Getting away from bedside

[FDE123]

I have been nursing since 2016, beginning my career in an IMCU and now currently an ICU. I was also a CNA for a year and a half while in school.

I was struggling with the Nursing field three months after graduating but chalked it up to being in the wrong specialty. I moved into an ICU and was promoted to charge nurse within the first 6 months. That is currently when I am now.

Unfortunately, I am still very unhappy with Nursing as a whole. I feel more like a waitress than an actual medical professional. I have also found myself becoming less empathetic toward patients and their families which, in my opinion, means I need to do something else.

I am interested in anyone's advice or recommendations on Nursing jobs away from bedside. I've found many case management jobs online but am unsure about details.

Can anyone tell me how they got away from bedside nursing and what they went in to instead?

[CaffeinePOQ4HPRN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

The majority of nurses are unhappy at the bedside... although we love the work itself, many of us have been forced to step aside simply because the working conditions are deplorable, unsafe, unsustainable. I got away from the bedside and found a non-bedside nursing job by sheer tenacity with job applications and plain luck. Sorry, there's no magic solution. If there was I'd tell everyone on allnurses. Just keep trying, when you feel the slightest initial pangs of burnout, find a non-nursing role to give yourself some breathing room, focus on your sanity, and invest in better self care.

[youenjoymyself]

I am crusing indeed.com the past week. Been on an oncology floor for 3 years. Getting burned out. Tired of getting pulled to other floors and getting the ****-show of patients that no one else wants... Looking for something non-acute, but not in an assisted living/long term care situation...

Thinking about home health with the intent on moving toward the case management side aspect.

[YoYosama, BSN]

Try OR- one patient at a time (knockout in surgery), most often dont have to deal with family members, not running around on the floor trying to answer every call lights for the littlest things, no bed alarms going off, no confused or withdraw patients unless PACU, most often dont have to deal with codes, no running to the pyxis every 5 min for pain meds, and most importantly you dont have 10 patients. I too have been a float CNA, I have seen it all. I have no desire to be on the floor upon graduation. Most floor nurses that i work with hate their job. These are the things that I observed along with talking to the Med-surge/ICU turned OR nurses that I know.

[CaffeinePOQ4HPRN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Try OR- one patient at a time (knockout in surgery), most often dont have to deal with family members, not running around on the floor trying to answer every call lights for the littlest things, no bed alarms going off, no confused or withdraw patients unless PACU, most often dont have to deal with codes, no running to the pyxis every 5 min for pain meds, and most importantly you dont have 10 patients. I too have been a float CNA, I have seen it all. I have no desire to be on the floor upon graduation. Most floor nurses that i work with hate their job. These are the things that I observed along with talking to the Med-surge/ICU turned OR nurses that I know.

I agree with this! OR is a good option, even though the MDs can be ripe *** *****. You should definitely speak to some nurses with OR experience and maybe try to arrange a shadow shift, if possible, before you take the plunge and spend additional time and money to obtain your OR certification. Being an OR nurse comes with its own discomforts. Read this post:

https://allnurses.com/operating-room-nursing/soooo-youre-observing-142748.html