Please give me some ideas I can work with here......alternative to nursing.

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So I have tried two different nursing jobs after I graduated in December. Both were short lived due to extreme stress and anxiety. I had a complete meltdown and have realized I'm not cut out for nursing and I will not and cannot just deal with it until I get more experience or begin to feel more comfortable in my role. I cannot function at all when having that level of anxiety. So....that being said what else if anything can I do with my associates in applied science/RN degree? It doesn't even have to be any form of RN role. Does having this degree help me in anyway? Don't care about money I just want a job I like and doesn't require me be a nervous wreck.

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I would like to know the same thing, 7 yrs, several different types of nursing, all stress me out like crazy. I am thinking a lot of the non-medical home care type places would probably hire someone with a nursing degree, like as a manager or something? So far that's all I can think of. I am still working as a nurse now, but I don't think I can take it much longer.

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Specializes in Neuroscience/Brain and Stroke.

Have you thought about clinical research? I did this for a while and loved it, you see patients on a schedule, monday thru friday, lots of paperwork because you have document everything for the FDA. It was a good job and paid about the same as the hospitals in the area for RN's. I figure this is what I will do when I feel I'm too old for bedside nursing.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Generally research positions require a higher degree than an associate's. If nursing is too stressful you may wish to go back to school. Honestly I don't think there are a lot of things other than nursing to be done with a low level nursing degree.

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Specializes in Maternal-Child, Med-Surg, SCIP.

A few suggestions to consider:

You might want to look into Quality Management nursing positions. The reviews are simply chart reviews. You do not have to deal with patients in beds, family members at the bedside, doctors on the phone (at least not much), and night/evening/weekend/holiday hours. You need to be a very detail-oriented person with excellent attention to detail for this type of job.

Another place where nurses function very well are in offices of lawyers. It requires someone with organizing skills, task oriented daily activities, and ability to deal with a variety of personalities (clients as well as attorneys).

School nursing is another option. Consider the long list of options for nurses: camp nursing, resorts/cruise ship nursing, home health nursing, etc.

There is also medical sales...but that is very stressful unless you are "a born salesman".

You can also write...article, short stories, novellas, children's books...and publish for free as ebooks.

Hope this gives you some hope!

AB

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Specializes in Neuroscience/Brain and Stroke.

I only worked for one company so my knowledge is limited, but the company I worked for did stage 3 research studies and took ADN nurses, LPNs, people with nutrition degrees, ect. And there is one other place I know of that hires ADNs as well because my sister in law works for them. I'm sure depending on the area it differs, just a thought.

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