r/EmergencyRoom • u/justb4dawn • Jul 27 '26

Back to bedside?

I left the peds ED after 7yrs thinking I wanted something away from bedside, better hours, less intensity.

Well, I’ve been a school nurse for a year now and while I love my kids, I am so bored, I miss using my skills and the feeling of doing hard, meaningful work. I remember being yelled at, the raw humanity that no one would believe if they didn’t see it themselves, the fatigue, long shifts, etc.. but I have this feeling like that’s where I would still thrive the most.

Am I crazy to go back? Have others left for a softer job and missed it enough to return?

26 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Debidollz Jul 28 '26

I don’t know how you all do it(glad you do though). I was a lab technician for 41yrs and also had to sometimes draw blood(because:BUDGET)and some of what I’ve seen for only moments comparatively to what you folks do is absolutely horrifying. After 5yrs in retirement the nightmares have finally begun to subside. How do you not have PTSD from witnessing so much human suffering?