Advice for job change???

[darthsunshine, BSN]

I've been an RN for 18 months (I'm 38)--started in my first love: L&D, working nights. While I LOVED L&D, the 12 hour nights proved to be difficult on me and my family at the time--and I worked in a pretty hostile environment For my sanity I left that position after 6 months and went to an ambulatory surgery hospital working M-F 7a-3p. While we see a variety of patients (post-surgical pts who stay the night)--the majority of nursing is ortho.

Talking with the nurses I work with, 2 of them told me they basically got "stuck" in ortho because of the schedule. Since those conversations I'm panicking a bit. I like my M-F schedule...but miss the babies/pedi/L&D. I'm thinking I've already been set on the path of ortho nursing since I've been here a year...but hoping it's not too late to make a change.

Anyone else been in this position? Any advice? I've gone ahead and applied for L&D and nursery postions....but wondering of my chances?

[RochesterRN-BSN, BSN, RN]

Maybe you could do mother/baby and/or nursery........not as high stress. I have to ask...you used the word "hostile"........what did you mean by this? The patients or the staff? ...I did L&D for 6 months too, right out of nursing school. Loved parts of it but was afraid of getting stuck like you talk about. So I left and did.......LTC management, medical/respiratory, ED, corrections, and psych which is where I am now.....psych ER. Never though I would end up here and I feel like I have chosen another specialty that may make me stuck again but I am okay with that as I did a lot of other things prior and love psych....and in inpatient psych I did use a lot of my medical skills......not so much in Psych ER.

You have to do what your heart is telling you to do and if you need to get back in do what you need to do to get there.........if not there another hospital, if not maternity try straight peds, PICU, or NICU....but its okay to take a while to figure it all out.....it took me a while. You don't always know where is going to be your nich until you try it and that takes a lot of trial and error for some......Good luck to you!

[darthsunshine, BSN]

When I say "hostile" I mean my nurse manager was hostile. I oriented on day shift and LOVED LOVED LOVED it...then transitioned to night shift and I seriously wondered if the manager was bipolar. My first night she told me I could come to her for anything...then realized very soon that was a lie. I wasn't afraid to stand up for myself if I felt overwhelmed as a new RN, but she would yell at me and then disappear--become completely unavailable while I dealt with a high-acuity patient. I held my own--but asked to go back to days and found out there was a 2 year wait-list. I loved what I did--but the environment was awful. When I left I heard there were a few nurses that also left nights for the same reasons. Sad.

[darthsunshine, BSN]

OH and YES I've applied for the ONE mother/baby postion I've seen so far. I think I could get more experience there and transition back to L&D or the nursery...

[inland18mempire]

I'm working in orthopedics too. I, like you, feel like I am stuck here. I never ever even imagined or thought about working in orthopedics. I basically took the job because it was all that was available, good pay, not too far from home. I feel like I've lost a LOT of my critical care knowledge already since I'm basically pushing dilaudid all night. Another sour point to orthopedics is the complete immobility of these people, so you have to turn them often. Ouch says my back! :)

I think nursing in general has gone down hill. I talk to nurses that have been nurses for like 30 years and they tell me how much EASIER it was back then. Little paperwork, patients that weren't very sick. Today it's horribly sick people and a pound of paperwork for each. Boo boo boo! I think that had I known how much paperwork was involved while I was in nursing school, I doubt that I would have continued.