[Purdue_Nurse]

Hi everyone, I have been a nurse for around 2 years now. I am currently on my third job and am thinking about switching again. My first job was on a unit at a local hospital, I hated it and made myself stick it out for at least 6 months but ended up leaving soon after that. Second job, an education department at a different hospital. I absolutely loved it, but the department went way over budget and hours were reduced for me and several other new ones. Some weeks I only was given 10 or so hours of work so I had to find something else ASAP to support myself. So I went back to bedside nursing, in a very different type of unit than I was on at my first job. That is where I am now. I have given it some time, but I am still miserable and dreading each day I have to work. I just don't think bedside nursing is for me. The stress level and constant demands from patients/families/doctors really is taking a toll on me. I am a caring person and genuinely want the best for my patients but I am extremely unhappy. It is starting to take a toll on my relationships with my family and boyfriend. I'm pretty sure it is job-related since I was much happier while in my education job. With my first job I thought my unhappiness was partly due to being a new nurse and that's why it was so hard but now with 2 years of working I feel relatively comfortable but don't enjoy what I do at all. I'm sure there are other types of nursing jobs out there that I would enjoy but in the area I'm from these are very hard to come by unless you have several years of hospital experience. I am considering going back to school for a different type of degree. I hate to leave another job, I am afraid it will be hard for me to get hired having had 3 jobs and only being out of school for a couple of years. I never would have left the education position if it wasn't for my hours getting reduced by so much. Has anyone else been in a similar position and were you able to find something you enjoyed or did you leave nursing altogether? Also, will having had so many jobs in a relatively short amount of time hurt my chances of getting a different job?

[sequelae]

the question is as i see it is: are you unhappy because NURSING is not what you really love doing? think about it, have you ever wanted to be a teacher? i finished psychology and because the job opportunities here are severely lacking for psychology, i decided to go into nursing. but thats because im flexible. if you think you can handle the added strain of going back to school for another degree, go for it. however, if you so loved your job in education (is that nursing education) you might as well look for some more jobs related to education before deciding to make the drastic move going back to school again. and remember, it never is pretty to be getting in a job THAT YOU DONT LOVE.

[morte]

if you have a bachelors in nursing, have you thought of substitute teaching? maybe mddle school age group?

[jmgrn65]

There are many jobs in nursing that aren't bedside nursing. case management, nursing instructor, Informatics, patient educator, nursing educator.
what is it about bedside nursing you don't like, patient contact?, patient/family interaction? Maybe surgery is an option.

[NurseCherlove]

Like you, I too don't care that much for bedside nursing, at least not floor nursing (I would like to try working in the unit). So why am I doing it? For experience and experience alone because I eventually want to be a Nurse Practitioner, where I think I will excel. I believe that being more in control of my minute-to-minute time will reduce my stress significantly. Like you, I feel taxed by the constant stress of "running" to meet the multitude of demands for 12 hours/day and the constant interruptions all in between. I actually love the patient interactions.

Sorry to ramble...the point I was actually trying to get to was that maybe you might like something like my last job....outpatient psych RN. I had my own office, I was the only RN and there with a fair amount of autonomy. Now there was a lot of paperwork, but I got to spend 1:1 time with my patients. I really miss it sometimes. It was not stressful at all - a little irritating at times because of the paperwork, but that was the worst of it.

You worked too hard for this degree and there are just too many options. I say that you should continue to utilize your RN degree and milk it for all its worth! Hey, you could even try being a Pharmaceutical Rep....that seems like a pretty cush job. Regardless...keep your license current because you just never know what cool job is around the corner that is willing to train you just because you have an RN degree.

Good luck to you!

