# Confused



## ajlpn

Im very confused right now.  I don't know if my depression is my cause or if it's my personality.  I'm havig trouble dealing with the stress at work.
i know that every job has its normal stress and problems but I seem to take it so personal and on my shoulders when no one could care less what i think would help the situation. Can anyone relate or help.


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## Daniel

My perfectionism was a problem when I started working.

There seems to be a lot of self-help books like Awake at Work
that are about "surviving and thriving" at the workplace.

Just for fun and a sense of perspective, I like to read Dilbert before starting work each day.

Related: Do You Take Things Personally?: Learn How Not To


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## ajlpn

Thank you for the article it really helped but i know i will go into work tomorrow ready to solve all the problems instead of leaving it up to the people who are suppose to be doing that job.


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## Daniel

Taking work too seriously is a reason I stopped working  as a clerk in a medical office.  After that job, I started working for a toy distributor since I knew that I would feel less anxiety/stress in a field of work where the customers are not in severe pain.


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## ajlpn

Being a nurse is what i love to do.  I enjoy helping other people. I just have a problem solvving mind so it is very hard to turn that off.


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## Daniel

> ...but i know i will go into work tomorrow ready to solve all the problems instead of leaving it up to the people who are suppose to be doing that job.


Don't you get bogged down doing other people's work, having less time and energy to do your own job?  I would think that there is a ton of paperwork you are always having to keep at bay.



> when no one could care less what i think would help the situation



At a local hospital in my area, the CEO is available to any employee with a suggestion or complaint.  From what you say, it seems part of the problem is that you have not found a sympathetic ear in management.  I guess they don't have an anonymous suggestion box, either.


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## Daniel

In another thread, Dr. Baxter suggested that being a home health care nurse could allow you to have more say/control in patient care.  Here is more support for that suggestion:



> Thanks guys for your responses. I am trying to get into home health full time, which is a type of nursing that I LOVE. I get to focus fully on one patient at a time, actually sit and have a conversation with them, play with their pets  . There are no phone calls at the desk from doctors or family members interrupting the task at hand. No meds to pass for 7 to 8 patients. No calling doctors on new patients during med pass to say they didn't get "such and such" that they take at home, which can draw med pass out to 3 hours and over. No patients climbing out of bed to worry about. No admits coming to the floor taking away time that I didn't have in the first place. No aching feet.... I could go on and on. Did I say thank God for home health?
> Is this Burnout? - AllNurses.com



But, as you said in that other thread, you want to be where the action is.  I guess it's a matter of "choosing your poison."

Humorous posts on lazy and strange co-workers:Strangest Coworkers - AllNurses.com


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## ajlpn

I know home health might be a little calmer for me but I would be sacrificing what I enjoy doing.  I know this is the type of work im suppose to be doing I just can't get the respect I deserve because " I'm a LPN and not a RN yet".


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## Daniel

That's a very good point, of course:
Why is it so hard for the LPNs?


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## ajlpn

I'm not sure all i know is that any time I come across in meeting people they assume Im a Rn.  I going back to school this semester but very confursed about what to do in the meantime.


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## Daniel

More Links:
Stress Management and Nursing Burnout Prevention
Samaritans Under Stress: Then and Now - ADVANCE for LPN Magazine
New Nurse, too stressed! - AllNurses.com
stress and stress and stress.... - AllNurses.com

Excerpt:


> To help nurses recognize that they can't be all things to everybody, Miller encourages them to "move out of the center of the universe--move away from the hub." *In other words, let others solve their own problems.* To the guffaws of the conference audience, she provided an illustration to solidify her point--her husband unable to find the jelly jar in the refrigerator.
> 
> Stress Management: An Annual Checkup  - ADVANCE for Nurses Magazine


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