an 'easier' specialty

[rearviewmirror]

We all know ER is harder than any other specialties, mentally and physically, although many others cry "all nursing is hard and try to say office nurse=ER nurse"... well, ER is just 'harder'.

I wanted to look into a different type of specialty because I don't ever want to go back to ER again. I want the joy of M-F 8-5, no weekends, no juggling between 4-5 patients of all acuities, 12hr nights, being short staffed, working without medics, techs or transports and being called out for slow triage, long wait time, you know the whole administrative 9 yard bs.

Any place like this? I know some of my coworkers went to pre-op or pacu and said it was a cake walk. Case management is a dream job but too competitive at this time. Thanks for chiming on in advance!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Clinical research. It has stress, but also everything you mentioned.

[dreamer30]

I was told that surgery centers was a breeze. I'm not exactly sure what the job is called but the RN ask questions and take vitals before surgery and that's it. Could get boring if your doing 12 hours.

I was told in a clinic that's you have your job and 3 others. But if your used to always being on the run maybe you wouldn't mind it. What about Home Health?

[sugarwahine10]

Their are several nurses I know who work in & absolutely LOVE PACU and would never go back to bedside nursing on the floor. They say they like the 5 days a week 8-4:30, no weekends (except call), no family politics to deal with, and no difficult patients to deal with because they are majority of the time sedated. I thought about applying there (jobs don't open up there that often either) since the nurses working in PACU make it sound like the holy grail, but I can't/don't want to do 5 days a week and that's the only option at this hospital.

[canigraduate]

There are no "easy" specialties, just ones that fit YOU better.

Shadow a few different ones and find out which ones you like.

[emmy27]

I work in an ER that is as understaffed/chaotic as can be and occasionally pick up PACU shifts, and relative to the physical and mental stress of the ER, I do personally find it easier- I go home much, much less tired and anxious than from a typical ER shift.

That said, I haven't transferred because I think I would find it dull day in and day out, and because the particular stresses of the PACU, and they do exist, (especially dealing with the individual preferences/demands of the surgeons and anesthesiologists) are not things that I handle as well as the stresses of the ER. A number of my ER colleagues have made the transition, though, and seem to enjoy it. It seems like it's about as far from ER life as you can get and still be in a hospital setting, so if the issue for you is ER burnout, it might be a good palate cleanser.

Whatever you decide to try, give serious thought to what it is that seems "easier" about it to you, and know that few licensed nursing jobs are genuinely globally easier than others (anything that really, truly doesn't require nursing training has largely been reassigned to UAP), they just all have pros and cons that may not be universally apparent to you until you work them. Those rare positions that that do involve much lighter workloads or have appealing hours tend to have that reflected in their pay.

Personally, I was a floor nurse before I was an ER nurse and while the stress or demand on my time at individual peak moments in the ER might be higher, I found the grind of juggling large patient loads and the same chronically ill patients for days or weeks on end much, much harder than the ER, which gives me constantly changing interesting and exciting cases in exchange for my hard work. As hard as it is in my current ER, I can't imagine voluntarily returning to M/S. And yet I know floor nurses who tried the ED and couldn't stand it, and returned to the floor. Everybody's different.

[ThymeRN]

There are no "easy" specialties, just ones that fit YOU better.

Shadow a few different ones and find out which ones you like.

This

I have the easiest job in the hospital. Acute psych is the perfect job, probably because I love it so much. I find it very rewarding, and I'm good at it. 95% of the nurses in my facility will disagree with me. They find it overwhelming and scary.

You will need to find your own happy place.

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

I agree with the above posters. You need to find your happy place. Mine is ER. I would be miserable anywhere else.