Are you suffering from nursing burnout? If you feel like you’re going crazy, you’re not alone. Countless nurses are leaving nursing because they are tired and worn out. You don’t need to throw away your nursing license in order to avoid burnout. There is a remedy for nursing burnout that doesn’t involve fleeing the profession.

An old adage says variety is the spice of life. Recycling your nursing career will help cure nursing burnout while adding some spice to your professional life. Nursing is full of variety. Many years ago, new nurses would traditionally take jobs as general medical/surgical nurses, and then work their way onto more specialized units. Job options back then were limited, and there weren’t many opportunities for advancement. Today, nurses are leapfrogging from job to job, and are working throughout the entire healthcare arena.

Times are changing, and many nurses are finding exciting new opportunities by venturing into untraditional waters. For example, domestic violence nurses work with children, adults, and the elderly in clinics and at shelters for the abused. They also do research to prevent domestic violence. Complementary health nurses are merging traditional and alternative health practices as a way of providing patient care. Not long ago, alternative health care such as Reiki, acupuncture, massage therapy, and guided imagery were viewed as quackery, but today many nurses are using these methods within their nursing practice. These methods are going mainstream, and becoming more accepted within the health care community. Technology is also changing, and individuals who are interested in nursing informatics are changing with the times. This new emerging field involves all aspects of computerization as it relates to nursing and healthcare practice. Informatic nurses are finding jobs at hospitals and within other healthcare facilities, computer software and hardware companies, healthcare consulting firms, colleges and universities, and at pharmaceutical and research facilities.

There are also exciting nursing opportunities within traditional nursing. Critical care nurses and emergency room nurses are in demand. Critical care nurses care for patients of all ages who are acutely ill or in critical condition. These nurses work primarily in hospital intensive care and cardiac units with sophisticated equipment, and are responsible for the emotional welfare of patients and their families. Emergency room nursing offers nurses the opportunity to think on their feet while they save lives. Emergency nursing focuses on providing quality patient care for people of all ages. Nurses working in an emergency room must have a wide base of knowledge to draw from as they care for patients presenting with illnesses or injury situations, ranging from a scraped knee to a heart attack. There are approximately 90,000 emergency nurses in the US, and more emergency room nurses are needed to meet demand.

If you are bored with current nursing job, it’s time to recycle your nursing career. Start your job search at NursingJobs.org. Once you’ve found your new job, come over to NursingVoices and tell us about your experience. We’re waiting to hear from you.