so, what do you do if you are not doing bedside nursing??

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hello.this is in relation of the thread "do you miss bedside nursing?"..ive read all the responses and was wondering what do you do if youre not doing bedside nurses and maybe get a tip or two on how to get a life,earn enough to pay mortgage and bills and be happy? and please be honest if you really take a pay cut so i could think it through...im really not happy anymore doing bedside nursing ,been doing it for 12 yrs now.and im just scared not to earn enough if i leave it..so do pitch in a penny or two.

ned:nuke:

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.

i'm happily doing "chairside" or "couchside" or even "porchside" nursing as a home health nurse--plus a fair amount of singing along to the radio loudly and badly while driving to visits !! pay's fine, paperwork's still a pain, and i still get to have a life!!:redpinkhe:redpinkhe:redpinkhe:lol2:

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I also work in home care, but not performing patient care. I work as a rep for an agency. It involves marketing and "sales" (obtaining referrals). I take breaks whenever I desire and I'm even able to do some work from home. The pay is much better than what I was making as a staff nurse (about $30,000/yr more) and the benefits are great. I get two and half weeks of vacation my first year, two weeks of sick/personal time, and 10 paid holidays (that I do not work). Life is good!

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Specializes in surgical, neuro, education.

I have taught nursing to LPN's for the last 8 years. (until health problems)( had my associates when I started It keeps you up to date on new procedures, still have bedside contact supervising students, hours are great--pay for me in NY was comp because I had state benefits. I had only bedside exp. teaching patients--and had to find my own teaching style--but thoroughly enjoyed it because I taught a little of everything (except Maternity). There is great need for educators in all nursing programs==in NY most ADN programs want a Master degree. I also taught nursing assistants and Home Health Aides.

Good luck in whatever endeavor you choose.:yeah:

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

I work a 9-6 desk job as a disease management nurse. I will be working from home in a month, but it is a very boring job. I did not take a pay cut, believe it or not. If I didn't have a big foot problem, I'd still be at the bedside in the CCU, and teaching clinicals. I miss being in the hospital, believe it or not. I spent 13 years doing that kind of work and wasn't ready to leave.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.

1st non-bedside job: prison nurse

2nd: home health

3rd: pre-surgical testing

4th: telephone advice

5th: employee health

6th: clinical research

Except for the research job, there was no paycut.

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Specializes in Pediatrics,telephone triage.

I've been a telephone triage nurse for an insurance company for 5 1/2 years. I get to work from home and make over $25 per hr. I wouldn't go back to bedside nursing for twice the pay. That's what's so great about nursing. There are so many opportunities in so many areas of nursing. There's something for everyone!

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Specializes in Government.

I guess I'm the only one to every take a paycut!

I left hospital nursing for case management, which was actually a pay raise. When my company eliminated its pension plan, I sought out a job which would have excellent benefits (traditional pension, good health/dental, disability coverage, etc). I accepted a community health nurse role. I did take a pay cut of about 20%. I made it back in 3 years. It was worth it...the pension is stupendous and the hours are regular, no emergencies, no w/e, holidays, nights or vacation blackouts. I also work solo so I don't have to schedule or cover for anyone else's sick days or maternity leave.

I'd do it again.

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I also work in home care, but not performing patient care. I work as a rep for an agency. It involves marketing and "sales" (obtaining referrals). I take breaks whenever I desire and I'm even able to do some work from home. The pay is much better than what I was making as a staff nurse (about $30,000/yr more) and the benefits are great. I get two and half weeks of vacation my first year, two weeks of sick/personal time, and 10 paid holidays (that I do not work). Life is good!

Wow!!! How do you get this job??? This sounds awsome..... Is this a national company??? I live in Maryland... thank in advance for your response.....:redbeathe:redbeathe

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Medical coding. It's a nice sit down desk job reading doctor's dictations and assigning code numbers to medical diagnoses and medical procedures in preparation for billing. Pay is almost the same as for RNs as you get more experience at it. Training takes about one year.

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Informatics. I'm the computer geek nurse.

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I work in crisis stabilization which is acute detox for substance abuse and stabilization for MH patients off of their meds and in crisis. Our patients are up walking around and perform their own ADL's but do quite frequently get sick or have a medical emergency that keeps up a lot of our skills. I love it and we make more than the Med-Surg nurses in our area.

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