Iv been in isolation and I have been coping better than I thought but as the days go on it is getting tougher.
It’s made me really think about what I want to do and how I wanna work. I’m not where I want to be right now.
I was due my time off ( looking forward to a nice week off) when suddenly Covid hit where I work , staff members were dropping like flies and I was putting myself at high risk a few days before my time off. Even more staff had to isolate and I was at a point where there was only me and one other left , I couldn’t take time off now sigh
So I cancelled everything, came back in on my week off and worked until I basically got Covid . I knew this was going to happen but i also felt I had no choice . I haven’t even been thanked for what I did. I don’t get paid enough to put my life on hold like this as well as my health and I don’t know what to do.
I want to find something else to do, but all the job posts are for care work that I already do . I don’t know how to career change for the better and I don’t want to go back to retail. I feel lost , stressed and clueless.
Anyone else feel like working over time , working alot (but having good amount of down time/time off ) just isn’t working ?
Before I retired, sometimes I had to work 21 days straight. I also worked with highly infectious patients, with things like C-diff and tuberculosis. I also did a lot of reverse isolation, to protect immunocompromised patients.
Fortunately, I was retired before this covid stuff started happening. If you are in healthcare, there will be times when you are compelled to work, even when exhaustion makes it dangerous to do so. Our healthcare system is severely understaffed, even in the best of times. I think it’s miraculous that so many people are dedicated to helping others in spite of the overwork.
Regarding what you should do now, I don’t know. Much of it depends on your financial situation. It’s probably not a good idea to interrupt your income unless you can afford it. Checking to see what kind of work is available to you would be a good idea.
If the difficulties you’re having at work are entirely related to covid, keep in mind, it won’t go on forever. There may not be many other kinds of work out there available that would not also expose you to covid.
Career changes are HARD. I haven’t changed careers, and it sounds terrifying. The best pieces of advice I can give are to have your resume and LinkedIn polished up, read articles on career changes (there are plenty out there), and figure out how you can pivot your daily skills into something else. This might be a stretch, but one thing I can think of is that caring for patients, keeping them straight, and guarding confidential information might pivot to HR. Healthcare runs parallel to customer service, so it’s hard to break out of that box, but people do it. In addition to reading expert advice, look for articles from people who pivoted out of healthcare or customer service.
i’m sorry you had that experience - that was my life a few years back, i did a job i completely hated - i worked in a few places to see if it was what i wanted to do. but… you made a positive impact by coming in for people though (especially if it is care), so well done for that, regardless of work seeming unappreciated
dear friend. i regret to read you got sick and i hope you recover soonest with no further effects whatsoever. as someone also going through my own career reexamination, i can relate to the overwhelming feeling of the choices and the feeling that no one you can reach out too.
of course getting well is your priority the next days, but i hope you’re able to reach out to even weak ties and ask around / research. i’m in my beginning stages of adding skills, and may your horizons become wider than it ever has been. hugs!
sorry to hear about your experience my friend. i work in healthcare myself so i can totally relate and have been dealing with this covid stuff since it all began back in 2020. if you have any contacts you can network through about jobs that would be an easy place to start. do not lose faith in yourself, because of how the covid stuff played out at your work - you are totally worth it and we all love and appreciate you here. hold fast my friend and take care. evan
