Switching departments...

[PinayRN88]

Hello Everyone. I'm a New RN with a little over a year of med/surg experience. I had a question for RN's that were Med/Surg nurses, who wanted to get (to save your own sanity) who loves taking care of people, but felt as if bedside med/surg nursing wasn't not for you, and switched departments (ie. Peds/L&D, ER, Community Health, Dialysis, other specialities)...

How did you make that decision?? Was it hard?? Was orientation shorter? Are you happy you made that switch?

I know nothing else but to be stressed out all day, taking care of 7 patients, doing 24 hour chart checks, filing, adding all I & O's for the whole day on my patients, caring for my LVN's IV push meds and blood, sometimes not taking a break, and holding my urine until my bladder is about to explode. When I started nursing I didn't want to be like the Bitchy, bitter nurses that I would follow around as a student, but I now kind of feel their bitterness. Again, don't get me wrong, I love the feeling of taking care of people, but in all honesty you can't w/that many task to complete in a 12 hour shift. Maybe it's just med/surg...HELP ME!!!

[Zookeeper3]

hmn, well in nursing school, I knew I never wanted floor nursing for the reasons you stated. Doesn't make your choice wrong, it wasn't for me. At some point of years of ICU I was burnt out and applied to the NICU (neonatal icu). I never felt bad applying, I never worried about my peers, floor... only what I needed.

Luck would have it I never got the job. I found ICU floating a breath of fresh air. Everyday some place new, no politics, take care of my patients, learn a ton and go home.

Point I'm trying to make is that if you're ready for a change, you're ready. Yes it is nerve racking, you just got comfortable and now you need to go back to "novice" again, and you just left it. But you've already proved to yourself that you can take care of a tremendous stressful load, while learning all brand new skills. What ever you decide to persue, KNOW that you CAN do it. You'll find what ever it is, after you feel better about looking, leaving and starting over.

Thats why nursing is sooo wonderful, we can reinvent ourselves in new areas. Change IS hard. Your orientation should meet your needs. If I'm happy or not is irrelevant, I've switched jobs several times, sometimes regretted it, sometimes not. You won't know until you do and as long as you leave on good terms you're OK.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Yes, the med-surg escape route. I did it 8 years ago from a med-surg floor like yours and have never regretted it.

Now that you have experience and are employed, you can make it a project to go explore what else is out there. Ask to shadow some nurses from other departments. Most nurse managers should not mind if you are a nurse at that hospital.

If it does not work out, you can always go back to med-surg.