Creating a New Job in your field of Nursing

I have been a Nurse for the last 18 years and worked in many different areas of Nursing. I started off in Telemetry working the night shift and then moved to work at an Eye clinic.

My sister-in-law is also a Nurse and she was working at a place in Boca Raton called Hospice By the Sea. She found the hours were good and you would go out and visit patients and families in the home.

Her position changed with the company and she started working from home as a Telephone triage Nurse coordinating visits for the teams at night for patient care. I decided to give the company my resume and applied for an Admissions Home Health Nurse position.

I visited patients and families at hospitals, homes, and facilities and also carried a beeper so that if there was a new referral I would take the information over the phone and schedule an appointment. When I began working for the company I would visit and get on average around 5 visits or calls a night shift. Then as the company began to grow I was getting beeped during the visits with patients and families and the combination of taking new referrals and visiting patients was getting to be a problem.

One night I was driving back home from a visit and it had been an emotional visit as the family were very sad regarding the patients diagnosis. I was on the Turnpike and the vehicle in front of me slammed on their brakes and swerved around a large black body bag laying in the road. As they slammed their brakes I had to slam mine and the back tail of my SUV fish tailed and I was hit from the rear by a semi truck.

All I could think of was what was in that bag, was it a dead body. As I am a Hospice Nurse I guess that was where my mind had taken me. My vehicle slid down the road at least 100 feet and the tire blew and the rim scrapped a line down the road. The police officer said it was a miracle the car didn't flip and that I was alive and well and said that the black bag was filled with wood and had fallen off a truck bed.

The semi truck driver was apologetic but knew that unfortunately there was not time enough for him to avoid my vehicle. The man's name driving the semi truck was Mr. Love, what a great name.

I was taken to the hospital after the accident to be checked out as I had been on a work visit and was required to go through the accident protocol. I ended up having to have physical therapy for my back as all the muscles had tightened up from the pressure of the accident.

While I was on medical leave from work I began to think about my job. I didn't want to drive around anymore and was thinking what if I could create a referral position from home where I would take calls and send out the Nurses for the night shift.

I talked to my boss about putting a trial work schedule together for me as I wasn't ready to go back out on the road. She agreed and I began documenting each call that I received and what were the results of the call. I was able to create my position as night Admissions telephone triage coordinator and that is what I have been doing for the last 9 years.

So, I'd have to say sometimes accidents can be a launch you need into a better Nursing job.