At a Crossroad...In need of opinions

[nursey_nurse]

I am a 22 y/o RN with one year experience in Med-Surg/Tele and just started on a peds floor. I am just about to finish my first semester in the RN-BSN program (about 3 more semesters to go). My peds floor right now is comprised of about 80% new grads or one-two year experiences as RNs. There was a drama on the floor before I got hired so all/most of the seasoned nurses transferred out.There is an opening for an Assistant Unit Manager position right now but no one is applying. I learned that the current night AUM only had one year experience as a RN without a Bachelor's degree when she was hired last year. This gave me a little hope...hehe My plan is to apply for the assistant nurse manager position next year when I will only have one more semester left in the BSN program. My question is what kind of duties and responsibilities this position entails? Salary? Hours? I'm also contemplating being a nursing educatior when I finish my BSN. What's the typical salary for a nursing educator in a large metropolitan hospital?

After I get my BSN, I will go directly to a Master's of Science in Health Care Administration-Accelerated program and perhaps have a baby in between Ultimately, I want to hold a position with regular office hours, no weekends, no holidays since my husband is not in the healthcare industry. Aside from being a unit manager, what other positions can I get with a MSHCA that has my preferred hours?

Will an Assistant Unit Manger position benefit me when I get my Master's in Healthcare Administration? I'm thinking of working as a case manager, risk manager, or project manager with this degree.

Sigh...so many decisions. Can somebody please shed some light?

Thanks in advance!

[olol765]

You can always work in an outpatient clinic. I worked in a psych o/p clinic from 8-4:30 M-F. Right now I'm auditing charts and I work 8-5 M-F (but I wouldn't recommend that). There are tons of nsg jobs out there with office hours. Little clinics, state jobs, etc. Just keep an eye out!!

[Ophelia78]

I've never been a nursing manager, but once upon a time, when I was 23 with a year of MR/DD experience under my belt I was offered a management position. It was the worst job experience of my life. It was a job nobody wanted , in a company with a high direct care staff turnover rate , that had just fired/driven away a good deal of staff, some for good reasons (stealing money), some for bad. I would be very cautious if I were you. When I started I was idealistic and full of energy. When they bit the big one 3 months later after being fired by the county board for poor care, I had lost all confidence in myself. I had thought they hired me because of my potential. I was flattered. I was excited about the prospect of telling everyone I was already a manager at my age. I thought it was cool to have my name on a business card. But the truth was I didn't know squat about how to lead people and I didn't have the experience to turn a sinking ship around. I certainly didn't know enough about my field to understand how to support and teach my workers in doing a better job.

If experienced nurses are leaving in droves, be afraid. If no one else wants that job, be afraid. If they are being forced to hire inexperienced nurses because the experienced ones don't want it, be afraid. Management is definitely no cakewalk- it takes so much skill to have the right balance to help a unit pull together as a team. Units that are overcome with negativity and high turnover require that much more skill. If I had to do it over again, I would never had taken that job.

If you truly feel Managing and Leading is your niche, I encourage you to educate yourself by taking classes, reading books (Leading With Love is one of my favorites), and maybe shadowing a nurse manager for a day or two before taking that leap.

I also found Parker J Palmer's "Let Your Life Speak" very helpful in helping me clarify just where my path lay....

Good Luck!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

In my opinion every experience prepares you for the next experience. If nothing else happens at least you learn what you DON"T want. I would attempt to further my career and make my resume show that I am not afraid of responsibility---- you know, all that positive stuff. Go for it.