Did you take a risk?

[CardiacDork]

Are YOU an RN/LVN that was fed up with direct patient bedside care, that was fed up with the lifestyle and burn out and ACTUALLY did something about it?

We often hear the dissatisfaction from our coworkers and we live through the stress that caring for critically or acutely ill patients can bring to our lives.

However we see those same coworkers (just about everyone on the unit) become complacent with the dissatisfaction and the stress. Critical and acute care coupled with budget cuts and poor staffing ratios can leave one extremely fatigued emotionally and physically.

Everyone talks about moving on to something bigger and better, but rarely do we see these claims become reality. I truly have a hunch that it is because we just become complacent, we go home and we forget. Or perhaps we are afraid of taking a risk and leaving what we've always known behind.

Personally speaking I'm ready for change. Many of you know... Many probably have seen my threads and know that by now. Yes I'm ready for change. Yes I've only been a nurse just a little over four years but I am just exhausted.

I am ready to take a leap of faith and try something different. I'm currently finishing up my BSN, so I know that will open up more doors.

What other roles can nurses partake in that aren't direct bedside patient care?

I've thought of:

Working for an insurance company?

Occupational Health RN?

Wellness Coach?

Diabetic Educator?

What other ideas do you have? And where and how can I go about finding these positions?

I honestly think these positions do exist, and I think they're out there and ready to be filled. I think that we just never see our coworkers move on because of complacency, not because everyone is shopping for these jobs.

Money is becoming less and less of an important factor, as I'm becoming older my quality of life is beginning to matter more. I'm only 25, but I mean as I've grown in my 20s - the appeal money brings has diminished. What is the money worth if I'm going to be fatigued and drained?

Also, I'm so unhappy with my current position that I would never want to work overtime. And I'm not going to work OT doing soemthing I can't stand.

I mean, eventually I want to become an NP and I do want to become an entrepreneurial NP. Think outside the box and own a business... NOT because of the money but because that's whay I WANT TO DO. I want to impact healthcare and create soemthing ingenious. Approaching health and medicine in a completely revolutionary way.

Until then though, idk how much longer I can keep this gig going in the ICU.

I am ready for a change.

[/username, BSN, RN]

Did you take a risk?

Yes...This morning, I drank the bloody mary mix that has been in my fridge since.....well, I don't exactly remember when I put it in the fridge, so that's how long it's been in there.

No death yet.

[DowntheRiver]

I burned out at 3 years and I've been a nurse for 4 just like you. I am now doing outpatient oncology and I love it - no nights, no weekends, no call. I'll also be working part time on my MSN Ed come this Fall.

[Green Tea, RN]

I agree with the poster that people complain whatever, but only a few of them actually make a move.

I have been a nurse about three years (a year of bedside and the rest in OR). I had been thinking to go to graduate school for a STEM field for a couple years and finally i did. I now work as a nurse part time and take some classes. Because my undergraduate is nursing, I have to take some required classes to get into the program I want; but it is going good so far. Cutting hours of work drastically improved my quality of life. My income was dropped of course, but I have no regret (I am single with no kids). After all, I knew I couldn't keep doing what I was doing full-time because it was physically taxing (and I have some medical reasons). Learning something new is exciting and makes me feel good. I will be out of nursing in next three years.

[ProperlySeasoned]

Have you considered academia? A PHD sounds right up your ally. Teaching would satisfy your desire for motivation, teaching, coaching. You could also explore your other interests through research and your dissertation.

[K9lover, ASN, RN]

I got out but it was a leap of faith knowing I wouldn't be able to easily return to bedside nursing. ER was my last contract and when it ended I just knew I couldn't do it any longer.

I am a prison nurse and, God willing, intend to remain in this area for rest of my career, I love the autonomy, I love having patients behave a a civil manner, I love having an officer within arms reach.

And I really love not being the 'last house on the block' with care. Need good triage skills but every nurse in the place responds to that radio call and they are off PRN to ER (the triage is, if a critical injury, we are practicing in the field. 02, AED etc...but not like a hospital.) When I worked ER I felt like last kid on the block but is really ICU, I don't have a lot of ICU experience but it was enough...

Never a dull day with my patients. All male from min to max security and cameras in every square inch of the place and they manage to make pruno, cheek mads, try to kill one another or themselves.

I was actually quite nervous about leaving my 'comfort' zone of bedside care but was way overdue, when patients asked for rationale behind anything I was telling them the doctors hands were tied, I was not lying to them, most folks have no idea and docs rarely see them as they can put orders in a computer from anywhere, I just felt like "take out the fork, I am done."

[Everline]

I took a risk in the first year of my career. Less than a year as a hospital bedside nurse and I knew it was not for me. Everyone told me to stay, that it would get better and that I would have a hard time getting further employment if I left before the magic year. I took a chance and it payed off. I started working in an outpatient clinic and eventually became a public health nurse. I have NEVER looked back. The day I drove away from the hospital for the last time was the day I got my quality of life (and health) back. I love the specialty I'm in now and hope to stay in it in some capacity until I retire. I am still a new nurse (in my fourth year of nursing) and I'm so glad I listened to myself early on. I have no desire to work in a hospital as a bedside nurse every again. I am quite content.

[CardiacDork, MSN, RN]

I want to thank everybody for their detailed responses and sharing their stories. I enjoyed reading each and everyone one of them.

Thank You

[malenurse69, MSN, NP]

I went from ICU to urgent care. Best decision of my life. So much less stress and bs to deal with it's amazing. Funny part is, I'm getting paid way more to do it! Been here since beginning of April and haven't had a moment of stress yet. Coming to work is actually a relaxing moment for me which is a new experience for sure.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

It's not taking a risk. It's a choice.. to move on . All options you have listed are good choices.

YOU come first.

Pick one and go for it.

Best wishes.. let us know how it's going.

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

Yes, I went from ICU to informatics. I am not happy. I find it mind-numbing to be honest and am actively moving towards returning to ICU. ICU is the only place I really felt alive. I needed the break at the time, and some fresh perspective, but it's time to go back.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

The best move I ever made in my career was from hospital nursing to assisted living. I actually had a nervous breakdown just before I clocked in one morning, and I knew that I could not go out on that floor one. more. time. I couldn't face another shift of being treated like a pack mule that didn't have a brain in its head. I couldn't handle another day of being bullied by the department manager. (That's a story for a whole other post.) I couldn't work another 12-hour shift of grueling physical labor during which I could never eat lunch, pee, or have a single moment to myself. I was completely and irreversibly DONE, and I even got unemployment because the hospital didn't fight my claim. They knew I was losing it and for a damn good reason; I guess they thought paying UI for me was better than me suing them. Not that I would have---I didn't want to deal with them in any capacity ever again.

So I took a couple of months off to get some therapy, and then this job as a director of health services at a local assisted living facility opened up and it sounded good so I went for it. I got the job and never looked back. I was in charge and I had all the autonomy I could have wished for. I was valued for my brains instead of my back. I could also pace myself and throttle back when I wasn't at my best. And I learned all kinds of assessment skills, not just physical (although I did those too), but psychosocial. Even now, I could tell you a hundred things about a person just by looking at them and talking to them for 10 minutes.

I worked AL for most of the rest of my career, and enjoyed almost every minute of it; if I sometimes missed the adrenaline rush of acute care, it wasn't enough that I would ever have gone back. I didn't regret leaving it one bit.