Quit nursing??????

So I just finished my degree in children’s nursing and after all these years of studying as a student I realized now I’m qualified it’s taken a big tol on my mental health and although I enjoy the job I don’t know if it’s what I want to do long term and am thinking about quitting...what shall I do? Am I making a mistake by quoting? Should I give it more time? 😭😭

Only you can answer whether that is the right decision. Do you have a plan for what you might want to do instead?

Not really😪 I just feel this job is too much for my mental health, I don’t feel happy, most of my days off I don’t do much because I’m trying to recover from my shifts. I just feel like I want more out of life than do a job that clearly impacts on me this much.

Have you ever considered being a practice nurse at a GP surgery?

The hours are much more friendly and consistent (daytime only & no shifting rotas) and the job is generally less intense than hospital nursing (in my opinion, at least).

Thanks for taking the time to reply. No I haven’t, but that sounds like something I’d be more interested in. Do you need any extra qualifications to do this? Because I specialise in children’s only.

So I just finished my degree in children’s nursing and after all these years of studying as a student I realized now I’m qualified it’s taken a big tol on my mental health and although I enjoy the job I don’t know if it’s what I want to do long term and am thinking about quitting...what shall I do? Am I making a mistake by quoting? Should I give it more time? 😭😭

Omds i feel the same and i am entering my 2nd year of uni studying childrens nursing.i want to quit and drop out but when i think of how far i have come i think is it worth it. The degree itself is tiring plus the placements.

Just for another option, have you looked into school nursing? Or how to get into the courses to become a health visitor? You still have options without having to do hospital shifts, as other posts have proven

Hi @nadd,

Have you also considered children's day surgery? Admittedly,still 12 hour shifts but every weekend off.

There's some information about the process of becoming a practice nurse here - I think you do need some extra training/qualifications, but a child nursing degree is perfectly acceptable.

(I'm not an HCP myself, but I worked as a GP receptionist last summer, so I got some insight into the roles of practice nurses)

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing/general-practice-nurse

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into it. Just out of curiosity we’re the practice nurses dealing with both adult and children’s?

Yes.

At the surgery, I worked at, the nurses were responsible for things like:
- Newborn & child immunisations
- Travel vaccinations
- Smear tests
- Cleaning & bandaging minor wounds/ulcers (mostly older people but a few children)
- Ear syringing (adults & children)
- ECGs
- Annual routine asthma check ups

Additionally, some of the nurses also did annual check ups for people with other chronic illnesses, including:
- Diabetes (involving checking blood results, talking with the patient about lifestyle etc)
- Coronary heart disease
- and others that I can’t remember!

There were also Minor Illness nurses who had additional qualifications, and could thus:
- See & diagnose patients with coughs/colds and minor skin complaints (e.g. impetigo)
- Had some prescribing rights

Isin't that for adult nurses or childrens nurses can do that cuz i don't think childrens nurses do stuff like ulcers but correct me if i am wrong