Career Direction

globalRN · Sep 27, 2002

TheLionessRN, I feel for you. Bedside nursing seems to have really deteriorated in terms of support for nursing...and it was getting bad when I left bedside nursing in 1986. If you have worked in med/surg...try applying for specialty nursing areas like

ICU, CCU, OR, ER, pediatrics etc. Then with those skills you can move more easily to employers who treat nurses better. There are many institutions which will sponsor you for specialty training with pay( and the education can be used as university credits

towards a degree. At least in BC, Canada)

The other way out is to get a degree so you have more employment options as well.

When you start dreading going to work, is it the work or the working conditions? If it is the working conditions, it is time to move on. Best of luck to you.

OriginalWmn · Sep 27, 2002

Hey, I hear you. I've been in nursing for 2.5 years and many times go home thinking that I want to do something else. That I should have listened to those people that told me not to go into nursing. However there are so many aspects of nursing that I love. I work in pediatrics and I don't know if I could work in any other area. Although it may sound contradictory since I too am expressing doubts about continueing on in nursing, I would recommend pediatrics. At least in peds you get to work with kids and the patient ratios are so much better than adult m/s especially at a teaching hospital. I used to work at the children's hospital in nashville if you are in the area and want info on it feel free to e-mail me.

Hang in there. I know it is tough. Sometimes I think the key to nursing is frequent vacations.

TheLionessRN, RN · Sep 27, 2002

Thanks for responding. I have my BSN, but have thought about going on to grad school, so I can expand my scope. In answer to the question above, I dreaded going to work because of both the work and the conditions. I hurt my back one year out of nursing school, so every time I go into a patient room and someone needs to be boosted in the bed, I wonder if this time is going to be the final straw on this camel's back. The hospital conditions were also a big reason for dreading it, because the admin were so pro doctor that they refused to take the side of nursing even if a doctor was abusive. I did leave that hospital, but unfortunately, it was the most local one around here, which means I have to drive more than 30 miles to get to the next closest hospital.

I have an application in for an ER position at the VA in Nashville. Hoping to get that job, cause if I can't take care of my friends and neighbors, then caring for our nation's veterans is an honorable job.

dazedandconfused · Sep 27, 2002

I am in the exact same boat at this time as you are. I am fried. I don't want to work in the hospital for a while. And my mom is a nurse -20 years in the same place. But at least she is getting frustrated with the red tape they are giving her. :)

I just sent my resume to the health department, I am hoping. I would love to get into the school system and work with kids(all my background is adults). Have you thought of doing a skills/ wants/needs list of some sort? Like what do you like to do in your spare time, do you like the teaching aspect of the job, the interaction that you have.....

all that info can be swirled somehow to help you figure out what area might lead to a corner for you.

Good luck :)

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 27, 2002

Here's another suggestion:

Take a look at some of the other roles in nursing. For example: if you you like to teach, then perhaps being an instructor in a nursing school might satisfy you more -- or a position in staff development -- or a job that emphasized patient education (eg.diabetes education, lactation consultant, etc) What about something like Infection Control? or Quality Assurance? or Case Management? Public Health nursing? school nursing? etc. There are lots of different types of jobs out there in nursing, not just the one that you have personally experienced. I would check the classifieds in your regional newspaper as well as nursing journals -- just to give you some ideas. Then you can contact people who might know more about the positions that interest you and ask them what type of education and experience you would need to get to qualify for that type of job.

Another sad fact of life is that you might have to move from your current house to find a job that appeals to you. Maybe that hospital 30 miles away (or 100 miles away) is worth moving for. If it gives you a career that you love, wouldn't moving a little -- or making the 30 mile commute be worth it? We can't always find what we want in our local neighborhood. Sometimes, we have to broaden our search a little.

llg

TheLionessRN, RN · Sep 27, 2002

I love to teach! Let me tell you about my experience with teaching over this past summer.

I got a job teaching LPN school in May. I came in during the middle of one quarter as a clinical instructor then picked up classroom teaching when the new quarter began.

