I am at a turning point right now in which I need some career advice. It's a convoluted story so let me try and explain it clearly.
Right now, I work in a clinic. I have been there full time now for a year and 3 months. I am part of the Internal Medicine department, and what I do, all day, is handle all the medication refill requests, samples, etc for the 20 physicians within that department. It's M-F, no weekends, no holidays, no call. I am also involved in the clinic by teaching patient asthma classes, and publish our phone statistics for the Physician Work Groups. I also LOVE my co-workers, and adore my immediate co-worker, who does the same thing I do. We both handle the medication refills.
I also go to graduate school full time; the college I am attending is 5 minutes away from work, and my manager allows me flexible scheduling to accomodate my class schedule in the evenings.
What has happened, recently, was a dramatic change in our department with the telephone nurses (which includes me). My partner and I have relocated our offices to the clinic Infusion Room, where we will be expected now to also assist with the clinic's infusion/injection needs. This includes patients from geriatric to pediatric. The other nurses who were there in our spot, were Travel Nurses, who handled all the foreign travel immunizations/counseling for patients. They got relocated to OUR old office, which we shared with 2 other nurses who did a completely different job. There is much dissention; we are not wanted in the Infusion Room, and the other nurses are upset that they have to work where we used to; they don't like our roommates, basically. So there is this big rift down the middle of our department, and it's really horrible right now. I don't want to do infusions and neither does my co-worker. We took the jobs we have to get away from patient care. Also, my only clinical experience is obstetrics. To suddenly have to hydrate a CHFer in fluid overload is very disturbing to me.
Well....there is a position open within the clinic; an educator role who is basically in charge of training new staff. This is somewhat in line with what I am going to school for: to be a nurse educator. The pay is about $2/hour more than I make now, is salaried, and expected weekend on call to support physicians who use our electronic charting system.
I also have a interview with our Medical College as a Research Nurse in the Birth Defects Center. I don't have experience as a research nurse, and I don't know the pay, but the Medical College here is very prestigious and tough to get in to; I hear nurses are happy there. I also have obstetrical background so this is definitely in line with my clinical experience/interests.
My dilemma is that, changing jobs, especially to something intellectually challenging like the research position might be tough to do during school. Also, I really, really love my co-worker at the clinic. I adore her, and don't want to leave her. Working with her is the most pleasant thing I have ever encountered. Also, my clinic job is very conducive for finishing school; it's not intellectually demanding and I am comfortable there. So, I guess, I don't know what I should do. I don't know if now is the time to make such a move. I DO know that both the research and the educator position within the clinic would be good career moves, but I am unsure if I am ready to make such a move, but they are very good opportunities; especially the research position.
I am very confused. The reason I was looking for a job because of the changes within the department, as well as other unsettling future type things going on. \
I think I've determined that I am certifiably pyscho.
I ressurrected this thread to tell all of you nice people out there who listen to my career woes that while I was sitting miserably at my new job last week, I happened to browse the job openings at my old major employer (not the clinic, the hospital). And what did I find? A Clinical Nurse Specialist position for L&D on my old unit, which is actually in a NEW unit, which is brand new pavillion that is positively beautiful. The position is CALLING to me because it's everything that I am in school for.
They are willing to take a BSN who is enrolled in an MSN-Education program. That's ME!
I think I would be perfect for the job because, as a staff nurse as recently as 9 months ago, I knew what I needed/wanted for a CNS - and I'd also be able to roll up my sleeves and get my hands "dirty."
So...I applied. And now I'm obsessing about the damn job. I WANT IT.
I wasn't in on the discussion about your job dilemma the first time, but I'm curious as to why you are miserable at your new job. Did they misrepresent it? I graduated from nursing school last December and have been at my job for almost 10 months and feel like it was totally misrepresented as well. Don't get me wrong; I do like my job, there are just some things that happened that I was assured would NOT happen, and sometimes I feel like I'm not really supported by management. I'm a little burned out right now, I guess, and we have a unit meeting coming up next week. I hope if I get the courage up to say what's on my mind, I can do it in a way that will not piss my manager off. lol
Anyway, I'm enjoying my weekend off, and just wondering why you're miserable. I thought the job sounded pretty good.
In a way, it was somewhat misrepresented because the prior nurse before me was fired...so as a result there is alot of baggage and mistakes to clean up. So the first 2 weeks were horrible. (see Buyer's Remorse thread.)
But, after thinking about it more and as time went on, I discovered that while the job is interesting and will probably provide excellent experience and contacts, it's just not ME, and I realized that even more when I saw the Clin Spec job posted for my old L&D unit.
I love teaching, and that's why I enrolled in my MSN program. I also love Women's Health; that is where my expertise and knowledge lies. I've done L&D since I graduated. I honestly feel this job would be perfect for me. I really, really, really hope to get an interview.
I work in a mixed ICU. I really like what I do, I like most of my co-workers, and I like being on night shift (even though it's screwing up my sleep here lately). But I do feel that it was misrepresented.
