{"id":559958,"date":"2023-02-24T22:24:50","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/when-nursing-burned-me-out-tiktok-became-a-lifeline-2\/"},"modified":"2023-02-24T22:24:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T19:24:50","slug":"when-nursing-burned-me-out-tiktok-became-a-lifeline-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/when-nursing-burned-me-out-tiktok-became-a-lifeline-2\/","title":{"rendered":"#When nursing burned me out, TikTok became a lifeline"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26eaa83cb02\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26eaa83cb02\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/when-nursing-burned-me-out-tiktok-became-a-lifeline-2\/#%E2%80%9CWhen_nursing_burned_me_out_TikTok_became_a_lifeline%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;When nursing burned me out, TikTok became a lifeline&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWhen_nursing_burned_me_out_TikTok_became_a_lifeline%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;When nursing burned me out, TikTok became a lifeline&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            Now I have millions of followers\u2014and a way to cope\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n                                                                        <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2020, I graduated from nursing school in Quebec. Just a couple of weeks later, I found myself working in a hospital in the middle of a global pandemic. I had so much to learn: the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proper ways of administering medication and wound dressing, department-specific routines and, on top of that, all the new COVID-specific <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">safety regulations that were being introduced every day. I was also helping extremely sick patients communicate with their loved ones via phone or video chat because, at that time, many hospitals weren\u2019t accepting visitors. On several occasions, I had to give bad <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> to tearful, devastated families through a screen and say, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry that you can\u2019t be here right now.\u201d I kept asking myself: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Am I capable of carrying the lives of multiple people in my hands? Am I really made for this?<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It pained me to see patients co<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nfined to their rooms. I tried to cheer them up by making them laugh, but I still felt their sadness deep within me. I was also exhausted from working long hours in a short-staffed hospital; <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was in desperate need of a distraction. Around that time, TikTok was getting really popular<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Watching people dance on reels became a way of escaping reality. I came across a video of a guy asking his viewers to reply with a job that was undervalued and underpaid. I filmed my own video during a break in my shift. I held up my badge, which read: RN. I didn\u2019t actually mean to post the video; I did it by accident. Then I went back to work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>READ: State of Emergency: Inside Canada\u2019s ER Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I got home the next day\u2014it was a super-long shift\u2014my friends and family told me I had gone viral.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I didn\u2019t know what that meant. The only definition of \u201cviral\u201d I knew was illness-related. When I logged into my TikTok account, I saw that my accidental video had garnered more than a million views and upwards of 100,000 likes. Part of me was in shock; the other part of me was excited to be getting my 15 minutes of fame, despite my usual introversion. I assumed it was a one-time thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1243588 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/John-53G-e1677178047145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\"\/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I didn\u2019t post another video until five or six months later, after a really rough shift. I was still juggling too many patients and still questioning whether I was really cut out to be a nurse. I went to the unit\u2019s bathroom and cried, trying to calm my heart rate with breathing exercises. I thought about how many people could probably relate to the on-the-job breakdown I\u2019d just experienced and decided to film a video about it when I got home\u2014a funny one. I re-enacted my tears and deep breathing, but in an over-the-top ridiculous way. Within hours, that video had a million views and a ton of supportive comments. I wondered whether people were just watching to make fun of me, but there were enough positive and encouraging comments that I figured I might as well keep doing it.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I started posting a video a week after that. (I didn\u2019t have time to do more.) All of them went viral: the one about how\u00a0<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@nurse.johnn\/video\/7125501374669851910?lang=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">everything seems to go wrong<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> just minutes before a shift is about to end; the one about <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@nurse.johnn\/video\/7179374240741739782?lang=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how desperately nurses need a glass of wine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; all the ones <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@nurse.johnn\/video\/7114768144526298374?lang=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of me crying<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There is so much suffering in my profession right now, so I try to keep things lighthearted\u2014even if the topics themselves are heavy. I recently made a video about how nurses are constantly asked to work extra hours. In it, I sang Whitney Houston\u2019s <em>I Will Always Love You<\/em>,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0but changed the original words to \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I refuse this OT<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d We could all use a good laugh. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>RELATED:\u00a0I was a nurse for 10 years in Scotland. So why can\u2019t I get certified in Canada?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve gotten so many amazing messages from followers. I once received an Instagram message from someone who\u2019d spent months in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy. They said my content was showing that hospitals don\u2019t always have to be scary places, because nurses become like a family to you. Another follower, a nurse, told me I had described their entire day in my video. Like me, they had a stressful workday and cried. My video made them realize they weren\u2019t alone. In fact, my videos have created a community of 3.7 million people\u2014the kind of community I\u2019ve been searching for since I started nursing.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>MORE: I began my ER nursing career in Ontario. Burnout and low pay led me to leave for the U.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last July, I transferred to my hospital\u2019s emergency department after two years spent working on a surgical floor. I was completely run down and thought moving to a different environment might help me get back on track. The new job was exciting, but I was still exhausted. I told my manager I thought I should see a professional. The doctor I saw explained that my symptoms were clear signs of burnout, and that I needed to take some time away from work to take care of myself. In December, I went on mental-health leave.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nursing is still my greatest passion, and I will go back to work, when I\u2019m ready. In the meantime, I\u2019m more active on TikTok than ever. I try to post as consistently as possible\u2014about the perils of night shifts, working on a full moon and the bonus of work besties. I don\u2019t consider TikTok a job; it\u2019s more like therapy than work. (In fact, my therapist encourages me to post.) When people leave comments saying, \u201cHey John, I\u2019ve been through this. Be strong!\u201d it helps me come to terms with what I\u2019ve been through. In a way, I love TikTok for the same reason I love nursing. Being part of someone else\u2019s healing makes me feel better. On TikTok, it feels like I\u2019m nursing all these different people around the world, in a way. I\u2019m so thankful for them.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/society\/nursing-burnout-tiktok-nurse-john\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;When nursing burned me out, TikTok became a lifeline&#8221; Now I have millions of followers\u2014and a way to cope In 2020, I graduated from nursing school in Quebec. Just a couple of weeks later, I found myself working in a hospital in the middle of a global pandemic. I had so much to learn: the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":559959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/John-207G-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[73014,73244,47912,140418,73313],"class_list":["post-559958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-health-care","tag-nursing","tag-tiktok","tag-tiktokfamous","tag-viral"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}