better paying job dealing with egos vs peace of mind job that pays poorly. I'd be taking a 20% financial hit. Worth it?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨eli04@linux.community⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I’d like life to be black and white, but ¯_ (ツ)_/¯

I’m a floor nurse, a job incredibly full of egos, passive aggressiveness, picking favorites, openly denigrating you with you present, a job I don’t like. I’m basically wiping up asses, dealing with alcoholics who fight you, washing people with dementia who don’t want to be washed, patients who refuse their meds but in the eyes of the charge I’m the guilty one if I don’t, somehow, make the person take his meds.

I hate it but this job pays my bills and even lets me save for retirement. Coming from a poor background, financial stability is incredibly important to me. I’m in in 40s for reference and not smart enough to study medicine.

It is what it is.

Job I applied for: moving beds, not empty beds but moving patients in beds from floor a to b, or taking them to the OP room, or for any kind of intervention. Everyone doing this job is happy: no floor stress, nobody micromanaging them, they get ample of free time, because they get to choose when to mark the patient as moved, don’t have to wash patients, if a patient refuses transportation they document it and move on, no drama, like when the charge asks you why patient x didn’t do whatever… seems an easy job.

but those 20K per year… (102K vs 81K fwiw)

Is it even worth it? I really hate my job but need the money.

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gon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
That’s a really tough question…

Is it even worth it? I really hate my job but need the money.

Need the money? If you need it, then that basically settles it. You can’t leave your current job if you need the money.

However, the question is moreso if you actually need it. Have you considered downsizing your apartment/wherever you live? Have you considered cutting costs here or there (subscriptions, for example)?

One thing’s for sure: your mental health is invaluable. You can’t afford to have a mental breakdown, and you don’t deserve to live a miserable life.

See if you can restructure your finances to fit the 81k salary, because a low-stress job like that is surely much better than the hellscape you seem to be navigating currently.

One thing to add: don’t stop looking for other opportunities. Maybe this one isn’t ideal because you may need to cut costs, but there could be something even better out there! Don’t stop looking for the perfect opportunity for you.

Just my opinion, of course.

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it_depends_man@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Make sure it’s not a “the grass is greener on the other side” situation.

I really hate my job but need the money.

If you “need” need the money, you don’t really have the choice.

Also, it’s turbulent times, it might be smarter to get that bag now while you can.

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- Eq0@literature.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  To build up on it: think long term as well.
  
  Nowadays, it’s a 20% pay reduction. How does it look for long term? Will you have growth options in the new position? Will it sabotage your resume? Will you be able to keep adding to your 401k? How likely it is that a rotten apple coming would spoil the mood in the new job?
  
  And: are you really really absolutely sure that the new job would be more chill for you? Think about yourself and think about how you would feel in that job after 6 months to a year. Would you still appreciate it? Would you get resentful because you have little to do while you could do so much more? What would be your frame of mind after a while?
  
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0x0@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Can you still pay your bills and save some with a 20% cut? If so, go for it.

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IWW4@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I used to work in medicine and the docs would all say that Nurses eat their young. Nursing is a rough job.

I don’t have any way to give you a yes no answer on taking the 20% cut.

Your calculus is:

Can you afford it?

How would that negatively change your lifestyle?

What is the stress total stress level reduction?

The salary difference is 21K, That boils down to a 612 reduction a pay check using 30% tax etc rate. Also I imagine your place has a 401K or some other retirement annuity that they do percent matching on, so what will the decreased pay do to that?

Can your monthly bills absorb a 612 reduction?

A 20% cut will cause X amount of stress in your life. Is that X amount less than the reduction of stress the new position will offer?

The kick in the ass is, when you make enough money it doesn’t matter, when you don’t make enough it is all that matters.

I did not take a 20% cut but I once took a job that was a pay cut and smaller future earning potential than the one I had because it offered me a better QoL.

It was so worth it… but again it was no where near a 20% reduction.

Here is an option. Can you take the 20% reduction and pick up OT or another part time job to offset?
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- andrewta@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Excellent response
  
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LambeauLeap@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Move to ED! YMMV based on the hospital but there’s a lot less butt wiping, meds are rarely refused, family shuts up and listens if the patient is critical enough, security is more available if patients get rowdy. Plus you get fun emergency stuff

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Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I spent about 20 years doing sales and I hated every minute of it.

I now have a consistent office job where I wear quite a few hats, but there’s no pressure for me to convince people to spend their money on crap they don’t need.

Not having the urge to step on the gas and plow into a cement wall on your way to work is worth far more than that 20%.

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celeste@kbin.earth ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
The grass might not be greener and maybe you should keep the better paying job, but you should keep in mind that living a life filled with stress is like eating a little poison evey day. It's not a huge deal, each individual dose, but it adds up.

Stress hormones do their own damage, but also - when my mental health sucks, I don't bother to put on sunscreen. I don't eat right. That adds up, too. Of course when money's tight, you can't avoid stress. But even if you don't change jobs now, you should probably be looking to change something soon. You're at an age where the consequences of that stress will start to pop up. Me too.

I don't know if you should take the new job, but I do think you should consider your mental health a high priority. Under money, maybe, but other people have given good advice here on various pros and cons to consider with that.

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FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
The grass is always greener on the other side. If you aren’t happy with one job, I’m afraid you won’t be happy with the other. Just because it sounds easier, doesn’t mean you will enjoy it. It’s not the job that’s making you miserable, it’s your frame of mind.

I know that’s hard to hear, but it’s true. You don’t go looking for happiness and peace, you create inside yourself. The only way out, is in. If it seems at any point like it’s the whole world against you, it’s more likely you against yourself.

I’d say stick with the nursing job, but talk to a mental health professional and figure out what’s really bothering you.

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- nimpnin@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  There are a lot of jobs that legitimately make you miserable and/or sick. Don’t know if that’s the case here though.
  
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  - FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I’ve worked jobs that weren’t easy, sure. I used to teach. That shit was TOUGH. However, your frame of mind changes everything. Like I said, you might not want to hear it, but sometimes the problem isn’t the job. Sometimes the problem is your point of view.
    
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melsaskca@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Peace of mind and less money every time. I say this as a lifetime corporate drone who always regretted quitting the section crew on the railroad to go to university.

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nimpnin@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I would take a 20% pay cut in a hearbeat to have a nicer job. Then again, I know that the safety nets are a lot better in my country than in the US (?).

Have you made exact calulations on where you could save some money?

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DrFistington@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
To me, work is a means to money. The ultimate goal is to do the least and get the most. Getting more money doesn’t mean you have to care more about your job. Always take the money

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BaroqueInMind@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
If you really need the money, why are you asking this in the first place? It shouldn't be a dilemma at all if you need the money

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