1) In the interview, my boss said, "We always start new grads out on nights. It's easier to learn since it's a little slower at night." Then, for my first two weeks out of orientation, I was put on day shift because day shift was short (except there were "no openings" on day shift when I applied for the job, asking for day shift, and no one had quit or been fired). Then a week after I went to nights, my boss called me and told me that one of the new people (there were three of us who graduated and started together) was going to have to go to day shift, since the person she hired (after me) for day shift decided he'd rather work nights. We all refused, so we each had to pull a few day shifts each schedule period until she could hire someone else. Then she hired someone else, and we STILL had to work some day shifts! If the point of putting new grads on nights so they' have more time to learn was valid, why were we working day shift???
2) Our raise, which was due in July, finally came through in October, and we got back pay. Except one of my co-workers got $135 to my $679. She called our boss, who told her that payroll didn't make a mistake, that's all she was owed. She started two weeks after me and worked just as much (although maybe not as much overtime, I don't know). It boils down to that they only paid her three weeks worth of back pay, and she was owed 10 weeks worth. Now my friend is fed up and thinking about not even bothering to fight for the money they owe her.
3) We "decentralized" last month, so we don't have to float to the floors if we are overstaffed and they have a need. So we get cancelled instead. It wouldn't be a problem except now they are scheduling 9 or 10 nurses nearly every night, when we usually need no more than eight. So we're getting cancelled, or if we can't do without the money, we take the pull to the floors, which counts as a cancel in the rotation.
4) We used to be full-time in ICU if we scheduled 3-12 hour shifts a week. Now we have to schedule at least 80 hours a pay period; either 3-12s and a 4 each week, or 3-12s one week and 4-12s the next, or 3-12s and an 8 one week and 3-12s the next. As long as it adds up to 80 hours a pay period and overtime is only in one week. The hospital policy was supposedly changed from 64 hours a pay period is full-time to 80 hours a pay period is full-time, but not all departments changed. Our ER is so OVERSTAFFED that they couldn't put everyone working 80 hours a pay period because there are not enough shifts.
5) The night shift only has 6 nurses that are considered "core" staff (can take care of any patient that rolls through the doors) and we always have to have two of them in the unit, which is fine with me, since I've been in a situation where it was only me and one core nurse with four patients and one of mine was crashing and I needed a lot of help. The core nurses are always complaining (rightly so, I believe) that they need more core nurses, but our manager is terrible about planning the classes she needs for us to take before we can become core, and giving us time off to take them. We had a hemodynamics class a couple of months ago on a Saturday. It was on my regular weekend to work, and I had to work both Friday and Saturday night, so there was no way I could go to the class (unless I just didn't sleep between shifts). She didn't even try to change the schedule around so that I (or a couple of other nurses) could go, but here in three or four months when I'm close to being ready for heart orientation, she'll ***** that I don't have the hemodynamics class and that I won't be able to orient yet, and now she's going to have to plan another class, yada, yada, yada. I asked her about taking something on my own, and she said I could, but it wouldn't count toward becoming "core" in her unit unless the hospital gave the class.
6) We were the only hospital in town that paid neither hazard pay nor 24 hour pay during the recent hurricane. But HR did plan a lovely "dessert and coffee" at an elegant downtown restaurant to recruit nurses a couple of weeks ago. We also get a $2100 "finders fee" if a nurse is hired and writes your name on the application that you referred them (that is, if they can make it a year). I'm not sure I could, in good conscience, recommend our hospital to a potential employee, and get money for it. It was misrepresented to me so grossly.
7) We have a sixteen bed unit (this week, who knows what it will be next week) but we can go over our census at the nursing supervisor's discretion. If they can staff for it the next shift, they can fill us to the rafters. And that includes if they have extra nurses from other areas of the hospital, they can pull them to the unit and give them two "easy" patients. We don't even get to pull from similar areas (cardiac stepdown, pulm care unit) anymore, they'll float a nurse in from ANYWHERE. And they only have to look ahead for the next shift, not the one after that, and the one after that. If 7-3 can handle 18 patients, then fill those beds up on 11-7. Who cares if you don't have enough nurses at 3?
I could go on but this is already entirely too long. If I had known a year ago what I know now, I don't know if I would have taken this job. I might have been better off commuting to New Orleans or Baton Rouge. I have gotten some good patient care experience, but the run around about shifts and raises and number of hours you have to work and the fact that the rules change every week has been so frustrating.
Sounds like this new job (education coordinator in L&D) is right up your ally. From your description, it sounds like it meets ALL of your job requirements. I'm glad you are going for an interview. I wish you great luck.
Susy, good luck with the CNS job and keep us posted.
Konni--your hospital, or at least your manager, sounds like a freakin' nightmare. Try to get the nurses in your unit together before next week's meeting and get some consensus and support on the problems you've listed above. Print that list out and take it with you. Have some alternative suggestions or solutions ready for management's counterarguments. Good luck!
prn nurse
208 Posts
Suzy, this all sounds wonderful! You have the levelest head on this BB. You WILL make the best decision, we all know that !
Keep in touch and let us hear how it is working out.
I have two RN friends who are working in research at Baylor in Houston. They have been in it about 7 years and love it.
And, ...they travel to Europe for two weeks, every year, ....compliments of the department....to seminars.
All kinds of perks came up that they didn't have a clue about...once they'd been there a year or so.
Your hubby looks like a great guy.
Good Luck !