[NurseCherlove]

I forgot to address your concern about your work history. Like you, I have also job hopped fairly often and have only been a nurse since mid 2004. I have been at my current place of employment for 1 year now and am already job searching again - mainly because I want to get more specialized experience for the kind of NP I want to be. But, the point is that I understand your concerns there. So you know how I was going to approach it?? While it's probably not too feasible for me, it would be for you. Let me explain. Ideally, I want to get into CCU for the experience. However, not having any kind of critical care background, I'm pretty sure that finding a part-time position in CCU or some other kind of cardiac setting is slim to none. Ideally, I wanted to get into a cardiac setting PT and stay at my current job PT or PRN. I wanted to do this at least until 2008 - you have to think of how your employment hx looks on your resume.

You, on the other hand, having what, a year or more of ICU experience....you could just stay PRN where you work now and then spend the bulk of your time doing what you really love. And remember, you would not have to do this for a very long time as your resume would look something like:

2006-2008 XYZ Hospital
Staff Nurse, ICU

You're not going to put anything on there about being PRN. You get your foot in the door and then put those kinds of details on the application. And even then, the recruiter pretty much just sees that you have been there at the same place for 2 years - which demonstrates good job stability. Additionally, IMO, you look like the real "go-getter" have 2 jobs overlapping at the same time.

Just some thoughts to consider. Oh yeah...also, don't forget about home care...you might like that, having more control over your time/stress.

Once again...Good luck!

[psalm]

Here's some ideas. Can you work 8-hour shifts? 12-hour shifts were killing me physically, 8's work better for me and the fam.

Can you switch to nights? Nights are usually very busy but you have less distraction...no meals to deal with, less people coming and going, fewer visitors, fewer tests, and you usually don't have to hunt for the chart!

Public Health? Home Health? School Nurse? Coumadin Clinic? WIC clinic?

[Purdue_Nurse]

Originally Posted by NurseCherlove

I forgot to address your concern about your work history. Like you, I have also job hopped fairly often and have only been a nurse since mid 2004. I have been at my current place of employment for 1 year now and am already job searching again - mainly because I want to get more specialized experience for the kind of NP I want to be. But, the point is that I understand your concerns there. So you know how I was going to approach it?? While it's probably not too feasible for me, it would be for you. Let me explain. Ideally, I want to get into CCU for the experience. However, not having any kind of critical care background, I'm pretty sure that finding a part-time position in CCU or some other kind of cardiac setting is slim to none. Ideally, I wanted to get into a cardiac setting PT and stay at my current job PT or PRN. I wanted to do this at least until 2008 - you have to think of how your employment hx looks on your resume.

You, on the other hand, having what, a year or more of ICU experience....you could just stay PRN where you work now and then spend the bulk of your time doing what you really love. And remember, you would not have to do this for a very long time as your resume would look something like:

2006-2008 XYZ Hospital
Staff Nurse, ICU

You're not going to put anything on there about being PRN. You get your foot in the door and then put those kinds of details on the application. And even then, the recruiter pretty much just sees that you have been there at the same place for 2 years - which demonstrates good job stability. Additionally, IMO, you look like the real "go-getter" have 2 jobs overlapping at the same time.

Just some thoughts to consider. Oh yeah...also, don't forget about home care...you might like that, having more control over your time/stress.

Once again...Good luck!

Thank you for all of your good advice. I did forget to mention I am still prn with the education department. I didn't think about it that way, how it would look a lot better not actually having left that department but just adding something else. I have applied for a numerous number of positions that some of you mentioned. I have applied to several doctor's offices but never got a call back from them. I figured that was probably due to my lack of experience compared to other applicants. (and I'm sure there were several others, jobs like that around here are a hot commodity!) I also have interviewed for a school nurse job in the past. They called me back for a second interview and said they liked my "energy and enthusiasm" but ended up hiring a nurse with 15 years of hospital experience. I can't compete with that. There is no way I can stay in the hospital environment for that long. I do enjoy the patients, I guess it's just the constant interruptions, demands and lack of respect that I despise about working in the hospital. I do get the occasional wonderful, thankful patients who appreciate everything we do. Those few are the reason I've been able to stick it out for as long as I have. But, I'm reaching the end of my rope and either need to find a different job or reduce my hours and head back to school for something else. My health and relationships are starting to be affected by this....