pre-op travel nursing

[redreba, MSN]

Considering this.  Am totally burned out at present, taking some time off to see what would make me the least stressed/most happy in nursing.  (Since I'm in my 50s, divorced, little assets after the ex (narcissist physician) insisted we piss all income and resources in 12 years of litigating over divorce/kids and anything else he could think of....I need to work.)

I started career in 90s as SICU level I trauma nurse, then stay at home mom for over a decade.

Back to nursing as procedural RN (endo, biopsies, interventional pain, venous access implants, etc.) for many years, so pre-, circulator, post for deep/propofol and conscious sedation.  Then 1.5 years as periop (OR/PACU/Pre/PAT/Endo/IR/Specials) clinical specialist.  Taught ADN for one year (med-surg), nurse manager 0.5 year (Endo, way too much work for the crappy pay), nurse coordinator for hematology/ambulatory 2 years.

Very good IV start (all ages, except babies which I've never tried) and phlebotomy, usually held ACLS continously but let lapse with my last position of two years.

Doing procedural pre-op, I realize that main OR does things that procedural doesn't, namely:

warming

skin prep/chlorhexidine bathing/wipes

SCDs

shaving (yes, I wrote AORN-based SOP for my facility, but I realize surgeons are still going to shave no matter the evidence)

 

What other tasks/skills have I not thought about (compared to procedural pre-op), and how long do you think it would take a very quick learner/high IQ RN with 15 years experience to pick these things up, feel comfortable enough to go travel?

I have written SOPs for high dose regional blocking in pre-op, including getting stakeholders to buy into cardiac monitoring and RN training for pre-op, have done staff education and check-off for things like central line access/care, Foley inserts, etc., but I realize being the contact expert and actually being the bedside nurse are two different things, and I haven't done full-time bedside since 2016.

So I"m thinking that working PRN or part-time and/or being a clinical adjunct in combination, and/or traveling would let me continue to nurse, make income, and hopefully mitigate exposure to unit drama and politics.  

Comments, questions appreciated.

[Roxi394]

I recommend working in a slow area, maybe a clinic. That way  you’ll have perhaps less stress from work and can focus on other things in your life. I am not sure about traveling kind of in between with that cause it’s not easy constantly being on the go but you get the chance to go to place you’ve probably haven’t been to.