Old Dog, New Tricks

[Davey Do]

Wrongway Regional Medical Center (WRMC) has a reputation for having a high staff turnover. Recently there has been a mass exodus of staff, including a lot of RNs.

I work Psych and my wife Belinda works Med-Surge. Belinda recently noted that there were openings in Psych and Medical in our hometown at Anomaly Memorial Hospital (AMH), so we both applied. Belinda was told at her first interview that she was "a Godsend" and they couldn't wait to show me to the exit.

Belinda got and accepted the position, and I was depressed for about a half an hour when informed that the Psych position went to another candidate. I was extremely happy for Belinda, believing she will be working at a real hospital where her skills can be appreciated. She will take a slight cut in pay, but will have better benefits and a shorter commute. I was happy for myself, as I would have had had to take nearly a $10 an hour cut in pay at AMH.

I was also happy because I am generally comfortable working at WRMC. As much as AMH is a real hospital, WRMC is, in Belinda's term, a grunge hospital. I feel a certain amount of comfort in dealing with the nonsense and chaos, I feel like an eagle in a flock of turkeys.

However, if I went to AMH, I believe would feel like the turkey in a convocation of eagles and I'd have to learn new "stuff". So I'm kind of content in being a complacent stick-in-the-mud.

So- how about you old dogs- or COBs: Have you, in your golden years, began a new position in a different facility, or had to learn new tricks?

Did your transition go smoothly? Or were you like an old dog learning new tricks, where you could learn new tricks, it just took a longer amount of time than when you were younger?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Well Davey - sorry it didn't work out for you.

Yes, I'm changing jobs and specialties and while I won't publicly reveal my age I've been a nurse 25 years and this is a second career.

Go for it!

[RNperdiem, RN]

I have thought about the future myself recently once I realized I have only a few years until my youngest goes off to college.

Trouble is, I like my unit. I like the freedom to be per diem and pick my own hours, not have to work full time. If I changed hospitals or specialties, I might be pressured to get my BSN, would have to get used to full-time hours, and deal with a lot of new stress.

Maybe once the kids have left home and I have no more childcare or activities to schedule around, I might take the plunge and find it worthwhile. Who knows?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I did agency and travel nursing into my 60's, then learned the insurance side of it.

We know the tricks. We just have to prove ourselves ... each time we have to apply them in a new setting.

I think getting out of your comfort zone keeps you young.

[Cricket183, BSN, RN]

I'm currently taking a Refresher course to reactivate my RN license. I've been out of nursing on medical disability since March 2008. I'm determined not to make it to the 10 year mark! But it's a whole new world out there and I'm not a spring chicken any more. I just turned the big 5-0! When I left we were just starting to convert to computer charting so I know I have a steep learning curve. I feel confident in my ability to learn and adapt to the new environment but I do have concerns. I wonder if I'll be able to keep up physically. I already know I'll be limited to part-time hours because of my ongoing treatment schedule. Then I wonder who will hire someone with those scheduling limitations? I know I still have a lot to offer the nursing profession, I just need someone who is willing to take a chance on me.

[Sour Lemon]

I was born old and I love a good rut. I always have. I drove two hours to work every day for a few years because I didn't care to change. It wasn't until all my co-workers moved on that I went ahead and got a job five minutes from home. It was easy enough to change to a new place, I suppose I just don't like to change my people.

[Davey Do]

Well Davey - sorry it didn't work out for you.

Thanks, traumaRUs!

Applying for another job and updating my resume after 15 years was a humbling experience, but the Administrators at Anomaly Memorial Hospital were very professional and kind:

[Davey Do]

I have thought about the future myself recently once I realized I have only a few years until my youngest goes off to college.

Trouble is, I like my unit. I like the freedom to be per diem and pick my own hours, not have to work full time. If I changed hospitals or specialties, I might be pressured to get my BSN, would have to get used to full-time hours, and deal with a lot of new stress.

Maybe once the kids have left home and I have no more childcare or activities to schedule around, I might take the plunge and find it worthwhile. Who knows?

I appreciate your perspective, RNperdiem, and can identify with it. In fact, this whole job application experience has really broadened my horizons!

I have thought in the past, "It will be soooooo easy to leave Wrongway!" Not so. In the interim between the interviews and before I learned I didn't get the position, when I thought I might get the job, I experienced some anxiety. There are things about WRMC I truly dislike, but there are things and People that I truly love.

