Tristan Hites from Tucson, Arizona writes, “Do you have any advice or sage wisdom for a 25-year-old who was in a career but has been burnt out and now is completely lost in what they should do? After going to school for 5 years (nursing) and devoting their life to this career, being burnt out and not wanting anything to do with it has made things difficult.”
Tristan, thank you kindly for this excellent question. I don’t want to presume, so if you’re not the aforementioned 25-year-old, then I hope you’ll pass my donkey thoughts along to them. I’ll start by stating my expertise—I appeared on a live episode of the television program E.R. in about 1998 or so, and in the episode, I lit a joint in the titular emergency room before being quickly admonished by Maria Bello that “Hey man, you can’t fire that thing up in here.” I also listened to the estimable Anthony Edwards pronounce cricho-thyroidectomy successfully at least 4 times, so I guess I’m saying you have come to the right place for nursing advice.
Tristan (an awfully nice name for a nurse, btw), look: 25 seems an awfully tender age to be feeling so fed up with a career path, so I’m curious if you or they are more burned out on school itself than the actual nursing? If such a student got into the nursing game out of a desire to help infirm or injured people, then could that satisfying end still be possibly achieved once the (assumed) gauntlet of school-based drudgery has been successfully run?
Also, are there any other options for remunerative work that might be nursing-adjacent? 5 years of school seems like one heck of an investment in time and funds to just be thrown away. Are there any pivots this person might make to a career path that takes advantage of this precious education without perpetuating the frustrating parts? Does this quarter-centenarian we’re discussing know any older professionals in the biz from whom guidance might be sought?
But if this frustrated young person is indeed finished with nursing altogether, then I can only suggest that they reexamine the spark of interest or passion that led them to nursing school in the first place, then look deep inside themselves or maybe down at the local trade school to see if there is perhaps another vocation that provides a similar inspiration. Nursing, as far as I am aware, is not a job one chooses to get rich or be famous, with the exception of Nurse Jackie or Florence Nightingale or that imposing matron from the movie of the Ken Kesey book, so maybe another love is waiting in the wings. I always recommend trying to make things with one’s hands.
Whatever the solution might be this time around, it’s important to never despair. If nothing else, just take a break. Maybe take a year off and see how you/they feel about nursing now, versus your/their new income stream from making influencer TikToks of dropping Mentos into different size soda bottles?
Perhaps with a little distance you or they will remember what got you/them through those 5 years of hard work in the first place. I’ll leave you with this: I asked my Mom how she felt about the 25 years she spent working as a labor and delivery nurse, and she replied, “It was humbling and awe-inspiring to be able to observe babies being born on a daily basis. Sometimes heartbreaking, but I loved it.”
Hope that does you or them some good, friend.
Love,
Thursdays are free, the weekends usually have a video that I’m placing more value on for some reason, although I can’t imagine why at the moment. Anyway, you have to pay for the video stuff, but I just sit there and talk so it’s not the greatest thing you’ll ever see. I do appreciate your questions in the comments, that’s how I fuel my donkey thoughts.
A Maria Bello Joint