If not bedside, where do you work?

Angie, in my 15+ years of nursing working at the bedside has always been my side job. I never could stand to work 40 hours a week at the bedside. Currently I am a research nurse. Prior to this I worked in:

1)Employee health

2)Telephone advice

3)Pre-admission testing

4)Home Health

5)Corrections

There was probably some other things along the way but I cannot remember them right now. None of these positions required extra training that I could not get in orientation nor did they require a BSN although I was one(now a MSN). Keep your eyes open and you will find your opportunity.

Could you please elaborate? What exactly does your job entail? What training, hours, experience? How's the pay and benes? Do you work at an office, a hospital, or some other location?

I never investigated any of these jobs before because I was quite happy at the bedside until a few months ago.

Youre lucky youre an RN,the door is open wideI,personally work at a residential facility for kids with behavioral issues.I totally love it!I medicate about 35 kids at 8am( or not) sometimes we have a medication aid that does that.I basically feel like a mom.I treat small skin wounds rashes,minor sicknesses,immunizations,hts,wts,v/svery low stress.I dont do a lot of physical exhertion,however alot of walking since it is a campus.Good luck in your search.

I work as an office nurse with LPN's and RN's. I love it but I feel guilty I dont use my skills! I just schedule procedures and give pt's instructions. But the pay is good and the people rock...and who cant love no nights weekends or holidays???

I work for a disability resource agency. It is interesting (most days), but the pay is about half that of what most bedside nurses make here. Still, it is largely M-F, holidays off, good benes (because we're affiliated with a major state university) and lots of flexibility in scheduling.

I work in public health as a case manager. It is 8-5 M-F and very autonomous. I can decide whether I need to stay in the office all day or maybe schedule a day to go out in the surrounding counties to see patients. I make the exact same as my compadres at the hospital per hour but I get much better benefits such as actual holidays, good insurance and a great retirement plan. In Texas almost all counties and cities participate in TMRS. Feel free to PM me if you need more information. I enjoy reading your posts and have no doubt there is an awesome job out there with your name on it!

That's it, Marla. I'm a little older, but I've whined enough about my back and my feet to feel I've sufficiently martyred myself to the cause.

Maybe it was those 10+ years of being a CNA and doing thousands of hours of overtime that finally added up to this, but I'm not the kind to be in tears over being a little footsore and a little stiff in the back.

We've been doing almost all primary care lately. I LOVE the patient contact, BUT it's killing me physically. What's worse is, my assignments aren't all that hard, they're not like they're all confused train wrecks and such.

I hate the thought of changing, but this morning when I just touched my finger to my heel and it felt like I'd driven a spike through my foot, I broke down and took about 1000 mg of Advil. I seriously think it's plantar fasciitis.

Anyhow, an office job where I could have normal hours and get a decent pay that would pay the bills would be just great for me. Patient contact would be nice, but I'd prefer telephone contact.

But I simply cannot do a lot of lifting, pulling, or walking.

And I'm not sure what's worse--having to admit that I can't cut it anymore or having to deal with the pain.

I worked for a medical equipment company for awhile. I really enjoyed it. No two days were the same. Orders would come in for everything from home oxygen to penile pumps. I was responsible for obtaining the ordered item. Sometimes this meant just getting it from the warehouse, but sometimes it involved internet research to find some obsure item. Also had to contact insurance companies, make sure the item would be covered, then teach the patient how to use the item.

I learned so many different things through this experience. Learned how to select the best interface for CPAP, how to measure for custom compression hose, how to select the most appropriate ostomy products for a patient, I started to learn how to fit post mastectomy women for prosthetics.

I only suggest this line of work because you mentioned that you were a good teacher, and above all this placement required teaching.

I'd still be doing it except that it was straight office hours, Monday-Friday, no holidays and I just don't function well on dayshift hours.

Please see your doctor about your physical issues - treatment is the best prevention of chronic illness. You must care for yourself first.

Angie, I'm a disease manager working for an insurance company. We work with chronic diseases (16) including some you've never heard of. We are not Ask-a-Nurse, we actually call the members every 3 months and assess them. It's all over the phone, there is no hands on or walking. The training is pretty intensive but it's good pay, comparable to bedside nursing here. It's a salaried position with no paid overtime but if you work 10/12 hour shifts you get a shift diff. It is VERY different working in the corporate world rather than health care per se, but it's a good job for me at this time in my life. I'm licensed in all the lower 48 states and will never be able to commit any crimes because at least half the states in the Union already have my fingerprints! You can work from home at this job, and this has been one of the major perks. It has helped a lot for me as I'm currently about 7 months pregnant and am not having to kill myself out on the floor. You can PM me if you have further questions.