Change is scary!

AgentBeast, BSN, RN · Sep 9, 2011

Change is also hard.

noahsmama · Sep 9, 2011

Can you afford the reduced pay and increased health insurance costs? Is the loss of two weeks of vacation per year worth it to you to get your weekends and holidays back? If the answer to those questions is "yes" then you should go for it!

You can do COBRA to continue the health insurance from your old job during the 3 month waiting period for your new health insurance to kick in (not cheap, but at least you'll have coverage).

No job is perfect and any job you might switch to will have some minuses along with the pluses. Only you can decide if it's worth it. Yes, change can be scary but at some point you just have to take a leap of faith and go for it. Taking a chance has got to be better than being burnt out and exhausted all the time.

Good luck!

sofla98 · Sep 10, 2011

I'd keep the job you have and look for another position in-house that would fit your needs. But, that's what I would do in your situation. If you are financially secure enough to take a pay cut and healthy enough to go 90 days w/o insurance then go for it. I work in peds, I love it.

When ever I have an important decision to make, I make a list of the pro's and con's of the decision....keep it with you and add to it over a week or so. Then really sit down and read it. Thinking it through and making an informed decision may help you prevent regret in the long run.

Good Luck!

kcmylorn · Sep 10, 2011

Just did this myself. Since the economy went bad, I had only been able to do agency. I was working a temp position, an office job with no patients in sight and working per deim. This was my first non clinical position- I went there with reservations. I found at first I didn't have a clue what the job was about but after 2 months caught on to the abbreviations. At the end of that temp position I took another temp time limiting -in a clinic, 8-4 hrs, much less pay than my hospital rate(50% less), less stress than the hospital. Again with much reservation,almost didn't show for the first day, but I didn't have a choice if I wanted to eat and pay bills. I didn't have a clue what clinic nurses do. Here it is 1 yr later- I absolutely love it. I would only go back to the hospital if someone had a gun to my head. I cut my utility bills, shaved my grocery bill down and cut out frivilous spending- I made it work. My term was up and an agency was to replace me- so I applied to that agency- It's only for a few more months, I turned down a wonderful opportunity at an insurance co to stay there but the insurance co. was too good to be true, there were some verbiage that the HR rep said that somehow didn't sit just right and kind of told me how this co thinks of their RN's. I agonized over making the choice between the 2 for days. I choose my short term position over the flashy insurance co. The money and bene's are the same, the Insurance co is permenant and would have opened alot of doors, the happier agency position is time limiting but I will be happier for the months I am there- I work with great co workers, a crazy funny supervisor and really nice leadership ( alot of warm and fuzzy- very unique in today's job market)- I need to be happy, my family helped me make this decision- and they choose happy also. Happy nurse/mom, happy family: even if it is only for a few more months. I have learned the job, I love the type of nursing it is and I am happy. There was something in that HR reps corporate tone that I did not care for. He said: "after x # of months, you have to EARN the right to do......" - like the nurse will be paroled. Dream job but at what price. No thanks! I'll take my zanny cast of co workers anyday even if it's just for the next few months. Every one has their own set of priorities( career goal, advancement stepping stone, and stepping on others to get there) and which aspect of the work place means the most to them ( pay vs harmony). After 30 yrs of increasingly abusive toxic hospital enviornments- I have EARNED the right to great coworkers, the team work and the team spirit they demonstrate every day on the job and a superv who actually DOES look out for her nurses and have their backs.( insidently- that is how she gets the 110% out of her nurses- not by torturing, demeaning, micromanaging and working them to death.)

RFRN · Sep 10, 2011

Change is scary but this sounds like a great opportunity. I have only been an RN for about a year and only have worked in a clinic, but LOVE LOVE LOVE my job! True, clinic pays less than hospital but the hours and people make it worth it. I cannot see myself ever getting "burned out" like many hospital RNs complain about. I get to keep up my skills because we do IVs, caths, and other procedures in the office and I have learned a TON more new stuff that I never even knew about during nursing school. You have to do what's right for you in the end, but in my opinion, clinic nursing is my dream job. Don't worry - everything will work out just as it is supposed to. :)

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

Yes, change is scary.

"If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing."

Do not let your insurance lapse for even one day. You never know what can happen. Bridge the 3 month gap with COBRA.

noahsmama · Sep 10, 2011

Do not let your insurance lapse for even one day. You never know what can happen. Bridge the 3 month gap with COBRA.

Absolutely. It always amazes me when nurses try to suggest that anyone could be "healthy enough" to go without health insurance. We are all just one car accident or one unanticipated diagnosis away from needing our health insurance, and by the time you need it, it's too late to get it.

I'm thinking specifically of the father of one of my son's friends, who ran out for coffee one day, had a nearly fatal accident, and is now a paraplegic. I'm also thinking of a teacher at his school who was completely "healthy" until she got a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. They were both healthy enough to go without health insurance -- until they weren't.

NOBODY is healthy enough to go without health insurance!!!

:spbox:

Ok, I'll get down off of my soap box now.....

RFRN · Sep 10, 2011

"If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing."

Love this - I recently had an opportunity to start learning urodynamics in our office and definitely was uncomfortable at first but now I am so happy I took this chance because I have learned so much. I am still not 100% comfortable with it, but that just means I'm still learning!

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

Love this - I recently had an opportunity to start learning urodynamics in our office and definitely was uncomfortable at first but now I am so happy I took this chance because I have learned so much. I am still not 100% comfortable with it, but that just means I'm still learning!

I made a career change within the last year, and I had many uncomfortable days too! I had seen that quote, loved it, made the leap, and many times this past year I told myself "Well, I must REALLY be growing!" :-D

I'm also glad I took myself out of my comfort zone. I have really learned a lot this year.

adpiRN · Sep 10, 2011

Thanks everyone! Talking through it has made me realize that I DO want the job, I'm just scared of change which is normal.

Of course now that I know I want the job, I'm worried I won't get it!

One of the hard parts of having an interview on Friday afternoon is having to wait all weekend with no word.

I've decided that I'd probably do COBRA for the 3 months and just making that decision helps relieve some anxiety about not having health insurance.

Another complication thrown in is that my husband and I may try to get pregnant sometime in the next few months, but I worry what will happen if I get pregnant during the first 3 months of the job when I'm covered by COBRA on my old insurance.

Can the new insurance company refuse to cover my pregnancy if I got pregnant before coverage starts?

Here's what I found on the Oxford website:

Pre-Existing Condition: An Illness or Injury which manifests itself in the six months before coverage under a Policy starts, and for which treatment was received or recommended by a Provider in the six months before coverage started. A pregnancy, which exists on the date coverage starts, is also a Pre-Existing Condition. Complications of such a pregnancy are not considered to be Pre-Existing Conditions and are not subject to Pre-Existing Condition Limitations.

But is that only if you're applying for health insurance as an individual, not through a company?

This is all so complicated....

We may just try and wait to get pregnant until after those 3 months are over (if I even get the job....)

AllSmiles225 · Sep 10, 2011

Maybe you should hold off on the pregnancy while you get accustomed to a new job & make sure everything else is line like your insurance and vacation time?