Getting Away From the Bedside

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Hi All,

I'm a nurse of two years in Western PA, 1 year in a community hospital med-surg ICU, 1 year in a Level 1 CTICU, and I am absolutely miserable at the bedside. I think it may be my current unit and it's employees and the chronic transplant patients we end up with that have contributed to this, but I have lost all passion to be at the bedside. For my sake, my wife's and my patient's sake, I need to make a change and fast.

I have a BSN with a pretty hefty resume of extracurricular's while in college and I have taken a stab at a few jobs I'm under qualified for that are outside the hospital (Content Writer at Google and Healthcare Comm. Specialist at a research group) without any results. Nothing I've seen in terms of nursing jobs posted by the nearby hospitals have sparked any interest in me.

My original goal when getting into nursing was Anesthesia, but my current work situation has severely smothered that ambition so I haven't made any steps toward it recently. However, I do wonder if it's enough change from bedside nursing that I would enjoy it.

I'm posting this to see what others have done with their careers and how they have managed to get away from the bedside.

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Specializes in Aesthetics, Family Medicine.

I work in telephone triage and the nurses I work with, as well as myself, love giving "advice" over the phone. We work 8-5, rotate weekends, major holidays off. For me, as a fairly new nurse, I'm learning a lot with the variety of calls we get and occasional nurse visits.

If you feel bedside isn't for you anymore, it's another option for nursing. It's also great when u have a family because of the schedule.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Surgery, Ophthalmology, Tele.

Hoping you find your niche. Nursing is such a large field, there is something out there for you. :up:

I went from bedside nursing to an ambulatory surgery center last year. I love where I am now. :) I work Mon-Fri, weekends and holidays off, no call. If your interested I wrote an article about this a few months ago. Sorry I can't post the link (posting on my phone now.)

Also check out the different nursing areas on this site (the "Specialties" tab at the top of the page) to learn about different jobs in Nursing. Good luck to you.

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Nursefrances--

Ive also been interested in leaving bedside but the jobs seem few and far between. Ambulatory surgery sounds so interesting, but all opportunities I've seen need OR experience which is something I don't have...and I also find it hard to actually get in that specialty if not right out of nursing school (I only have med/surg/tele experience). How were you able to get that opportunity? Did you have ICU experience? I think those with ICU experience seem to have more flexibility/job opportunities due to the higher level acuity of care.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Sorry that you feel mired in your current situation. I agree with PP - since you have only worked in one area it would probably be a good idea to transfer into another area before abandoning acute care entirely. It is VERY difficult to get back into acute care after leaving it for a non-acute job.... and there is very limited career advancement available in non-acute areas. Nursefrances is correct - ICU experience/expertise is a great foundation for many different types of advanced jobs.

As for advancing your education - there are many alternatives to CRNA that are much less arduous & would not require you to stop working while enrolled. In my part of the country, MSN-Informatics is very hot & I have recently heard of a lot of interest in MSN-Quality & Patient Safety; both areas can lead to advancement & higher salary.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Surgery, Ophthalmology, Tele.
Nursefrances--

Ive also been interested in leaving bedside but the jobs seem few and far between. Ambulatory surgery sounds so interesting, but all opportunities I've seen need OR experience which is something I don't have...and I also find it hard to actually get in that specialty if not right out of nursing school (I only have med/surg/tele experience). How were you able to get that opportunity? Did you have ICU experience? I think those with ICU experience seem to have more flexibility/job opportunities due to the higher level acuity of care.

I had worked telemetry prior to the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC). A stand alone center (not connected to a hospital) may be easier to get into with this (Tele) experience. Not all nurses are in the OR. There are pre-op and post-op nurses. The pre-op nurse gets the patient ready for surgery, screens them, starts an IV, etc. Post op nurses receive the patient immediately after surgey. You monitor them, give them post op instructions and discharge them.

If this seems interesting to you, do some research in your city. You probably never noticed these stand alone centers but they are around. (Plastic surgery, GI, Ortho, etc.)The way I found where I wanted to work (ophthalmologists/eye surgeons), I called some local eye surgeon's offices and asked where they did their eye surgeries. Some answered the "local hospital", others said they had their own surgery suite (Bingo!). There were 3 eye surgery centers within 30 minutes of my house. And now I work at one 5 miles away. :)

Good luck to you.

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Specializes in lots of different areas.

Not true! I couldn't get any calls other than the ICU-I have 3 years ICU and recently moved to a different state....I know this thread is a few months old...

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Specializes in Managed Care, UR, Case Management, Mental Health.

Case Management; many forms both in hospital, office based, home based. TCM, FCM, UR/UM, Telephone triage, Advice nurse, HH, Hospice. A lot of companies will train so do not be worried about not having this type experience.

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