Nurse and Mom Needs Help With Work Life Balance

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I've been a nurse for nearly two years, after graduating from an accelerated 2nd-degree program. I spent 15 months in the ER and switched over to L&D the last 6 months.

I really like my job, the work I do and the people I work with, BUT the scheduling is becoming an issue for me. I have 3 children (2 school age and a1 year old) and my husband travels for work M-Th evenings. I work 7-7 on the night shift. It has been very stressful to get baby to daycare in the evenings and get to work on time and then get off work in enough time to get the older two to school on time by myself during the week.

Getting sufficient sleep in between shifts is a whole other issue. In mydepartment, you have to be out of orientation 1-2 years before you can switch to a part time or contingent schedule.

I recently have been considering other options or jobs that offer alternative schedules such as home health care or case management with an insurance company, but I don't know that I would have any job satisfaction with either of those besides flexibility of scheduling.

I would love to stay where I am but without the stress of balancing that comes along with it. Do you have any advice for the working-mom-nurse in trying to balance family & career?

---

Dear Working Mom,

You are really functioning as a single Mom half the time and my hat's off to you. You are in that bittersweet spot where the needs of your family trump your first choice of career. The good thing is that job satisfaction can be found where you're determined to find it.

One option is to work all weekends when your husband is home. It solves the babysitter problem, but the downside is....working all weekends and sacrificing time with your husband.

Another option is working a M-Fri day shift to help with your sleep, such as Cath Lab or PACU, but you would have some call responsibilities. Does your hospital have any disease management clinics, such as Heart Failure Care or a Coumadin Clinic?

Cardiac Rehab, Diabetic Educator, Palliative Care, Informatics are all M-Fri possibilities. They are not clinical positions, but you would be home for school send-off and evening dinners.

Keep in mind that once you leave the hospital, you can have trouble getting back in. If you choose to work a home health or case management position outside of the hospital for a few years, make sure you're OK with leaving acute care.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

Author, "Your Last Nursing Class: How to Land Your First Nursing Job"...and your next!

[313Mom]

Yes! I definitely feel like a single mom during the week. The work-life balance has really become a juggling act for me and I feel I may just have to sacrifice doing something I like doing in order to make everything work.

Thank you for your suggestions. I have recently been looking for clinic, other M-F opportunities and reaching out to other nurses to find hospitals that may have schedules other than the 7-7 shifts. I'm not ready to leave the hospital/clinical setting just yet. I've also considered finding a non-hospital job and picking up a shift or two on the weekends to keep up my skills (although this sounds exhausting already).

[booter512]

Consider moving to a place that needs nurses on day shift, even out of state. My wife and I are both nurses, and we moved from California to Virginia with a 2 year old, and we didn't know anyone. We both worked night shift. We found a day care willing to open for 8 hours on Sunday, and a caregiver to stay overnight on Saturdays and Sundays. It was tough, but it sounds as if your husband can work from about any place that has an airport. This was in 1990--no internet, just phone calls. Also, the kids belong to both of you. Put some of the burden on your husband.

[313Mom]

UPDATE: So I found and applied for dayshift clinic jobs, nursing positions at the insurance companies and home health agencies. I interviewed for the clinic and insurance company job, got offered jobs from both and ultimately decided to go with the clinic job. It's M-F, 8 hour shifts and it's within the hospital still. I start on Monday! I will have to adjust to working M-F but I will at least get my weekends and holidays back and maybe even a better sleep schedule.