Careers after nursing: Nursing as a springboard to...what?

[eunymous]

What careers are nurses able to transition to?

I'm a fairly new ADN nurse at a the trauma/neuro ICU of level 1 trauma center. I really like my work and the learning opportunities here. I plan to go for CCRN and possibly CNRN certification. I plan to work as a nurse for at least the next five, ten, fifteen years.

But I'm probably going to need more money.

I had planned to go for my BSN, but I'm beginning to lose interest. Is it going to help my career? Or does it just help my hospital's image and their quest for a Magnet recert? I already dislike the competition that academic nursing seems to feel against medicine and other medical professionals. I realize we need to assert ourselves as a professional discipline, etc etc, but I'm not feeling it. I feel I have good reasons for this:

• I'm not going to paid more for the BSN. (Eighteen to twenty-four months of school for that? Gee thanks)
  
• I have no intention of going into management.
  
• Certification sounds like it would help me with my actual nursing care 10x more than a generic BSN.
  
• If I get 'bored' with bedside nursing, I would have no problem trying to change nursing fields. There are others that interest me as much as what I'm doing now.
  
• Advanced practice nursing sounds great! But if we're going to insist we all be DNPs by 2015 - and that in a depressed job market, where I can only work at select hospitals, and on top of that I'll only make as much money as I could make on our bedside nurse weekend program? Working 9-5 or longer, five days a week? Seriously?
  
• I have a wife and children and a baby on the way. I already had to abandon them enough to go to a hardcore ADN school while working full time.
  

Here's what seem to be my options: I'm a computer guy. I would totally get my MSN for nursing informatics, but is there really a market for this? Most hospitals I know seem to have one nursing informatics person. One.

I'm intrigued by the physician assistant license, but nurse to PA doesn't sound like the easiest or fastest transition. The threads here lead me to believe this. Would I be starting over with a bachelor's in biology?

Various "odd jobs" in medicine, like becoming an open-heart transfusionist, seem intriguing, but again, I don't know how you'd academically make the transition without starting over. Or what the job market's like.

We had our babies at home, during which I've become an armchair expert in childbirth, and I'd think about becoming a male CNM (notice I have to qualify that with male), but I've read the male CNM threads here and I'm not too excited about having to hunt for work as a "male CNM". Although apparently Illinois has a few?

I probably can't become a CRNA if you can't work during the clinical phase. Oh well.

Pharmacy school sounds too expensive. Medical school is too long and I don't want the 24 hour responsibility of being a physician.

Heck, I've even thought about leaving the field and entering into, say, finance, or some other career role I have a decent understanding of but doesn't require multiple years of school and clinical on top of trying to work. Before this I was pursuing a career in graphic design. Any nursing graphic designer niches in the job market? :)

As a nurse, what other careers do you think you could easily jump into?

At the end of the day, I may just stick with bedside nursing, entering into the weekend program or do agency nursing or some other form of high-paying but high-sacrifice nursing.

[caliotter3]

I was in school with a serious student who stated her goal was to go to med school. She started out in nursing because of the full scholarship that she was banking on helping her to get accepted to med school in the future.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

OP, I understand your frustration. Moving from ADN to BSN is an investment in yourself - it has to be internal motivation all the way because there is very little in the way of external motivation available in today's market. However, I think you really have an ace in the hole that many others do not have... your 'computer guy' background. You're a a HOT commodity in today's healthcare environment.

Right now, we are in the beginning 'surge' of the Federally funded push towards electronic health records. There is incredible pressure on organizations and providers to meet the 'meaningful use' goals - which have very specific timelines over the next few years. Failing to meet the goals will have a huge impact on the bottom line.

So -- healthcare organizations as well as software companies are looking for clinical informatics people.. basic education & licensure in a clinical discipline, but with formal computer/technology education and experience. The types of jobs range from 'pure informatics' (supporting the clinical electronic records system) to analysts working in specific departments (pharmacy, quality, risk, finance, marketing, etc) to training staff & physicians or developing online learning programs to teach people how to use the systems. If you aren't able to make the jump into that Informatics MSN right now, I would urge you to look at obtaining an informatics certification... check out this link for info about various online programs https://www.amia.org/.

Best of luck to you, keep us posted on your progress.

[concientiousdee]

Hello, I too have similar crossroads in my nursing career. I once wanted to do CRNA but I don't think that I will like the ICU. Then I decided to try the NP route but scared of the litigations. So now I am thinking of doing a maters in nursing which has to do with health care systems, management, quality assurance etc. the majority of the program seem to be geared towards management and I don't think I have it within me to be a unit manager. But one think I would not mind doing is the quality assurance/improvement aspect, informatics and then to be able to, ONE DAY, go into research. But so unsure if this is where I want to be. My last passion was to do geriatric NP because I could see myself with the undeserved population but I have time contraints in my life right now with my husband prepping for med school.SOMEONE HELP!. If you have any suggestions please offer. My concern with doing the management type problem is having to wait for until I get something that I like. As the previous guy mentioned, usually these informatics and quality assurance jobs there are only 1-2 needs in the hospital. Whereas With the np you no exactly what u want and the chance of getting a job right in your area is greater. HELP!!!!