Advice on answering why I want away from bedside nursing

[Kitty Hawk]

I have an interview coming up at the imaging center I mentioned. Usually I'm honest to a fault and it can burn me. The position is not so much hands on, and that appeals to me right now. It's a good deal of phone work and teaching points, that appeals to me as well.

This position is also not an end point but rather a stepping stone. I'm finding out there's such a thing as a wellness coach RN for either insurance companies or private and I think that's my long range goal. Even public health. I've always known I'm not cut out for floor nursing long term. I've been with the hospital going on 9mos. Prior I was at a LTC for 8mos. I don't want to look like I'm constantly job hopping however it does look like that. In my previous career I was at 2 different companies for 9 years each, so I am capable of staying somewhere, however I'm not about to make myself miserable to fit a bunch of expectations.

I'm not sure if it's okay to say I am burning out for the pace of floor nursing and that's that. There are aspects of the job that I do enjoy. Mostly the teaching parts. But all the running around and short staff problems and doing all the extra really physical parts are really starting to get to me.

I'm tired of them not being able to read a freaking schedule to know who's supposed to work but instead leave us short staffed that we have to pick up an extra patient on an already heavy load especially trying to get them out to therapies, plus deal with discharges and post ops. It's just not worth it. My sleep and sanity are suffering flipping from Days/Nights I'm not adapting well to working nights, it sends me into a near mini depression and I'm not a depressed person overall.

I'm not sure if it's wise to tell this interviewer what my eventual long term plans are. However I've heard in nursing they expect you to want to move on after a year or two:uhoh3: So although I have good experinece interviewing and from my previous career, the nursing interviews seem to throw me.

So in a nutshell what are good reasons to want out of floor nursing and into a more 9-5 mon-fri clinic type job?

[Kitty Hawk, ADN, RN]

op: i am leaving bedside nursing too. like you i had another career prior to nursing and remained with companies for yearssssss prior to taking another job. plus, like you, i have worked bedside for a few years (and a few different positions) and have had enough. in addition, like you i want to progress in my career.

i have interviewed for non-bedside nursing jobs and as the others have pointed out, all i have done was focus on positives. i love nursing (what it is supposed to be) and i focused on that during my interviews. when asked about transitioning away from bedside i point out my career goals.

understand that there are nurses who want to be bedside nurses even though he/she thinks otherwise. for instance, there are nurses who choose to leave bedside and quickly return because they cannot get out of the role of nursing on a small scale (direct patient care). with that said, be sure to let the interviewer(s) know that you are ready to nurse on a bigger scale and know that you are capable of thinking beyond direct patient care. if you have examples as a nurse or within your prior career, they will be very beneficial. good luck!!!

thank you, so do you point out your future career goals that may not tie directly into positons that you are interviewing for, or do they tie in? this imaging position sounds interesting on some levels. i'm just not sure how it really ties into a future goal of wellness and teaching people healthier choices. but that doesn't mean i wouldn't find the work fascinating.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

thank you, so do you point out your future career goals that may not tie directly into positons that you are interviewing for, or do they tie in? this imaging position sounds interesting on some levels. i'm just not sure how it really ties into a future goal of wellness and teaching people healthier choices. but that doesn't mean i wouldn't find the work fascinating.

my future career goals tie-in with the nursing positions of which i have applied and interviewed. however, if they did not, i would still find a tie-in. in your case i would not necessarily talk about becoming a wellness coach/nurse. rather i would focus on the patient teaching aspect of the job and your interest in spending more time working with the patient population that you will see. for example, contrast dye can affect medications and stools and so patients will need to know this along with other information related to imaging procedures.

on a less direct patient care level, your position may require paperwork, projects, and reports (mine will). find out what that may/may not entail so that you are able to have an informative discussion during your interview. in fact, you may gain more information from the radiology nurses (i think that is what they are called) who love his/her job on the radiology nursing forum.

https://allnurses.com/radiology-nursing/

again, i am very happy for you!!!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

understand that there are nurses who want to be bedside nurses even though he/she thinks otherwise. for instance, there are nurses who choose to leave bedside and quickly return because they cannot get out of the role of nursing on a small scale (direct patient care). with that said, be sure to let the interviewer(s) know that you are ready to nurse on a bigger scale and know that you are capable of thinking beyond direct patient care. if you have examples as a nurse or within your prior career, they will be very beneficial. good luck!!!

the way it sounds....small scale bedside nurse and we aren't capable of "thinking beyond patient care" and a bigger scale seems harsh somehow. both you and the op have been nurses less than 2 years and are running form the bedside like it something's bad about being a bedside nurse.

i admit bedside nursing is not everyone's cup of tea but having someone life in the palm of your hand doesn't seem "small scale". i get that there are other specialties in the profession and one's that do not include the hospital or bedside nursing but to demean one over the other seems harsh.......

i agree with accentuating the positive....but if they say what was negative....shift work and weekends and holidays count.....good luck....

