I think I'm tapping out...I hate nursing :(

xokw, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2019

You have some options!

Occupational health, insurance, public health (might be right up your alley based on your interests), medical sales, etc. Bedside nursing isn’t for everyone.

Golden_RN, MSN · Feb 19, 2019

Case management, informatics, nursing admin, public health. I think it's smart to recognize that you don't love bedside nursing and I do relate to your post.

You may need to power through a little bit of time at the bedside for experience, depending on your long term goals. I'd look into public health jobs. I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the states there are gov't jobs with the state or county.

marienm, RN, CCRN · Feb 19, 2019

This opinion may not be popular or may not resonate with you, but I think it's okay to be a nurse and not be passionate about it. (This topic has been well-discussed in other posts, in fact!) It feels antithetical to the academic perspective that (I feel) overemphasizes passion and deemphasizes things like a reasonable salary and good health benefits.

Am I telling you to suck it up and be a nurse even though it doesn't ring all your bells? No, you're in charge of your own life! I am saying that it's okay to work - and I do mean *work* and try hard to do well - at a job that is, fundamentally, just a job and a means to an end (which could be paying down some debt, or saving for a vacation, or getting family health coverage, or whatever).

If you require passion from your job and can't see it any other way, can you identify areas of nursing that spark that passion? Refugee health, mother-baby care, HIV prevention, working with the chronically disabled, etc? Some of these niche jobs might require some acute-care experience first, but honestly some of these are probably less-desired or lower-paying and might be open to new grads? If caring for refugees is your passion, would you be willing to do it in an after-hours busy clinic? Would that feel like an acceptable tradeoff?

Good luck with your decision! It's okay to acknowledge that something isn't what you thought it would be.

NurseMegP, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2019

I hated bedside nursing. I lucked out an got into a position doing Utilization Review after a little over a year of bedside medical/surgical nursing and I really enjoy it. As the PP said, you could always view nursing as "just a job" but if you hate it now I'd imagine it's not going to get better. I would recommend finding the path in nursing that you do enjoy and pursuing that (even if it means putting in a few years doing a less than desirable role). There are a lot of options in nursing so I hope you don't feel stuck. Best of luck!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 19, 2019

On 2/17/2019 at 3:22 PM, karenfromfinance said:
Hey y'all,
I am a nurse based in Toronto, Canada. I don't want to come off as pessimistic, but I do want to share my story.
I'm embarrassed to admit, I entered this profession as a desperate attempt to find a meaningful career. I completed a 4 year BSc. degree and had no clue what to do with it once I finished. So I went and got my RPN/LPN at a local college thinking "Hey! I'll just be a nurse and help people!!!"
.At first, I was very intrigued about the profession. After my 3 rotations (2x Internal Medicine; 1x Long Term Care) I quickly understood the reality of nursing for what it was - not what I thought it would be. I became increasingly worried because I didn't find passion in it like I thought I would. This was my second career move and I wasn't about to give up yet. So, I decided I would go and get my BScN (I know...I know...). I honestly thought I would fall more in love with nursing having entered a program with greater in-depth nursing knowledge. Maybe I'd like dealing with more complex patients!! I was wrong
Here's my problem: I hate nursing. Correction: I hate hospital/clinical nursing. It's not for me, I do not find passion in it. And I'm so embarrassed to admit this to family and friends because once I'm done my BScN (I'm almost there...might as well finish...and get my RN) I'll have been in post-secondary school for 9 years in a row (tell me about it...). I don't want to work in a hospital, or at a longterm care place setting.
What I do know: I like health, healthcare, health promotion. BUT I'm open to explore more fields.
Do any of you have any advice for a RPN/LPN soon to be an RN on career change choices? Preferably one where I can utilize my nursing skills and don't have to go back to school. I have a mountain of student debt I'm not in a position to ignore right now....I really need your honest advice.
PS. Please be kind, I know I haven't made the smartest life decisions, so spare me with mean comment

There are many, many things you can do with an RN and two years of experience. Insurance, community health, clinic nursing, corrections -- the list is endless. Most of those jobs require two years of acute care experience, however.

You don't have to have a passion for nursing to do two years of acute care, however. You can do it with just a passion for learning, or to challenge your critical thinking, or just as the foundation of an interesting career away from the bedside.

TessLJ · Feb 20, 2019

I'll just say with 26 years of nursing under my belt, many days aren't met with passion, but I do think you shouldn't stay in a job you truly hate. It will show in your performance at some point. That said, you've got some good education and experience under your belt. I'm not going to repeat the great suggestions by the others but you probably need to get maybe another year or so of clinical experience before applying for case management or utilization management, or for anything in insurance. Most places prefer at least 3 years of clinical experience. But clinical doesn't have to mean bedside. Home health or office/clinic nursing, for instance.

BAnursing · Jul 6

NurseMegP said:

I hated bedside nursing. I lucked out an got into a position doing Utilization Review after a little over a year of bedside medical/surgical nursing and I really enjoy it. As the PP said, you could always view nursing as "just a job" but if you hate it now I'd imagine it's not going to get better. I would recommend finding the path in nursing that you do enjoy and pursuing that (even if it means putting in a few years doing a less than desirable role). There are a lot of options in nursing so I hope you don't feel stuck. Best of luck!

Hi, may I ask how did you get into your with 1 year experience? I would really appreciate your advice. thank you!!

pandabearlover · Jul 17

So sorry you are struggling 😕 If you love helping people, and don't want to be within 100 yards of anything that looks like a clinical setting, you should try health and wellness! Right now IV nursing is booming! When I took time away from the hospital, I worked at a place that did all the health things like cryotherapy, red light therapy, infrared sauna, but for nursing skills I did IVs, IM shots and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for patients. It was honestly pretty cool and while insurance benefits sucked I got to do all services for free. You don't have to worry about anyone having a medical emergency on you (highly unlikely), no cleaning up patients and the patients or "clients" actually want to be there and want to get healthier. The only thing is you have to be comfortable with selling, that was the part I didn't love but I also didn't put that much effort into selling because they have other people working sales positions at the store, I just did the nursing skills. Depending on what setting you do, in a store vs mobile IV therapy, there's much more flexibility and it is trending hard right now. Many nurses are also starting there own IV companies so there are opportunities for growth.

There are some states where CNAs can place IVs so I couldn't tell if you have a background as a care tech and have placed IVs but that's the only thing, you would need to have at least some experiences with IVs to qualify for that job because you have to be able to land IVs. Before I started the job, I didn't do IVs often bc my patients are cardiac and vascular - tough sticks, but a few months in I could throw IVs in people all day easily.

I also would highly recommend, do some shadowing!! It is a free and easy way to get a glimpse into peoples' days in different fields to see what it is like. It's actually what, partly, lead me to nursing. Because I found out I would never do cardiac rehab. Cardiac rehab is also a good option if you want a more chill day, they do have outpatient cardiac rehabs for nurses to work at.

One of my friends after one year of nursing went into research and has been there since.

I really would suggest to shadow each of these positions people have posted aboutm you can even do just a few hours, without having to throw yourself into a full commitment. It's okay to try things out, and what helped me was

"You have to start exactly where you are, as you are, with what you know and the skills you have right now. That's how you start. What happens next, will lead you to where you're supposed to be."

But don't force yourself to love something that you just don't, for only the reason that you have xyz feelings about having to make another career change and fearing what other people may think of you. I applaud you for working so hard and giving your all to so many things. You've done alot! There is no failure or lack of success in anything that you have done thus far.

My other very very highly recommended suggestion, if you are in healthcare, get into therapy, weekly therapy ASAP. I would not be here without it.

I wish you all the best!

BAnursing · Aug 9

pandabearlover said:

So sorry you are struggling 😕 If you love helping people, and don't want to be within 100 yards of anything that looks like a clinical setting, you should try health and wellness! Right now IV nursing is booming! When I took time away from the hospital, I worked at a place that did all the health things like cryotherapy, red light therapy, infrared sauna, but for nursing skills I did IVs, IM shots and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for patients. It was honestly pretty cool and while insurance benefits sucked I got to do all services for free. You don't have to worry about anyone having a medical emergency on you (highly unlikely), no cleaning up patients and the patients or "clients" actually want to be there and want to get healthier. The only thing is you have to be comfortable with selling, that was the part I didn't love but I also didn't put that much effort into selling because they have other people working sales positions at the store, I just did the nursing skills. Depending on what setting you do, in a store vs mobile IV therapy, there's much more flexibility and it is trending hard right now. Many nurses are also starting there own IV companies so there are opportunities for growth.

There are some states where CNAs can place IVs so I couldn't tell if you have a background as a care tech and have placed IVs but that's the only thing, you would need to have at least some experiences with IVs to qualify for that job because you have to be able to land IVs. Before I started the job, I didn't do IVs often bc my patients are cardiac and vascular - tough sticks, but a few months in I could throw IVs in people all day easily.

I also would highly recommend, do some shadowing!! It is a free and easy way to get a glimpse into peoples' days in different fields to see what it is like. It's actually what, partly, lead me to nursing. Because I found out I would never do cardiac rehab. Cardiac rehab is also a good option if you want a more chill day, they do have outpatient cardiac rehabs for nurses to work at.

One of my friends after one year of nursing went into research and has been there since.

I really would suggest to shadow each of these positions people have posted aboutm you can even do just a few hours, without having to throw yourself into a full commitment. It's okay to try things out, and what helped me was

"You have to start exactly where you are, as you are, with what you know and the skills you have right now. That's how you start. What happens next, will lead you to where you're supposed to be."

But don't force yourself to love something that you just don't, for only the reason that you have xyz feelings about having to make another career change and fearing what other people may think of you. I applaud you for working so hard and giving your all to so many things. You've done alot! There is no failure or lack of success in anything that you have done thus far.

My other very very highly recommended suggestion, if you are in healthcare, get into therapy, weekly therapy ASAP. I would not be here without it.

I wish you all the best!

Thank you thank you for your words and ideas!