpt hemodialysis units and the hospitals too.
I also noticed that the thread is a little over a year old and thought after reading the OP that she would be a perfect candidate for working with one patient at a time in home health. Sounded like she could use a breather from that stress filled environment. Hope she found something suitable.
I also have a story just like Mary's except I've been working in the OR for 32 years. I am 56 now and can no longer work in a hospital setting. I've tried working for ambulatory surgery centers, but that really wasn't any better for me. I'm totally burned out on surgery and possibly nursing altogether. I'd like any information at all on case management, risk management, quality assurance- anything that a 32-year OR nurse could possibly do with some training or classes. If you have any ideas at all, please post them! I need to keep working as a nurse, even at lower pay, because I still believe that nursing is one of the most lucrative jobs out there. Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Quote from maryarnI also have a story just like Mary's except I've been working in the OR for 32 years. I am 56 now and can no longer work in a hospital setting. I've tried working for ambulatory surgery centers, but that really wasn't any better for me. I'm totally burned out on surgery and possibly nursing altogether. I'd like any information at all on case management, risk management, quality assurance- anything that a 32-year OR nurse could possibly do with some training or classes. If you have any ideas at all, please post them! I need to keep working as a nurse, even at lower pay, because I still believe that nursing is one of the most lucrative jobs out there. Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Tammy,Thanks very much for your suggestions- they are greatly appreciated. Best of luck in your new nursing career!:icon_roll
Quote from tammy777Well, I'm only a nursing student (I graduate in June 08), but I just recently finished Nursing of the Chronically Ill and our clinical rotations were hospice, home health and at a VA rehab center. I was at the VA and all the nurses I talked to there LOVE working for the VA (it surprised me, but they all love it and kept telling me so �ܤ). All the other students in my class had hospice or home health rotations and every single one of them loved it. In fact, a large majority of them said that is what they would want to do in their later years of nursing. If you know any home health or hospice nurses, ask if you can ride along for a day and see if it's something you'd like...