[HealthyNurse]

If they ask about the negatives, I would say something like, "In my current role, I love patient teaching, but there are often so many conflicting priorities that I don't get to spend the amount of time that I would like on it. I feel that this position would be a great fit for me because I would have more time to devote to the patient teaching aspect."

Personally, I would not mention the shift work as a negative other than in passing (i.e. "....and working nights has been a bit taxing on my family"). If I were a manager hiring someone for the position, I would want to make sure that they are actually interested in the position, rather than just the nice hours. For everyone that works outside of acute care, improved hours are, of course, a benefit to the job. But the job should be something that you at least have some interest in, which it sounds like you do. Make sure you emphasize that.

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

Just say it is part of our personal and professional growth and you are anticipating learning new skills

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Good ideas, but usually they know all of this if you are speaking to nurses. Some I've talked to WANT TO KNOW. They know when you have given an obtuse answer. I've said the honest truth about what didn't work for me with the old co. and have given situational examples and then transitioned into what this NEW company has that has attracted me so much - (isn't set up like old co. etc)... I repeat what those nurses have told me about the new co and the job I'm interviewing for and also things I've read about the new co. etc. Usually there are some gasps at my situational examples, so... sometimes there is a valid and necessary reason to leave a co. and it is understood.

[dragn2623]

Consider your audience.. take the reasons why you want to move on and use them in a positive fashion. Explain to them why this job appeals to you and how you may be the best fit individual for the job. Many other posters have great suggestions.

[nurse.sandi]

There are many good reasons a nurse would want to move to 9-5 job. Furthering education, looking for new experiences, use my skills in new department, enjoying people who are awake, different type of nursing, different pace of nursing, I want to go back to college, I just want a change,...the list goes on. But stick with one idea. Just my thoughts off the top of my head. There is no magical answer.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

the way it sounds....small scale bedside nurse and we aren't capable of "thinking beyond patient care" and a bigger scale seems harsh somehow. both you and the op have been nurses less than 2 years and are running form the bedside like it something's bad about being a bedside nurse.

i have been a nurse more than 2 years, but even if that was not the case, i am not insignificant as a nurse. new grads are not insignificant. by the way, i understand your point.

the first time i heard the terms small scale vs. large scale i cringed.... however, employers who interviewed me used these terms and made comments that were negative about hiring a transitioning bedside nurse for positions. therefore, i wanted to offer this information to others. let me explain where it does not sound as harsh to you...

bedside nursing is viewed by professionals away from the bedside and in academia as small scale meaning that a nurse does not need to see the whole picture of a patient population when caring for patient load. the nurse needs to know disease processes, coordinate care effectively, and needs to know how to complete tasks and critically think related to his/her patient's condition at the time (among other things), which is not a put down. on the other hand, when a nurse works on a larger scale he/she must use the same bedside skills and others to work with a population of patients that the facility or department sees and must be able to improve patient care based on the population and available resources. this is not to say that nurses that work away from the bedside are better... nursing away from the bedside is just different, which is why i suspect that interviewers mentioned that some nurses are not able to make the transition.

[Rob72, ASN, RN]

the first time i heard the terms small scale vs. large scale i cringed...

appropriately so. there is no small or large scale, only small or large minds.

the overall point is given, but the danger of those believing they have any significant grasp of the large scale is that they have very little education or experience with complex systems failure and risk management, especially in academia, and with unfortunate frequency in business(ime). witness all 3 major healthcare facilities in my locality using the same internationally known pr consultancy group, expecting significant change. (unfortunately, there is no cross-eyed, drooling smilie)

i confess, i'm a huge fan of career-path and diploma nursing programs. learning a system from the bottom up creates a homogenous institutional philosophy, and organized threat compensation, that is utterly lacking in the higher/lower educational and managerial model.