When I was interviewed/offered the job, I was given the choice of teaching either OB or Peds. Since I have spent more time on peds and have children, I accepted a position teaching pediatrics....in spite of the fact that I am NOT and have never been a peds nurse. I thought I could do it.

When the quarter started and we got ready to go out for clinicals, I was informed by the director of the program that about half of the class had not had their OB clinicals because of a snafu with a clinical site the previous quarter. In order for these students to graduate at the end of the present quarter, it was up to ME to get these students their OB clinical hours as well as their Peds hours.

The hospital that I was doing clinicals at agreed to let my students do observation on their OB floor, and in their L&D. So, for my very first teaching assignment, I was floating between the pediatric floor where part of the students were, and the OB floor, where they were observing. The clinical coordinator came to me one morning to yell at me that I was not spending enough time with the students on peds because I was always checking on the students on the OB floor. She arbitrarily decided right there that there would be no more OB observations allowed, and to keep all these students with me on the pediatric floor. 11 students I had, and the census on peds never got over 5, and was usually 2.

The director of the program blamed ME!! And this was the beginning of the quarter!! I am not going into the rest of the fiasco, but, suffice it to say that I have a bad taste in my mouth about teaching right now. Since I only have a BSN, I can't teach university level, so I think I better just find something else to do.

Alley Cat · Sep 27, 2002

With Med/Surg as your background, have you thought about going into a practitioner program? It still may mean relocating, which may not be a direction you want to take if you have kids, etc., but surely there's something in the area that would work.

Does your mom work at the same hospital? Sometimes there's a difference in perspectives and job expectations just because of the differences between nursing programs now and years ago.

Allison S. · Sep 27, 2002

One of the reasons that I went into nursing in my thirthies after two other Bachelor's degrees and lots of work experience in a variety of environments, is the VARIETY of nursing positions available. Granted, I live in a big city, but even smaller places must have clinics, homecare, school nursing.

If you love caring for people, but find the hospital intolerable, you are in good company. Don't give up on the special part of you that IS a nurse.

TheLionessRN, RN · Sep 27, 2002

Allison,

thank you for your kind words

I can't imagine being anything else. It is who I am. I just can't seem to find a spot with a paycheck to go along with who I am, lol. I am going to keep looking, that is for sure.

globalRN · Sep 27, 2002

How about outpatients?

I did BMT/hematology outpatients and loved it.

There are a lot of surgical daycares that would be M-F. days.

I did teaching with a BSN as well....no upward mobility without a PhD or DNSc. Plus the pay isn't very attractive.

I did go back for my masters with a major as an FNP. The pay isn't wonderful and there is a lot of responsibility but you may like

a different scope of practice.

I think most nurses have either bad backs or bad legs from bedside nursing.

Best of luck to you. PM me if I can be of help

MICU RN · Sep 27, 2002

I feel your pain. I have been a RN for 4.5 years,all in critical care positions and I am ready for a change. I like the clinical aspects, but can't stand the BS aspects of it, for example having to also do all the nurs. aid work, this is very common in the ICU's and ER's that I have worked in. I plan to go to grad. school and work in a advanced prac. role. Hang in there, I am sure you can find a role for you. Many nurses I know with less than five years exp. are trying to get away from bedside nursing mainly because of the pay and the conditions. I think this current shortage will be different from the ones in the past simply because females now have all the professions open to them. And why would they put up with these work conditions? The nursing schools and hospitals will have to work together to improve the status of this profession. The days of having a constant influx of bright college bound people going into nursing are over, half the med schools and law school are now female. Many young people today don't want to become nurses bad enough if they have to put up with these conditions. And I have also observed that the nurses perspective has alot to do with it, if the new nurse is just looking for a job that pays twenty something a hour and has benifits and job security then they tend to be satisfied with it, however if they are looking to get an education so that they become professionals they are often disappointed with the conditions. That why I have so much respect for the people that stick with it.