Getting burned out

[Murse]

Hello everyone,

I am beginning to get burned out at work. I am a registered nurse. I have a bunch of stressors going on but I think the source of my frustrations is some of my co-workers/being too emotionally invested at work.

I have co-workers who are awful at what they do, however we have a union that makes desipline for management difficult. Several of My co-workers are routinely making mistakes, some are minor but some could harm the patients. These mistakes end up falling on others shoulders, myself included.

I have been getting more and more frustrated over the last year to the point where I finally reported something in writing to my manager about a mistake that was made. I reported this mistake over a week ago and I have been anxiously awaiting the conflict that I know is coming.

I guess I am looking for ideas on what to do. I do plan on scheduling some counseling going forward. Leaving isn’t really an option as I would take a 15-25% paycut wherever I go, would likely have to work night shift and I have less then a year to vest in my pension. I would say I am about 1/4th FI.

[COEE]

It's not unusual to get burned out at this stage.  It's a marathon and not being quite half way there - you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  You have the additional stresses that peoples lives can be in danger.  Rest assured that you're making progress to FI, and you're doing what you can to save lives.

It's also not unusual to have people with different levels of skill in every discipline imaginable.  Lawyers, Doctors, Engineers, Plumbers, Electricians, Pizza Delivery, Store Managers, Restaurant Owners - all have different levels of competency and efficiency.

There's got to be a regulatory board where you can make more strong complaints - but be sure that you're not being petty.  You can use this as leverage as well.  Work with your union to try to get the problems solved.  Many times this can be a long drawn out process with lots of objective evidence to support the desired change.  Many times the change will also never happen due to power and/or political reasons - that's when it's time to find a new job.

Good luck - hang in there.  In some industry's, if you have a particular skill, new employers will be willing to provide a signing bonus to 'make you whole' if you have not yet vested.

[ApacheStache]

I know most nurses don't have the luxury of a standard 9 to 5 Mon-Fri work schedule, but one of the best remedies I can think of is getting outside for some exercise and fresh air –– this can be during your lunch break or after your shift. Also I've had a lot of success by detaching from the TV, getting away from the computer, silencing my smartphone and ignoring the news. Once I started doing this, I've found a tremendous amount of free time to start up new hobbies and activities that span the gamut of exciting, relaxing, challenging, mentally-stimulating and rewarding. Ever since I started taking up new hobbies, I barely remember all the stupid shit that happens at work.

[BikeFanatic]

There are less stressful nursing jobs also. In my hospital they are offering bonus money to RN with clinical experience to work as case managers. There are a few jobs for RN to be go between the hospital and the insurance company. Less stress than the bedside and a mistake doesn’t harm anyone.
Then there is pharmaceutical companies they also like nurses as sales staff. Keep your eyes open for opportunities.

[Murse]

Thanks for the responses.

I would like to respond to just one point- yes, I understand that there are differing skill levels and I appreciate you pointing that out. The problem, at least the way I see it, is these are not new people. These are people with many years experience, who the licensing board would very likely suspend (at the very least)  for some of the mistakes made.

I guess I have a bunch of excuses as to why I have not reported these errors to the board. The biggest reason (not a good one,) is I am not protected by the union due to being in an on-call position. I fear rocking the boat could result in my not getting a position. Secondly the optics of it would look extremely bad- a on-call staff reports a permenant staff member and may look like the report was made only to benefit myself. I don’t want to go above my managers head.

I am supposed to be getting a full time position in a few months, I guess I have been telling myself after that happens I will report the next mistake, but realistically I will still have a difficult time doing it. I won’t want to rock the boat, I won’t want my manager to have to deal with the board’s investigation, I won’t want to be known as “that guy” who goes and reports issues to the board, I won’t want to feel responsible for someone receiving descipline or losing their livelihood from the board.

On the flip side when a mistake does result in a major injury or disability I would feel awful that I didn’t report the issues to the board sooner. I have been playing mental gymnastics with this one by telling myself as long as I report it to my manager, it is her job to decide how the address the problem.

