Nursing beyond the bedside

[trmr]

Hello all,

It has been ages since I was last on this site so I hope this post is where it should be. It is late and I am exhausted or I would have read more "how to" before posting. I will do better tomorrow.

Anyway, I am looking for ideas of nursing jobs that are not at the bedside. I love my job, I love being a nurse and I love my patients (most of them), but I broke my foot and messed up my ankle in a bike injury on August 16th. This is Oct 13th and I am still off work and battling the whole thing. I am currently on FMLA but my biggest fear is losing my job or not being able to do floor work again. I am hearing unspoken rumblings of unhappiness from my boss and I am just worried.

I have been doing my homework and found some ideas but nothing that really shouts out to me. I have kids so relocating is not my first option. I am in Illinois. I think I am leaning toward something like chart review but I also want more information.

Any ideas, information, warnings, etc, anybody might have are welcome.

Thank you all!

[Forest2]

Finding work that is not hands on nursing care seems to be what everyone is trying to do. I have a lot of concern about what is going to happen as nurses are aging, the average age is 47, and patients are aging as well, this increases the demand for nurses and on nurses. But the work is so hard, you just kill yourself and seems like everyone expects perfection. I can't handle the long hours and the night shift, so I am searching for work that doesn't take your life. I have become weary of working weekends, holidays, weird hours and being on call. So all I know to do is either leave nursing or go for more education and every credential I can lay my hands on and keep on searching. I know that isn't very encouraging, but it doesn't look good out there. LTC is always looking for DON's because they usually don't stay too long, it's too stressful. You might try getting wound care certification, maybe it won't be so hard on the feet to work in a clinic.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

First of all, be sure to explore any 'disability' benefits that are open to you. This can vary by state. Bedside nursing is a very physical job which requires long hours of standing.... if you are no longer capable of doing this, you should be entitled to some benefits, including support for re-training.

Depending upon your physical status, there are a lot of options open to you. If it will be OK just to decrease the amount of time standing, you could look into any role that includes a fair bit of 'office' time such as case management, utilization review, infection control, clinical informatics, etc.

As soon as you have a more definite idea of your recovery trajectory & any subsequent physical limitations, I would urge you to meet with your manager & HR re: suitable work options. Your experience & expertise is valuable - your employer will not want to lose you if they can come up with an alternative workable solution.