Wrong Career Choice

Nurses General Nursing

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Currently wondering what else I could do with my nursing degree. While I am thankful that God saw me through nursing school, I have been miserable ever since I graduated in 2012. I know that I have only been a nurse for approximately 2 years, I am just not satisfied with my career at the moment. After graduating I obtained a position on a Med-Surg unit where I spent about 6 months until I reached my breaking point, it was just too stressful plus my mother was very ill at the time, so I ended up quitting and took another job as an Adolescent Psych nurse, which I can say I kind of enjoyed, despite having to do my job and everybody else's. I worked as a psych nurse for 7 months until I was terminated due to another nurse making false accusations against me (due to the fact that I had recently reported her for not completing her work which was always falling on me). So after being terminated I kind of took some time to myself as I had also just experienced my mother passing a few months before I was terminated. After a few months I went back to Med-Surg PRN and also picked up a home health position. I just don't think nursing is for me anymore and I don't know what to do. I feel stuck in a career I don't love.

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My Bf felt the same way last month. He was an LPN then last year bridged to RN. He works at an assisted nursing facility (3rd shift) and unfortunately he is miserable there. He started telling me that he wants to go back to school ( I thought he meant for his BSN) so I agreed but he told me he wanted to be a vet-tec..omg I was in shock..I knew his parents would never agree to it n I didn't as well.. I mean if he wants a career change we support him, but not if it's gonna be a huge pay cut..we told him that in today's society, it's important to be financially stable..

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It's also important not to be miserable. He might try to get out bedside or adult nursing. To pp.

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Yea he just started doing home health and seem to like it a lot better..I feel bad for him because for the past month he constantly have to deal with falls..one night he had 3 falls within 5hrs apart. He work at a 3 story building overnight with only him as a nurse and only 3-5 cnas...I would be miserable too

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Do u have any other careers in mind you might want to do besides nursing?

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I an so sorry for your loss......((HUGS))

Give yourself time to grieve before you make any big decisions.

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M/S or any total care nursing job is soul sucking after a while especially if you are in a low income area like mine with lots of drugs/ETOH. It creates anxiety and bitterness before work for a lot of people. I think you need to switch specialties and or locations.

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I would the first step is to find a better job in the career that you don't like.

Save up money and save some more. You can use the money you save up to pay for training for another line of work, take time off or travel.

Now would be the time to look around at what kind of work would satisfy you more.

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There is so much you can do with a degree in nursing! Do you have your BSN? You could always go back to the Psych unit if yuo enjoyed that/work at a psychiatric hospital. Get your masters, become a paralegal (many lawfirms love paralegals with an RN degree because they can use them heavily on medical malpractice cases), go into medical equipment sales (I have a friend who does this and he said they love hiring nurses). Maybe look outside of the scope of a hospital/nursing setting, and you never know what doors might open up!

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Thanks everyone!!! I went to bed crying and woke up crying. I've prayed on it and I told myself I'll try and give it a little more time and re-evaluate in 6 months. During this time I'll try and save up some money just in case I decide to do something different.

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rsal27, Yes I have a BSN. I will definitely look into those areas you mentioned. Do you know where I could find more info on other careers where I can utilize my nursing degree. Because I want to try and use the degree I already have because I worked so hard for it and I don't want it to be a waste. I know that sounds crazy right, but I've tried searching online and can't seem to come up with anything.

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No sure where you are located, but check indeed.com and just try typing in "nurse consultant" "legal nurse consultant" "case manager" "medical equipment sales" stuff like that. Or just check for registered nurse and see what all comes up on indeed/careerbuilder/monster, etc. It may take awhile to sift through, but what's the harm!

Other places to consider (obviously all depending on what you think you would like)

-school nurse

-nurse at a corrections facility

-pharmaceutical companies

-insurance companies

-community education

-Maybe in the meantime even look for a job at a nurse temp agency (so you can work in all different areas, maybe find something you like?)

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