Getting Out

Have you considered switching from floor nursing to a specialty like OR,

PACU, OB?

I have...PACU is too critical (high risk patients make me the most anxious), I will pass out in OR and OB I have heard is sooo hard to get into. I was thinking Psych but I'm not sure how the more manipulative patients would fair with me...I guess that would come with experience? I feel like if I can't handle the "basic" med/surg floor I wouldn't be able to handle a specialty. This might be me being to hard on myself...

Have you considered a clinic/dr. office type job? that would be more preventative education (i would think) and less liability stress. you'll never know if you like it if you don't try. you could always see if an office would let you job shadow a nurse so you could get a feel for it.

or maybe gi lab? 1 patient at a time, regular procedures.....that might be a better pace.

What about one day surgery? (Pre-op and post-op)with your six months experience that may be something to think about too because the census should be lower and pretty

much the same procedures (less anxiety) over and over....plus after they have

recovered your job might be patient education/follow up care

I think it is hard for nurses, who are by nature self-less, to leave bedside nursing because of working conditions. I have almost 6 months in on a general Surgical floor and I am finally going to admit that I want to leave bedside nursing. Althought I am a new nurse, I have been struggling with this thought since I have started on the floor. And I mean struggling! I have to learn how to be selfish in this case, and it's hard for me. I say selfish in a sense that I have to think of my license and my family and my mental health above the unit. My first instinct is to tough it out, see if it gets better, and keep working/worrying/not sleeping/crying and having anxiety attacks, but it's just not worth it.

This is not why I went to school! I love working with the patients in a time of need and I really like teaching them, but I haven't been able to do as much as I've wanted and I feel like we are never staffed to the point where I think is safe. The ratio is usually 6 patients primary and 7-16 teaming with an LPN. We are lucky to get NAs, and as soon as we discharge someone we get an admission from PACU. The anxiety of liability at the bedside is so high that is is consuming!

The problem I have is this: I know I want to get away from the bedside, but I am so young I'm afraid no one will hire me or that I won't like it. I have only ever been on a floor (as an aid for 6 yrs too) and I do not understand (nor have I been trained on) "background" things like insurance co.'s, case management, informatics, utilization review, or other terms that I have heard in association to non-bedside nursing roles that seem to be fuzzy for me. Anyone that can clear up these roles for me?

And a background fear: what if I apply and get trained on these positions and hate them?

And are there any certifications or degrees that would help in the non-bedside nursing roles? I am willing to go back to school as well.

All comments are appreciated!! :redpinkhe

I feel your anxiety!! I'm not a nurse yet, but I'm starting a second career after 20 years in my previous field. So, what I can tell you is more based on my experience as an EMPLOYEE than anything else.

1. It's the people. Talk to adults with 10, 15, 20 years work experience, and they will all tell you that the people you work with will make or break your job. ALWAYS people will say "I'll miss the people, not the job" and that's just kinda the reality of it. As people come and go, jobs that are good today might be crappy tomorrow- a new supervisor, a merger, a restructure, a few people retire/transfer/quit, etc and you have a totally different situation. Sometimes better, sometimes not. So, my first thought when I read your post- was to ask how the people are that you work with. Are you a team? Do they "have your back" do you all work well together? It matters, BIG TIME. Like others suggested, maybe a scenery change is all you need.

2. You can chase degrees all day long- heaven knows I did that trying to find the best fit for the second half of my life, but at the end of the day, nothing is perfect. School is school, work is work. Retraining, re-educating is time consuming and expensive. If it were me, I'd exhaust all possible avenues with existing credentials before moving on.

My mom worked as a RN for 45 years before she passed away. The majority of her early years in peds, then the bulk of her life in ICU/CCU. When she became a "senior" and wanted less stress, so she earned a degree in culinary arts lol. After 4 years as a cook, she hated it and went back to nursing. My point is, your quality of life is important- it's worth trying new things, sometimes they work- sometimes not. But, there are always options.

