Published Dec 20, 2020
RDH-RN
7 Posts
Hello -
For those if you that transitioned from bedside to insurance company, how did you deal with feeling like you weren't a "real" nurse? Or did you not?
I'm being faced with this possibility due to health issues (post COVID syndrome) and am struggling with this...but if I can't breathe and have chest pain walking down the hall, I'm not much use to my patients and that's not the best for me. ?♀️
Nurse SMS, MSN, RN
6,843 Posts
If you weren't a "real" nurse in those positions, they would not require a nursing license to take the position. Educate yourself on why the position needs a nursing license. Nursing is so much more than just the bedside skills. On some level you know that. Moving away from bedside just requires you to actually believe it. Welcome to a personal bias you just discovered ? Too many of us work away from the bedside for us not to be "real nurses" too. It will be okay and your life will improve greatly. I sure hope you feel better soon!
It's funny - I have never and would never consider that term applicable to anyone else, just to myself. If it read like I was slighting non-bedside nurses, that wasn't at all my intent. I've had coworkers make the transition, and they all expressed feeling that way, though, and I'm finding I'm being equally hard on myself. The personal bias is only directed to myself.
Thank you for the well wishes - I appreciate it very much!
Lunah, MSN, RN
14 Articles; 13,773 Posts
I understand your mindset - we have a vision of nursing as a hands-on-patients profession. But in any nursing role, you will still touch lives. I work in appeals for a large insurance company. I recently got a medication approved for a patient even though criteria weren't precisely met. I called the patient's mother to let her know it was approved, I left a message on her voicemail. The next week she called me to thank me, she was so overwhelmed with gratitude and we cried together. Her child's whole life has changed, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of that. Made my whole day.