Any advice for a nurse in limbo?

classicdame, MSN, EdD · May 18, 2012

no matter what you choose you can always change your mind later. You are not marrying the job

merlee · May 18, 2012

The radiology position sounds good, but it will be boring after a year or so, too. Unless this is interventional radiology. But it will be a change, and the oncall sounds minimal.

Best wishes!

bsyrn, ASN, RN · May 18, 2012

If you could get your current employer to as another poster said, tweek your duties then I would stay with the current job. When and if you decide to have kids....the schedule will work great for family time. I missed many holidays and now that I am a school nurse, I don't miss any holidays and have Summers off. Just another perspective :) Good luck in what ever you decide

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 18, 2012

This thread may be moved, but I don't know where else to post it. Here goes...I am stuck. I will have been an RN for 10 years next month, having spent the first 7 years of my career in ICU, then a year and a half in cath lab and EP lab before moving for my husband's job.
When we moved, I decided I wanted to try something different, less stressful, and not in hospital. I took a job in a large cardiology clinic (we have 18 cards!) as a CT nurse. I must confess at this point, that in my nursing career, I was only required to do nights, w/e, holidays, or call maybe the 1st 2 years.
Fast forward to present, in the clinic where I have worked the past 1.5 years, I work M-F from 7:30 to 4:00 pm, no w/e, no holidays (even get a free floating holiday AND a birthday holiday, no call, etc. My pay is fantastic. On paper, it's a nice gig. My problem? Management has me doing a great deal of non-clinical duties as well. These primarily include filling out patients' FMLA and disability forms (Paper. Pushing.) and other tasks which can be performed by medical assistants. I really feel as if my "nurse light" has dimmed. I'm a great nurse and I've been feeling so held back...so unstimulated.
Back to being stuck...I've applied for a couple hospital positions and been offered jobs for each application I completed. One is a radiology nurse position that has next to zero turnover. Hours are four 10-hour shifts, no scheduled holidays, no weekends. Problem? I would have to take night call 1-2 nights during the week, holiday call, w/e call. Call.
My other options seem to include weekends and holiday commitment. I just don't know what else to do. I have a job that has wonderful perks yet I hate what I do about 50% of the time. I could take job that has me sort of chained to it, but I may love the nursing aspect.I don't want someone to make my decision for me (okay, maybe I do! LOL), but I would love any advice on how to approach it. I am married with no kids yet, husband is supportive and just wants me to be happy. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

You need to look at what you are looking for. Is it that you miss the ICU? The adrenaline of those sick patients. I mean that lovingly as I am that adrenaline junkie. The very rare time I stepped away form the ED or the unit...........I found myself bored to tears with the repetitiveness, the mind numbing mundaneness of it all. I would find myself unsatisfied and return to what I thought I was burned out from.

The radiology job will be like the Cath Lab job. Every job will have it's down side. Paper work has become a necessary evil in the profession:banghead: and is more frequently being done by nursing personnel because facilities are not hiring all the fluff. Many positions are assuming others duties not within/below their skill set because we all are doing more with less.

Think about what you will need when you have kids. Are you planning on them soon? I moved half way across the country for my hubby....... I found that working a day job with call was expensive and not workable when my kids were small. I had no family close by (2,000miles away) and when they got sick or hurt at school I was screwed. I hated spending all that money during the summer for daycare in my home and had to work OT just to pay for it so I found the bedside was for me and I went back to my beloved shifts of nights and evenings......back to my beloved bedside.

Now, I would love to find any position especially that position like the cardiology office you describe....unfortunately most places are not hiring the experience of 33 years, ageism is rampant. Heck, I would love to be hired by anyone who would hire me to do paper work.

It's going to ultimately be up to you. How close you are to having babies. The radiology job will be a lot like cath lab........check your weekday call. Jobs are scarce out there right now..........your are the hiring demographic so you are lucky. Nurses are hungry out there. Do what makes you happy.

I wish you luck....:hug:

Scarlette Wings · May 18, 2012

i understand the grief work that occurs when a nurse changes from direct patient care to less direct or no patient care. somehow you feel (or i did anyway) less of a nurse. i worked direct patient care med/surg and icu for 23 years. then i found out i had cancer and on top of that sustained an injury that ended my running up and down the floors full speed ahead and always behind. i l-o-v-e-d direct patient care. yes i worked every other weekend, holidays, and missed so many of my child functions that i cannot count them, but it was part of nursing care. patients do not get sick 9 to 5.

fast forward to 2012 working more with the staff in education and 60% paperwork, meetings, and deadlines reporting infection numbers. no weekends, call, etc and no direct patient care. i was so depressed until i realized that the transition in my life was necessary and i grieved the loss of what i perceived to be a real nurse.

you may not be ready for a transition to less direct patient care. there is, i believe, within each of us our own mental perception of what a real nurse is and that is what shapes our style of nursing care. when we deviate from that inner perception then it makes us have to change inside and that is hard.

my 2 cents anyway. :)

nursalicious · May 18, 2012

The radiology position sounds good, but it will be boring after a year or so, too. Unless this is interventional radiology. But it will be a change, and the oncall sounds minimal.
Best wishes!

The dept. encompasses CT, MRI, and Specials (which is IR).

nursalicious · May 18, 2012

i understand the grief work that occurs when a nurse changes from direct patient care to less direct or no patient care. somehow you feel (or i did anyway) less of a nurse. i worked direct patient care med/surg and icu for 23 years. then i found out i had cancer and on top of that sustained an injury that ended my running up and down the floors full speed ahead and always behind. i l-o-v-e-d direct patient care. yes i worked every other weekend, holidays, and missed so many of my child functions that i cannot count them, but it was part of nursing care. patients do not get sick 9 to 5.

fast forward to 2012 working more with the staff in education and 60% paperwork, meetings, and deadlines reporting infection numbers. no weekends, call, etc and no direct patient care. i was so depressed until i realized that the transition in my life was necessary and i grieved the loss of what i perceived to be a real nurse.

you may not be ready for a transition to less direct patient care. there is, i believe, within each of us our own mental perception of what a real nurse is and that is what shapes our style of nursing care. when we deviate from that inner perception then it makes us have to change inside and that is hard.

my 2 cents anyway. :)

your 2 cents is worth a lot! thank you. :)