Nurse to Librarian

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Hello everyone.

I'm curious to hear from those of you who have changed careers. What finally made you realize enough is enough? Did you ever regret your decision?

I've been a nurse for 15 years (have my MSN) and absolutely burned out. I've worked in a variety of specialities over the years (mostly non-clinical in nature).

I want to do something different in my professional life. One area I'm interested in is working as a librarian. I would like to work as a librarian in a hospital, medical school, or something similar. Has anyone here made a similar career switch? If so, does it matter where I earn my masters in library science?

Any advice (good, bad, or indifferent) appreciated. Thanks.

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I have friends who are librarians and they love their work. BUT they have a hard time finding work after graduation. Funding issues are a huge issue from what they tell me.

Our hospital library is pretty much self service with a staff member floating around in there somewhere (she's kind of an urban myth, we all know she exists but nobody has ever seen her)

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

What a neat idea for all of us who are just really worn out from dealing with all that human emotion for so many years - sounds ideal. Just escaping all the chaos would be a real treat.

Maybe the traditional librarian jobs are going away, but I believe that "Cybrarians" are on the rise. Most companies have had to convert their traditional 'archivist' jobs to match the technology used. With the advent of e-discovery, it is critically important to manage all the information produced in the organization. Cybrarians are accountable for managing not only the knowledge-based information (external resources, references, etc) but also the internal operational information so that it can all be retrieved whenever it is needed. So their knowledge & skills are a blend of traditional library organization with hi-tech/web-based.

This is such a new career that there really isn't any standard nomenclature for the job descriptions. In healthcare, I've heard of jobs like this being housed in HIM, Risk Management, Legal, Quality, & IT. Our organization does have a full time medical librarian that is (virtually) available to assist any employee with literature searches needed to support organizational initiatives. We use her a lot!!!

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I want to be a space alien when I drop nursing.

Ok, so that's not a viable career, but still......I'm often enticed by the idea that my new career could be on the horizon. Whatever that is :)

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Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

As stated in another thread, I would not do the librarian route again as I have never been able to find employment as a librarian. I would use your MSN, but combine it with an online HIT program. Bristol Community College for you, Miss Rhode Island MSN: HITECH

With the combination of an MSN and this free HIT program I think your future will be dynamic, and you will be able to jump over those of us who do not have an MSN. I see senior/advanced Nursing Informatics jobs seeking candidates with MSN degrees.

Good luck,

Kevin

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