Part time nursing?

If it is Hospice care nursing that you want go directly there. You could start as a volunteer. Many good hospice groups have volunteers that sit vigil with patients in nursing homes; they provide comfort and caring in the last days or hours of life. When I was a LTC nurse I made use of the vigil sitters as much as possible. Some were great; they played peaceful music softly, rubbed lotion onto dried out skin and lips, in general provided a human presence for the patient and family. These vigil volunteers are not usually health care types, but health care is not the important piece, comfort care is. So try volunteering, or get a position as a hospice health care aide, they provide more care to the patient near the end of life than staff CNA's and Nurses can. There is lots of conflicting advice whether all nurses need to do their time on a med-surg unit. If you are sure of your direction, there really is no need for that. Research your local hospice care organizitions for more direction and look at allnurses hospice nurse thread. Good luck.

Please reinforce your coping skills. Please make sure you take your medicines. Please make sure you have ways to relieve your stress.

That being said. (I am VERY PRAGMATIC)...

Good luck, it's doable. And YOU have to realize that although you have this "challenge" it will be up to YOU to make sure that you are able to handle it. Your future colleagues will thank you.

And yes, to "survive" this career and prevent burn-out, you have to reconcile that you can't save everyone and it's NOT your job to save. It is your job to be effective in providing compassionate care, to the best of your ability; and your job to move forward, no matter the outcome.

That's it. Simple? Yeah, in theory. Realistically? That's where coping comes in.

Again, good luck.

Jo

thank you for your responces, I will find out about going to straight to hospice. Still dont know whether or not part time is possible, will find out eventually. Thanks again. God Bless.

If your heart, as you say, is telling you that nursing is it, then stick with that! This profession is ever-evolving, and in 3 years the job market will probably loosen up considerably.

Regarding working part-time: I graduated with a gal who had 4 kids at home, and she was able to go part-time (right after graduation) at a local hospital on a PACU floor. She just knew that full-time hours would suck too much time and energy away from her kids. She is coping well. I work (pediatric home health) with a couple nurses who piece together 2 part-time jobs to make a full-time schedule, simply because they like the variety of working in a couple different areas.

By the way, I do not know of *any* people in my graduating class (we were small....about 12 or 13) who went straight to med-surg.

Best of luck in your journey!

If your heart, as you say, is telling you that nursing is it, then stick with that! This profession is ever-evolving, and in 3 years the job market will probably loosen up considerably.

Regarding working part-time: I graduated with a gal who had 4 kids at home, and she was able to go part-time (right after graduation) at a local hospital on a PACU floor. She just knew that full-time hours would suck too much time and energy away from her kids. She is coping well. I work (pediatric home health) with a couple nurses who piece together 2 part-time jobs to make a full-time schedule, simply because they like the variety of working in a couple different areas.

By the way, I do not know of *any* people in my graduating class (we were small....about 12 or 13) who went straight to med-surg.

Best of luck in your journey!

Carl!

Very insightful post. Thank you! There are so many options available with nursing, and I do so appreciate hearing about them. Thanks for taking the time to tell me about you and your colleagues situations. I do have a long journey, but I am excited about the process.

Have a great evening.