HELP!!!"How do I make Lemonade out of this Nursing Profession?"

[lweave2]

Hi Fellow Nurses out there in cyberspace- Need your help! Please put your minds together & brainstorm some great employment opportunities that are out there for me that maybe I just don't know about.

Nursing was never a good healthy fit for me as a career. Had absolutely no idea what I was actually getting into when I got my nursing degree & it was my own fault & my own stupid impulsive decision. Did all kinds of patient-care nursing roles: hospital, nursing homes, assisted living, home health, pediatrics, clinics, doctors offices, methadone clinic. None of the patient care roles were a good fit for me because I'm not wired to be a personal care giver type person. I enjoy helping people but in an indirect way not in their personal space. For example, I loved my administrative positions as a Research Nurse coaching patients through the steps of a clinical trial but research is an unstable field due to grant funding. There has got to be a good fit out there for me some where using my transferable skills in some nontraditional administrative role under the medical umbrella thats not too stressful.

Where are the happy employees who have a Nursing back ground working? What types of employment roles are they doing? I want to find another nich out there which is similiar to my last research coordinator position or something totally out of the box. I am wide open to any career options out there which would appreciate my medical back ground & would really enjoy having me on board. Are there any such companies out there where employees truly enjoy coming into work every day? I just want to work for a good company to get my benefits & where there is a healthy corporate culture & the company needs my skills.

How can I make LEMONADE out of my career history? Also, looking for stable work not prn or contract work where I don't get any benefits. Would love to get your great ideas. -Thank you- Lisa

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

I'm a psych nurse and I interact with pts all night long! There are also many pts with medical stuff going on right alongside psych stuff. If you aren't therapeutic, don't enjoy hands on and restraints on nursing, or the constant pt trying your last nerve then be careful of this field as well. Just my as a psych nurse.

[lweave2]

Hi 08RNGrad- Thank you for your reply. truly appreciate all your feedback. Can you refer me to anyone working in research? Have you worked in research in some capacity? Where would you begin this searching adventure? Do you know of any contracting agencies I could look up? I live in the Atlanta, GA. area. What would you do if you were me?

Thanks for helping me!-Lisa

[lweave2]

Hi Kat_everdeen- Thank you for your reply. I truly appreciate all your help! How do I research these type of companies that hire employees to review car insurance claims? What is this type of position called? What about big car insurance companies? Do they hire these type employees? Did you hate this job? Can you refer me to any nurses who worked with you at this company? Aren't these nurses certified in Disability insurance? If you were me what would you do to research this area of nursing? Thanks Again!- Lisa

[mdgale]

I worked as an MDS Coordinator and LOVED it. I was able to take medical aillments and assign payment to them. I gained a lot of experience navigating through a medical record. I got to make more or less money for my facility by moving a date back and forth. It was like CSI for me :-)

[kcmylorn]

Clinical research makes the most money. CRA's and CRC's- make at least $91,000( $45.00/hr) in my area.

Not the case with bedside nursing- try 20-30,000 less.

Call center nurses( like the one describe above- medical call center for a pharama) make even less than bedside nurses- $20.00/hr. I went on one of those interviews, after driving 1 hr and 20 min for a $20.00/hr job. I deliberately flunked the typing test, no way am I workihng for $20.00/hr. Those smiling nurses in the add, must live right around the corner and have a husband to support them.

Insurance companies: I went on interviews with each one of them: the major companies- BCBS- worse pay- approx.$25.00/hr, Aetna- second worse- maybe $26-26.00.hr, UHC- not much better- $30.00/hr. They don't pay that great either for case managment and UM. The clinical directors in these companies may make good money but one has to have 10-15yr experience at the beside plus- their key word is " proven" leadership in the insurance industry/ project management/ supervisor. Entry level in the insurance company makes the low end(30.00/hr and it depends on the region you live in/ google them and look up the rates on the career page) of bedside nurse. The insurance companies want bedside experience and most want some kind of previous insurance company experience.

Public Health- really poor pay for a whole lot of education, alot of positions in Public health calls for a Master's either an MSN or a MPH and don't pay diddly- less than hospital bedside. That's a crime with that much education.

Forgot: the $90,000 research jobs- want experience in research. The best I can figure on how to get that- was the nurses who work ing the doctors office who is doing the research are trained in the clinical trial process. To work in these doctor's off usually is bedside nursing in a hospital first- that how they hook up with the doc. Example: working an oncology unit, the oncologist does clinical trials in the offices, the nurse gets a position as an office nurse from working with the doc on the floor. The office nurse is trained by the docotor's office or the pharma company on the proceedure for doing the clinical trials. From the job exzperience in the docotor's office, the nurse applies to the pharma company for a pharma company for CRA or CRC position. It's not an overnight progression-it usually takes years. The key is experience-

[Piglet08]

Find a career counselor. Not a shill for a private college that wants to sign you up. I mean, someone who can discuss your background and interests with you and help you consider options. There might be something you haven't heard of and we haven't thought of that will work for you.

[lweave2]

Great idea Piglet08!-Thank you!