[Murse]

I know most nurses don't have the luxury of a standard 9 to 5 Mon-Fri work schedule, but one of the best remedies I can think of is getting outside for some exercise and fresh air –– this can be during your lunch break or after your shift. Also I've had a lot of success by detaching from the TV, getting away from the computer, silencing my smartphone and ignoring the news. Once I started doing this, I've found a tremendous amount of free time to start up new hobbies and activities that span the gamut of exciting, relaxing, challenging, mentally-stimulating and rewarding. Ever since I started taking up new hobbies, I barely remember all the stupid shit that happens at work.

I am currently on a Monday-Friday rotation which is adding the the stress IMO. I will be changing to a Tuesday-Saturday rotation in a couple of weeks on 10 hour shifts. I think no longer working the Monday and Tuesday will be helpful. Weekdays are rough because it is so much busier and their is more overlap with the staff causing the problems.

[COEE]

Thanks for the responses.

I would like to respond to just one point- yes, I understand that there are differing skill levels and I appreciate you pointing that out. The problem, at least the way I see it, is these are not new people. These are people with many years experience, who the licensing board would very likely suspend (at the very least)  for some of the mistakes made.

I guess I have a bunch of excuses as to why I have not reported these errors to the board. The biggest reason (not a good one,) is I am not protected by the union due to being in an on-call position. I fear rocking the boat could result in my not getting a position. Secondly the optics of it would look extremely bad- a on-call staff reports a permenant staff member and may look like the report was made only to benefit myself. I don’t want to go above my managers head.

I am supposed to be getting a full time position in a few months, I guess I have been telling myself after that happens I will report the next mistake, but realistically I will still have a difficult time doing it. I won’t want to rock the boat, I won’t want my manager to have to deal with the board’s investigation, I won’t want to be known as “that guy” who goes and reports issues to the board, I won’t want to feel responsible for someone receiving descipline or losing their livelihood from the board.

On the flip side when a mistake does result in a major injury or disability I would feel awful that I didn’t report the issues to the board sooner. I have been playing mental gymnastics with this one by telling myself as long as I report it to my manager, it is her job to decide how the address the problem.

I certainly understand your dilemma.  The manager may have done something to address the problem.  Discipline is usually initially done in secret - particularly in regard to peer groups.  It may be appropriate to ask your manager if anything has been done before making any decisions to report to the board.

Additionally, it sounds like this person has more experience than you.  Maybe they made a decision based on their prior experience that you don't understand or agree with simply because you haven't had those same experiences.  Perhaps your manager evaluated the situation and decided the other nurse made the right decisions.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's probably a LOT more to this situation than even you may be privy too, and we certainly can't provide much advise without a lot more information.

It's certainly in your power and ethical duty (IMHO) to report anyone to the board that you feel is being negligent in their job duties since peoples livelihoods (at least) are in danger.

There are probably anonymous ways of reporting someone to the board as well.

[Murse]

I know most nurses don't have the luxury of a standard 9 to 5 Mon-Fri work schedule, but one of the best remedies I can think of is getting outside for some exercise and fresh air –– this can be during your lunch break or after your shift. Also I've had a lot of success by detaching from the TV, getting away from the computer, silencing my smartphone and ignoring the news. Once I started doing this, I've found a tremendous amount of free time to start up new hobbies and activities that span the gamut of exciting, relaxing, challenging, mentally-stimulating and rewarding. Ever since I started taking up new hobbies, I barely remember all the stupid shit that happens at work.

I appreciate the advice, I will try to take this to heart.

[kei te pai]

Are you keeping a record for yourself of what happens and when? Sometimes it is hard to remember details and times in detail weeks and months later. And it may assist you if and when something really blows up.
If the errors are occuring in specific settings or tasks, say patient handling, or drug administration, could you ask/suggest to your manager, in very diplomatic terms that some professional development in identified situations could benefit the "team"?
If there is a colleague who shares your work practices could you talk with them about the the two of you doing a presentation at what ever inservice education your facility runs?
At my last workplace I volunteered to do an audit of a particular aspect of care which I knew not all my colleagues were doing as they should. The results clearly identified the problem, without directly naming those concerned.  The circulation of the completed audit did result in some improvement at least in the short term.
At least then you will feel you have given your best efforts to improving work safety. Acting positively may earn you some goodwill, and help relieve your exasperation.