Anybody you know leave the field of nursing?

Nurses Retired

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You always hear especially now a days of people coming in to the field of nursing in leaps and bounds but you never hear of people trying to get out of nursing... At least where I work.

So do you know anybody that left the field or went back to school to pursue something else? And if so what?

Specializes in peds, allergy-asthma, ob/gyn office.

I have just left my horrible job in an OB/gyn office.. an incredibly dysfunctional place. I really considered it my last effort at direct patient care. Left with a smile on my face. Now, 2 mos later, my husband's hours at work have been reduced. We have teenagers in tutoring and violin lessons, so this drop in income is terrifying. I have applied online for HEDIS (gotten no replies), a library clerk job (too soon to know anything yet). I just got a lead on a primary care office that is looking for a part-time paperwork person who can "help" the nurse. This sounds just about right to me. No, I won't get nurse pay but at this stage in life, as long as we are making ends meet, happiness is more important to me. Another possibility for me is... my husband works in a chemical plant. They have non-degreed people who take samples for their lab. I was offered an interview there when I was still working in the OB office, but turned it down due to stupid loyalty to that office and the fact that the hours are rotating shifts.... which for one week a month, would not work with my kids' schedule. However, the money is more than I ever made as a nurse, with a lot less b.s. Checking on that too.

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Specializes in ED,Ambulatory.

To NurseFifty,

Wow, this is OT but I'd kind of like to do the reverse of your experience. Have BSN and want to work in computer field. Do you have a Comp Sci/Comp Eng degree (make WAY more then we nurses do!)?

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I am trying to get out of direct patient care nursing (not very successfully). I read a journal article the other day that between 20-60% of nurses (depending on where you live and speciality) leave in the first three years. I am doing a research degree and hope this will send me down the path of working in research. I love the idea of improving the system for nurses which indirectly improves the care of patients.

However this will take me a while as I still work fulltime.

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To beckster: Yes I do. Had it before Nursing. Good luck, you will find it fun..

If I were you, I will attend some information session about the degree programs, research the job openings in the online job boards to see what sort of work in it that you like and which role fits your personality. Talk to people who actually do the job. Take some beginning courses first to see if your personality fits. Developers are creative, organized, patient people (who can follow very long and complicated maze of logical steps in their heads without getting frustrated). Testers can break anything. Analysts have great people skills, and so on so forth. I suggest you specialize in something, as competition these days is also quite tough for beginners. You will need to keep learning new things on your own - very often. Most perm employment is salaried (no overtime pay).

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

A good friend of mine left floor nursing to do payroll for the hospital. She was dying for a desk job and wanted nothing to do with nursing, even non-clinical roles like management or informatics. She had no HR experience but was an asst nurse manager earlier in her career so she was loosely familiar with payroll. She loves it. She is an inspiration to me..every year of nursing gets harder on my psyche, body, and soul and thanks to her I have my eye out for out-of-the-box employment opportunities.

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I'm a male psych nurse with just under 15 years under my belt, and I hate it, I feel bad for saying it but I'm tired of dealing with those who don't want to be helped I got into it to help people but all I deal with is substance abusers who keep coming in or people who threaten suicide unless I do everything they demand, patients who literally spit in my face then complain if I raise my voice after it happens, I'd sell everything I have to leave nursing but at 35, I don't know what else I could do, some nasty people I've dealt with staff and patients have poisoned me against nursing, and I feel so bad because it's robbing me if my compassion, I feel so low I could cry going into work most days, at this point I'd take a job stacking shelves, but I just can't afford it, ant advice would be appreciated, I'm not a bad guy, but feel beaten down by the psychiatric nursing field

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Specializes in NICU, Acute Rehab, Med/Surg, Quality.

My husband is a RN and he left nursing after only 2 years of practice. He keeps up his license for a backup plan but he went back into the electrical field where he makes 4x the money as an industrial electrician. He had taken a position in ICU just to get his foot in the door.He hated being in ICU and wanted to do Outpatient and Inpatient surgery but every time he applied they would choose someone else. He was really stressed and just couldn't take it anymore. He is much happier now.

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Specializes in NICU, Peds, Med-Surg.

I haven't LEFT officially; I still keep my license active, but I haven't worked in almost 3 years. My main reasons are

physical / medical issues, which is unfortunate, because I loved all my years at the bedside. I have tried to get "desk"- type

nursing jobs, but they are few and far between AND/OR they require experience. I took an MDS course and LOVED it---I

know I would do very well at it; because I LOVE details and don't mind paperwork at all. EVERY ad I've ever seen requires

experience. While taking the MDS class, there a very D.O.N. I chatted with who told me she would consider hiring me for MDS

nurse. The only problem was, the nursing home where she was D.O.N. was a dump and wayyyy too far of a drive.

2 years ago, once my joints decided they could NOT handle bedside anymore, I was also very burnt out and decided to try

for unit clerk / admission clerk positions. I applied for MANY and got ONE interview. The hiring manager couldn't seem to get over

the fact that I did NOT mind about the decrease in pay!!! Arrgh! I have found that to be true with other jobs I've applied for.

I very professionally explained that the lower pay was FINE!!! I **wanted** to burst out and yell "Look, I'm not stupid----LOL---

I KNOW the pay is about 2/3 rds of what I made as a nurse----WHY would I even bother sending you my resume if I already knew this?!?!"

One of my former co-workers went into selling houses; I always wonder how that worked out for her---she was

an excellent nurse!

I knew a sweet lady who had been SOOO excited to go back to college and get her RN after her children were in elementary school.

She was telling me this while chatting in the store she opened---hee hee---she said she had been SO disappointed at how

stressful it was, and how horrible the doctors were, and crying after every shift. I think she worked med-surg for a few years,

and never went back. Sadly, her store ended up not doing well and closed. I wonder what she's doing for income now?

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I once worked with a nurse who burned out after only one year and went to work as a stewardess for one of the major airlines.

I left nursing and retired in 2012 after 40 years. Best decision I ever made.

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