Camino77

Hi everyone. I'm currently an RN (bachelors in English not nursing) working for insurance company in florida doing reviews. I left bedside nursing in 2014 because at the time I was a single mom to a toddler and needed the normal hours/work at home so I could be a good mom. Well I got back together with her father (Canadian) and we are thinking about moving to Nova Scotia to raise our child. I have no idea what i could do for work- been years since I have done bedside and it seems like everyone wants a bachelor's. The job I do doesn't seem to exist in Canada (I dont even understand how their insurance/nationalized healthcare works) and I have researched how to get licensed in Canada and am so confused. Any advice? I had hoped to keep my current work at home job, but they won't allow me to live outside the country and work for them. Thanks!

Insurance company - good money, low stress and you can still use your knowledge of the field. Plus. ...often can work from home (like I do)

I've been away from because nursing for 4 years. . .with about 5 years of med-surg/acute rehab prior to that. If I am thinking about returning to bedside, would a refresher course be wise? Should I try to get into a new grad internship? (I've seen local ones say they accept new grads or those returning to acute care without recent experience). Would love to hear people's experiences returning to bedside after time away.

. . .all I have to do is spend 10 minutes reading posts on allnurses and suddenly my boring, work at home UR job doesn't seem that bad anymore lol. Thanks for keeping it real, nurses! Seriously though, I wonder how many nurses would love bedside with proper ratios, support, respect, equipment, management and time? Makes me sad to think about what healthcare could be like.

Just wondering how much PTO all the full-time nurses get and how many years of service you have? I'm curious about all fields of RN work - hospital, sub-acute, CM, insurance, etc. I've been at my current insurance company for 2 years and get 19 days a year (that includes vacation/sick/floating holiday).

I was visiting my grandmother at the nursing home last night and was chatting with her nurse. He told me that he has worked there for 10+ years and never been late and only rarely called in and that day he was supposed to report for 3PM shift and at 2:40 he called his boss and said he wasn't going to be able to make it in (gave some lame excuse) and she was freaking out. . .he knew this because he was watching her reaction from the other side of a window while talking to her LOL. He made her suffer for a few minutes before walking into the room and waving at her.

I left bedside about 4 years ago because I was a single mother of a young child and I needed stable hours/mon-fri "daycare" hours. I got a work at home job with a large insurance company doing UR and liked it for a few years. . . however the last 6 months the work load has gotten larger and larger and LARGER. Not just for me - all of the UR nurses are feeling it as leadership piles more and more work on us (new projects, priorities, meetings, spreadsheets, tasks, documentation) PLUS we are on a hiring freeze and nurses keep quitting so our assignments grow and grow. As our assignments grow, so does the amount of work they expect us to do. Plus. . they have added mandatory weekends. So, my Mon-Fri 8-5 job has turned into a Mon-Fri with some weekends job that is typically 7-6 with no lunch and occasional late night after my son goes to bed or 5am scrambles to do reviews. It's not just me - it's all the nurses. In fact, I'd say I am one of the "faster" ones who actually work less. I have one coworkers who constantly works until 10 or 11pm. I talk to friends at other insurance companies and find that this has become more the case in the past year. Is this just the new insurance norm? My boss is someone who equates long hours with being a good and loyal employee - she jokes about seeing one of us on-line at 11pm. Also, because there are so few nurses currently, it is very hard to get PTO and if you do get PTO, you are expected to completely finish all your work before going on PTO and that can be very hard when you have 25 pended cases! There is a wee part of me who misses those 3 12 hour shifts. . .my son is older now and I now share custody which makes things easier. . .tell me I'm crazy to even think about returning to bedside. I am one of those nurses who actually loved bedside/hands-on but got burnt out by all the new "patient is client" attitude. My old hospital also went thru a big upheaval at the time that I left and let go tons of veteran nurses. It was becoming very toxic. Sorry for the long post. . .I just feel lost as a nurse these days. And now I am working more than ever and seem to be tired and stressed all the time. I guess I'm just looking for others who have experienced this. . or at least understand. I keep exploring options for my next nursing career transformation but am wondering if I am just chasing an empty dream.

When I was pregnant I had a dirty needle stick (shallow insulin needle) from a drug addict whose HIV/HEPC status was unknown. He turned out to be clean but that was terrifying. Also I once had a sick patient suddenly turn to me and vomit all down my arms and hands while I was helping her off a stretcher. I was out sick for a week with some sorta stomach bug. Those are my only two fun stories.

I am glad you asked this question - there does not seem to be many psych NP programs out there. My local university does not offer it (USF in Tampa) and the only program I can find in Florida is at FAU and it is a post-graduate certificate if you are already an NP. I cannot move due to family issues so I guess I will have to do an on-line program. I have been searching and no program really stands out.