“It’s me, not you”. You’ve probably heard that phrase before, maybe not in a professional way, but typically, that’s the way it goes. “I’m burnout, I need something different”. or “I’m tired of working weekends, and holidays”. I get it. Sometimes you do need something different. However, that something different may not be because of you.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to decide whether you need to find something different to pursue, or you just need a different place to shine.

1. Take a week off, what happens? Do you feel refreshed and ready to go back? Or do you still dread the thought of stepping foot in that establishment? Feeling refreshed can indicate that you still love it! We just need to change up the scenery a bit.

2. Is there a difference in how you feel after a good vs bad shift? If there is no difference when you walk out the door, you may have lost that loving feeling. A bad shift is kind of like a breakup. It hurts at first, lots of feelings, but once time has passed, you move on and have learned something.

3. Think about the sole purpose of your job. What do you think about that? Are there other reasons you dread coming to work? They always say coworkers can even make the worst job worth doing. What if it’s the other way around? Coworkers, managers, and directors can make you loathe a job you love, and it may be time to taking your talents elsewhere.

4. Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 15, 20 years? What you see in that futuristic mirror can paint a pretty good picture of what your next move should be.

5. When someone asks you what you do, are you proud? Do you smile and say “I’m a nurse and I… ”, or do you laugh and say “eh, I’m a nurse….” followed by an awkward silence? Being proud of what you do can be a magic eight ball and tell you what you already know.