Clinical Educator or Risk Management? Which Would You Choose?

[bluenurse10]

I am in a position to choose between the two roles.  I work at a medium sized community hospital that was recently acquired by a major academic hospital system.  Due to this acquisition, my current nurse educator role is being eliminated.  This is because I am not dedicated to a department.  I run New Nurse Orientation and oversee new grad nurses, and teach various professional development classes.  I have the opportunity to move into a unit based clinical educator for three med/surg units and would eventually have a counterpart to share the workload with.  I could do something completely different and go to risk management.  I am torn because I feel like the med/surg role could have a huge impact on nursing and patient outcomes, although the administrator is known to be difficult to work with.  Risk management is interesting to me because it also has the potential to impact patient outcomes.  I feel like risk management could potentially offer more career options and advancement because it is a small department so I could easily move up when the director retires.  Of course there is an if attached to that when.  But, I though risk management could segue in legal nursing and potentially more opportunities that way. Does anyone have any input? I need guidance, please 🙂 

[JKL33]

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I am in a position to choose between the two roles.  I work at a medium sized community hospital that was recently acquired by a major academic hospital system.

Oh, I know this; I have the answer! 🎉 Just follow these steps:

1. Pick either role. Maybe stay away from the one with the difficult administrator

2. Smile a lot and make sure to stay super positive

3. Plan your escape. I mean, earnestly. Come up with what you want to do next in life that does not involve working in there

4. Immediately start whatever steps are necessary for #3.

YW!

[Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN]

I cannot agree more, I am currently in an educator role and working with a difficult nurse manager/administrator that continuously undermines your professional opinion or does not respond in a timely manner to your communications creates an ineffective learning environment for staff. 

I recommend taking the role where you are not working with oppositional colleagues and planning your escape.