Back to the Hospital?

Is a per diem job an option for you in you old department in the hospital? If someone else carries the family health insurance and you can survive financially with job hours not guaranteed, look into per diem. 

I made the switch from full-time to per diem work right before my first child. I am still working per diem because I enjoy the control I have on my work schedule. I can work more or less depending on my home life, and never have to ask for vacation time off. I self-fund my retirement and am working as many hours as I want. 

I second per diem. You can still get access to 401k (or at least, in my per diem job you can).

I only know very few people who have gone outpatient, regret it, and return to the inpatient world. 

On 6/14/2022 at 11:11 AM, ThePrincessBride said:

 

I only know very few people who have gone outpatient, regret it, and return to the inpatient world. 

 

I had a coworker who left the hospital, came to my outpatient clinic. Got irritated with it, so went back to the hospital… and then came back to the clinic again!  There’s a real “grass is always greener” streak there. But anyway, OP, if you tried a job and it’s not for you, move on!  There’s no need to stay in school nursing if you don’t like it!  

Do what's best for you. Every family has different priorities and financial situations. Working in a school (pre RN days), I didn't fully appreciate having vacation time off with my family. These days, that's my priority. 

"You can still get access to 401k (or at least, in my per diem job you can)."

Per diem = zero benefits in my neck of the woods! Do you still get the 401K match??

I worked IMC for 2 years then left for a “Street Nursing” position. I left street medicine because finding ran out so I became a middle school nurse for 1 1/2 yrs. 
I have never felt so unappreciated and alone (professionally atleast) in my life. Despite having set hours of 0730-4 pm M-F, I still stayed late everyday to catch up on paperwork. Hardly ever got lunch. Took care of many medically fragile children with very little support. I was the only medical professional in a sea of 1000 people (students and staff). You are in an educators world so are often left out of everything.

I took a very large pay cut because I wanted better hours and time off. It really wasn’t worth it in my opinion. Benefits were similar to the hospital.

I left the school after 1 1/2 yrs and have now been in the ICU for 6 months. 
the ICU is crazy busy and not adequately staffed but atleast I can clock out and not have to worry about it. I work 3 on and 4 off. 
I don’t regret leaving the school. 

I worked for 13 years in various hospital settings. Decided to try HHC. After 3 years, realized it wasn’t for me. Took me 10 years to get BACK into the hospital, despite the prior years experience I had. All potential employers were interested in was what I had done in the last 2 years. And for some reason, HHC was not appreciated or understood. If you want to go, then don’t wait too long. The longer you’re out, the harder it is to get back in. 

On 6/23/2022 at 12:04 PM, Kcattanp said:

The longer you’re out, the harder it is to get back in. 

All of this! If you want to be back at the bedside, don't wait. 

I left school nursing after this year for many of reasons listed, plus Covid, but I took another outpatient position. I doubt I'd be attractive to any recruiter with over half my experience away from the bedside.

It sounds like you aren't far gone and if L&D is where you want to be, get back there. School nursing isn't getting better anytime soon and you can always leave L&D for a different outpatient setting in the future.