Out of Office (and Into the Forest): Why Nurses Need to Unplug

Dear tired nurse with 8 alarms, 2 coffees, and 3 charting tabs open — When was the last time you peed in peace? Or didn’t dream about the MAR? Or said “no” without 3 layers of guilt?

Yeah. That’s why I’m going camping.

No call bells. No double shifts. No “Can you stay just a bit longer?” Just me, the woods, a campfire, and a phone that’s blissfully off-grid.

Because here’s the truth they don’t teach you in nursing school:

📍 Your body isn’t a machine. Your brain isn’t a charting app. And burnout isn’t a badge of honor.

You can’t pour from an empty cup — and you sure as hell can’t survive this career if you never give yourself time to refill it.

So here’s your prescription:

🌲 1 week in nature

📵 No Wi-Fi

😴 Sleep in, sleep hard

🔥 Campfires instead of charting

💃 Dancing in the rain if necessary

I'm trading the hospital soundtrack (IV beeps + "Code Blue!") for wind, loons, and the occasional mosquito buzz. I’m not escaping real life — I’m remembering it.

So if you needed a sign to take a break, this is it.

Take those vacations that you deserve. Go camping. Sit by water. Let your mind breathe.

Let your nervous system come out of fight-or-flight. Let your body not be on call.

And if anyone asks where you are?

Tell them you’re “out of charting range.” Off-grid, babes.

No vitals, no notes, no handoffs — just me, a campfire, and the healing power of being completely unavailable.

No Wi-Fi. No whiteboards. No one asking for “just one more thing.”

Just trees, stillness, and maybe a s’more (or three).

The only rounds I’m doing? Marshmallows over open flame.

The only alarms I’ll answer? Loons at dawn.

Because sometimes healing doesn’t happen in scrubs — it happens in hammocks, on hiking trails, and under the stars.

See you next week — slightly dirtier, probably bit by something, but definitely more alive.