GI or endo wouldnt be bad...i will have to look into that. Thanks!

I have thought about Dr's offices but it seems I'm either under-qualified or over-qualified in my area....everyone wants MA's, LPN's, or NP's...no in between unless its telephone triage and I know I'm not experienced enough for that. But in truth that is the environment I need! Low stress!

I have applied to the local health dept....keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

As for same day...my cousin works in Pre-admission testing and is trying to get me a job in there as I hear it is a less complicated environment and it sounds nice! We'll see....probably wouldn't happen until the first of the year.

cookderosa- Your right, the people make a big difference. Most of the people have been VERY helpful when I ask them....but no one lends a helping hand when s--- hits the fan...we are all too busy keeping our heads above water! They have all helped when asked, but no one volunteers when it gets busy. Not that I blame them for this.

Good point about the degree....I never thought about it that way.

And I love your mother's story! I have thought about a culinary arts degree myself...my background was in the restaurant business before I discovered healthcare and I am nostalgic about it. Her story made me smile...I know I might screw this up but I HAVE to find what makes me happy. Thanks !

Ok, so just to clarify--you have been an aide for 6 years and are a nurse with 6 months experience, right? You like helping patients, you like teaching, but you don't think you like bedside nursing?

Can I just go out on a limb and share with you that it's fairly natural to be stressed in your first year out of school? This is the year when you barely feel safe, you begin to understand that you still have a ton to learn. Also, if this is not the same floor you worked on as a CNA, you are still in the team building mode--your coworkers are still sizing you up and figuring out how you fit. If it is the same floor, your coworkers are figuring out where you fit now. And, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the staffing you're talking about is pretty standard for a med/surg floor. The admit/discharge/stat clean/new admit process is a fact of life. If you're not riding a desk, you're going to have to deal with some facet of that dynamic.

Why don't you do some thinking about what you loved in school? What areas were the things you thought, wow, how awesome to do this every day? and explore those areas. It takes time to find your niche, and it takes time to become an expert, with the level of comfort that will give you. There are no shortcuts.

Don't ditch the bedside altogether, though, because you need the real-world, hands on, experience to be an asset in other kinds of nursing. There are already far too many people in healthcare who have an alphabet soup of credentials and no concept of reality.

I guess I should clarify that I don't like floor nursing...not bedside all together. And most of the specialty floors are more intense and certainly more complicated. This leaves me with clinic/MD office or non bedside..

Don't rule out school nurse, psych, or home health either.

Gotcha. I don't dig floor nursing, either. In fact, I think I'd rather sling hash at the Waffle House than go to work on a floor. I really think specialty areas aren't that bad once you have a good level of comfort with your assessment skills. The lower patient ratio makes up for the higher acuity 99% of the time, IMHO.

When I was in school, I loved L&D and ICU. It took some years of wandering, but I found my niche in nursing, and a department that is filled with people I love like family (and probably better than family, in some instances). There may not be a perfect place in nursing, because administrations are always going to be what they are, managers come and go, and other people just **** you off sometimes. But, it doesn't have to be perfect to be good.

I hear you. As a new nurse I

hated the floor for the same reasons.

I'm now at a small rural clinic and love

the patients and my fellow employees.

And even though pay is lower, my quality

of life is so much better. No more debilitating

anxiety or vomiting before my shifts. And even the

busiest most frustrating days are better than any

of my med surg or LTC days. I admit it, I wasn't cut out

to be a medsurg nurse. It took me two years and

2 jobs that "didnt work out" to figure that out!

Good luck in finding your place - Elprup

I have been a nurse for eight years and my first year was on med-surg. I went there hoping to stick it out for two years but after one year I had my fill of patient load. I went to a cardiac floor several years later and found it to be easier. Let me emphasize it was not easy work but the patient load seem to be tolerable for the most part. I went to work being able to provide good care and that was a relief. I would still consider a specialty if you like bedside nursing. Remember it takes a few jobs to find one that you really like so good luck to you finding the right fit!!