where else do ER nurses go?

[rearviewmirror]

I cannot imagine myself doing bedside hardcore ER nursing even to my semi-grey hair days, and I have grown pretty tired of the ER crowd, its back breaking labor, emotional drought it causes, and so on. I have looked into case management, administration, and also even though I have sworn to stay away from the bedside after this ER, I take my interest in procedural type of nursing (i.e: OR, GI lab, Cath lab) instead of ratio-based nursing (inpatient, ER, ICU, etc).

I will be honest with you, I don't get a "kick" out of saving lives, helping people with narcotics, doing work ups to tell them to f/u with specialist or pcp after discharge, all the way down to handing out prescriptions for cough, flu, lady partsl discharge. I know there are other nurses out there who feel this way, and that is not bad as long as you do your job well and don't lash out on patients for your bitterness.

What are some good fits for ER nurses like myself? Where do nurses who don't want to do this forever go?

[rearviewmirror, BSN, RN]

I somewhat agree that I would not fit well with case management; after all it's still about making sure patient is complaint and "has" all the things they need to take care of themselves. You know who needs to be made sure if they got everything to be okay? Babies! That's right, a grown butt person does not need another person looking after them making sure they are doing what they are responsible for, but that's for another rant.

I am seriously looking at administration so I don't have to deal with patients (although managing staff is HA on its own). I am looking into cath lab, GI lab, OR, etc. Thank you everyone for your input!

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

PACU seems to be the most consistent destination for our ED nurses.

Also, pre-op since ED nurses tend to be excellent at starting IVs and doing pre-procedure screening, teaching, and consent.

[Harley's mom]

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have been in the ER for over 20 years starting out as a paramedic and then getting my RN 7 years ago. After doing an ER travel assignment where the nurses had up to 14 patients each I decided to take a short (year and a half) try with home health. Well, that didn't work out to well for me because I got too attached to my patients and couldn't put it away at the end of the day. So..........back to the ER I went to the treat em and street em mentality. I had a strong background as a charge nurse and was made charge immediately after coming off orientation at my most recent job. Keep in mind that I had not been there long enough to even learn all departmental policies and there was plenty of flack from the employees. That waned eventually but the STAFFING was ridiculous..During my time there we became a level 3 trauma center and management was fine with 2 nurses from midnight to 7am if there were call ins. One night in particular I had the responsibility of charge, triage, and had 2 critical patients of MY OWN. The burnout and stress became obvious and I finally gave my notice. I am DONE with the ER. I have been not working for the last 5 months and still have no desire to return to that type of nursing. Now what? I have no idea where I belong although I'm ready to go back to work.

[Pheebz777, BSN, RN]

What about being a PICC line nurse?

[dah doh, BSN, RN]

PACU, procedural area like IR, and outpatient/ambulatory surgery center are the most common areas. I've also seen some go to Critical Care Transport.

[PG2018]

NP - Psychiatry.

I have some kind of visceral, stress reaction to sick people now. I have the same reaction to hospitals. Not anxiety, just anger.

I can only sit in an office and talk. I love it!