I enjoy being a Psych Nurse in a place where I know the Ins and Outs and what to look out for and where's what. I love several of my Coworkers- my work wife Eleanor, cohort in crime Rudy Payne, and many others. There are new staff coming in that I have a really good feeling about.

I love the recidivistic Patients and enjoy learning to dance with the new ones. I love my work and knowing that I do a pretty dang good job at it.

But the bottomline is that I work for money and AMH could not match my salary, so I'm satisfied where the Fates have led me.

It was like it was meant to be!

[Davey Do]

I did agency and travel nursing into my 60's, then learned the insurance side of it.

We know the tricks. We just have to prove ourselves ... each time we have to apply them in a new setting.

I think getting out of your comfort zone keeps you young.

I'm kind of content in being a complacent stick-in-the-mud.

Your username says it all, BTDT! Agency and travel Nursing threw you into new waters and you had to be a Mystic and swim in the waters where others would have drowned. Now you are buoyed on by all that you learned and experienced. What a place to be!

One of the biggest anxiety-provoking thoughts for me, in starting a new job, was the fear of being a fish on the sand. Flopping around and finding the waters was going to be a struggle and I knew that.

It seems to me, generally speaking, that Women tend to be be the hardier of the genders. I work with two Nurses, both 70 years of age,who are exceptional. One of them suffered a heart attack, went into cardiac arrest, was revived, and returned to work several weeks later. After she came back to work, I saw her and said, "Geez! The least you could do is look pale or something!" I merely had a bicycle mishap several months ago and still feel stoved up at times!

Belinda is soon to be (almost as old as I am) and is looking forward to her new position with excitement. I, on the other hand, feel like that old dog that does not look forward to doing known tricks in a new place.

All I want is things to get better yet stay the same. Is that too much to ask?

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

Wrongway Regional Medical Center (WRMC) has a reputation for having a high staff turnover. Recently there has been a mass exodus of staff, including a lot of RNs.

I work Psych and my wife Belinda works Med-Surge. Belinda recently noted that there were openings in Psych and Medical in our hometown at Anomaly Memorial Hospital (AMH), so we both applied. Belinda was told at her first interview that she was "a Godsend" and they couldn't wait to show me to the exit.

Belinda got and accepted the position, and I was depressed for about a half an hour when informed that the Psych position went to another candidate. I was extremely happy for Belinda, believing she will be working at a real hospital where her skills can be appreciated. She will take a slight cut in pay, but will have better benefits and a shorter commute. I was happy for myself, as I would have had had to take nearly a $10 an hour cut in pay at AMH.

I was also happy because I am generally comfortable working at WRMC. As much as AMH is a real hospital, WRMC is, in Belinda's term, a grunge hospital. I feel a certain amount of comfort in dealing with the nonsense and chaos, I feel like an eagle in a flock of turkeys.

However, if I went to AMH, I believe would feel like the turkey in a convocation of eagles and I'd have to learn new "stuff". So I'm kind of content in being a complacent stick-in-the-mud.

So- how about you old dogs- or COBs: Have you, in your golden years, began a new position in a different facility, or had to learn new tricks?

Did your transition go smoothly? Or were you like an old dog learning new tricks, where you could learn new tricks, it just took a longer amount of time than when you were younger?

I can balance a biscuit on my nose while standing on my left foot and rubbing my tummy with my right hand.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

"All I want is things to get better yet stay the same. Is that too much to ask?"

Yes. To get better is not possible without change. You have gone to ADN, ASN, CNA, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I why stop now?

I worked 15 years at Wrongway Regional Medical Center as charge nurse. I was top dog. What BTDT said was gospel. I REALLY liked that.

I liked learning new roles much more.

[Davey Do]

I'm currently taking a Refresher course to reactivate my RN license. I've been out of nursing on medical disability since March 2008. I'm determined not to make it to the 10 year mark! But it's a whole new world out there and I'm not a spring chicken any more. I just turned the big 5-0! When I left we were just starting to convert to computer charting so I know I have a steep learning curve. I feel confident in my ability to learn and adapt to the new environment but I do have concerns. I wonder if I'll be able to keep up physically. I already know I'll be limited to part-time hours because of my ongoing treatment schedule. Then I wonder who will hire someone with those scheduling limitations? I know I still have a lot to offer the nursing profession, I just need someone who is willing to take a chance on me.

You have my respect and admiration for your gumption, Cricket183!

It's obvious that you still have a lot to offer the nursing profession and my well-wishes are yours!

As far as the computer charting thing goes, a Peer said this is what she feels she's become: