I want to leave nursing....now what do I do?!

[np7797]

I have been a nurse for 6 years and in that time I've tried medical, oncology, labor and delivery, outpatient pediatrics, home care, QA.....the list goes on. I have come to the conclusion that I should have listened to all those doubts I had while I was in nursing school, but I figured, "Hey, I'm already this far and things will get better when I graduate and begin work." Nope. Nursing is definitely not the profession for me. I don't have any other skills or talents to offer though. How do I make my nursing resume appealing to non-nursing jobs and what kinds of jobs can I do? My BSN degree is useless outside of the nursing world! Anyone out there have any ideas for me?

[shamistarz]

I'm almost two years in and i feel the same. nursing school was hard for me, particularly emotionally. it took a long time in school and thereafter to adjust to the role. my father pushed me to do it because he said "look, youre smart, i want you to start out with a good job"' and at the time i wasn't sure of what to do with myself. 3.9 gpa before i got an accelerated degree in nursing and yet i was clueless. but the more i think about it, i think i was afraid to take the courage to commit to something that people might not expect of me. right now, i want to get a shorter work week so that i can explore other options. i really, really dislike bedside nursing, especially the hazardous way its being practiced in this time of recession. I've considered case management if i stay in nursing, if not, something psych related.. Lol i know i sound crazy right? After all the time and energy invested to get to this point...Well I'm glad I'm not alone. Wish you the best of luck!

[MissIt]

Do you work in a hospital? With two years, maybe try working prn. I honestly found that once I cut my hours a bit, I felt a lot better about nursing and didn't feel nearly as burned out.

[Jerrysdogmommy]

I've decided to go to med school, which is where I KNOW I am to be. I knew that I was in the wrong part of medicine when I began nursing school but finished it (I am currently an RN finishing pre-meds). I assumed being uncomfortable was due to being a 'novice' nurse; boy was I wrong.

Maybe you're called to something different in medicine...use your gift of becoming an RN and apply it somewhere else.

[Jerrysdogmommy]

I've decided to go to med school, which is where I KNOW I am to be. I knew that I was in the wrong part of medicine when I began nursing school but finished it (I am currently an RN finishing pre-meds). I assumed being uncomfortable was due to being a 'novice' nurse; boy was I wrong.

Maybe you're called to something different in medicine...use your gift of becoming an RN and apply it somewhere else (attorney defending RN's; physician; PA).