CMV2254

This is probably a very dumb question, but please give me some grace as I'm a very sleep-deprived postpartum mom. ? I just turned in my resignation after having our second child. I have worked full-time, part-time and PRN, but, for many reasons, it is more feasible for me to be home full-time than to be working right now. I also feel more and more strongly that we should/I want to homeschool our children (ideally we will have at least 2 more in the future). At least during the early years, if not through high school. However, I assume that at some point in time I will work in some capacity again. Also, my desire to be home with my children full-time outweighs my career ambitions currently, but it does make me feel a little sad to not be practicing as a nurse any more. When I was renewing my license just for the sake of keeping it up-to-date, I saw that completing "at least six (6) academic semester credit hours of nursing coursework at current level of licensure or higher" is one of the options for maintaining your license. Are there NP programs that are self-paced? Would it be possible to keep my license active by verrrrrryyyyyy slowly working through an NP Program? I haven't had a chance to do research on this thought yet as my husband has been away for his job and I've been solo-parenting a toddler and infant and just haven't had the time. But I was curious if this is something anyone has done or if it seems feasible to do?

Hi everyone. Looking for some personal antidotes, good or bad, from anyone who has worked in L&D. Teaching was my first career. Left that for an accelerated nursing program that began in June 2020, right as pandemic chaos was kicking off. I was 10 weeks pregnant when I graduated and began working in an ED RN residency in the Spring of 2021, but I didn't get much experience before leaving to give birth. I then stayed home full-time for 7 months. I then took a PRN positon at a pediatric complex care facility. I've been here about 9 months and it could not be a worse fit. I *need* to find a different job. I have thought about L&D/PP several times in the past, and there are quite a few opening near me. However, every time I start to apply I get cold feet and stop. From everything I've heard/read/researched, L&D is extremely stressful. I've heard so many stories about people dreaming of being an L&D nurse their entire life only to hate it because it made them nauseous to go to work every shift. I also just get super paranoid that I would do something stupid in a sleep-deprived state that would harm a newborn. ??‍♀️ It just seems like a field where so many things could go wrong and where things could go from fine to tragic in an instant. I am also lacking a lot of confidence because it's been over a year since I started an IV and feel as though I have lost nearly all of my critical thinking skills and hands-on skills and nursing knowledge. I don't know if I'd be cut out for a high-stress field anymore and wouldn't want to be the reason someone received subpar care during such an intense time. Anyway, would love to hear experiences from anyone, and whether you would advise for or against it. Thank you!

Any input/advice on working situations later in pregnancy? I’m a new grad RN working in an emergency room and currently 25 weeks pregnant. They keep changing my schedule on me and now have it to where in a few weeks I’ll be working 3pm-3am for 6 days straight and then several times where I work 3pm-3am one day and 7am-7pm the following day. So I would have an hour commute to work, work 12 hours, an hour commute back home, then immediately need to turn around to drive an hour back for another 12 hours without having enough time to shower and go to bed. I’m already anemic and struggling with 12 hour shifts and wondering how much longer I’m going to be able to keep working, especially if I’m really going to have to do that schedule. (I just spoke with my manager and managed to take off the day where I was schedule to turn around and do 7a-7p after 3 days of 3p-3a, but the rest of my schedule still looks like a nightmare.) I have excellent insurance through my husband, thank God, so that’s not an issue. I won’t qualify for FMLA when I’m due anyway. Part of me wants to work until my due date to save as much as possible before leaving to have our son. Part of me gets emotional thinking I’m not taking care of myself and have been in positions that put my health and my baby’s health at risk. My baby is more important to me than a job, but I also feel like people work up until delivery all of the time and I don’t have a valid reason to quit this early. I’ve heard of RN positions that allow you to work remotely, but most require years of experience. At what point in your pregnancy did you or when are you planning on giving a notice and stepping back from jobs that require a lot from you physically/mentally/emotionally? Right now I’m just a zombie making it through my string of shifts, then WIPED OUT when I get a day off and feel like I don’t even recover before going back in. I keep seeing articles about shift work and night shift wreaking havoc on hormones, cortisol, and circadian rhythm and leading to pre-term labor and labor complications. it just doesn't feel healthy that I don't sit down to eat a single bite of food, just shovel in a granola bar with my mask pulled down while standing at the nurses' station. I've gotten in trouble for going to the bathroom. I just do not feel healthy. Not to mention it's demoralizing because people talk right in front of me about how I'll have to be re-oriented and trained all over again after having a baby because everyone forgets what they learn when they leave to give birth and what a waste it is to have me there now.

Hi everyone. I'm not sure this is the proper place for me to ask this, but I'd be grateful if anyone has input to share. So, straight out of high school I wanted to pursue a career somehow related to medicine, but my family talked me into teaching instead. In 2016 I completed a bachelor's in elementary education despite knowing in my gut it wasn't where I wanted to be. I taught abroad in Shanghai, China and spent most of free time researching and debating what path I would choose once I returned home. When I made it back to the states I took a year away from teaching to take some science prerequisites, briefly worked as a pharmacy tech, then gave teaching another try. I left my job as a fourth grade teacher last December and began working at Oklahoma Blood Institute as a phlebotomist before starting OCCC's accelerated bachelors to associate of nursing degree program. I know that as a student I haven't truly experienced what it's like to be a working RN, but I do know that I am exponentially happier during clinicals than I ever was working in education. I feel like I've found my place and I am so excited to graduate in March 2021 and actually start working. BUT! I am also excited to be starting a family with my husband. After spending a lot of time considering timelines and revising our plans, we are officially trying to conceive. Based on some previous issues it is likely that we may have trouble conceiving/maintaining a pregnancy, which is part of why we don't want to wait any longer to begin trying. However, this makes me extra paranoid about new work opportunities. Obviously nursing is physically demanding and comes with a lot of occupational hazards, particularly in the COVID era. Orienting as a new grad and trying to get my feet under me will undoubtedly be stressful in and of itself. Ideally, I want to work in critical care. I know a lot of people are against new grads applying to critical care positions, which I understand to an extent. However, my last clinical instructor used to work in my #1 choice hospital's ICU and said that she could put in a good word for me and acted like I would have decent odds of being hired as a new grad given the current climate there, as well as the fact that they are a teaching hospital. But now that I am beginning to apply to jobs, I am wondering if I should aim for a different unit that might be more....accommodating? if that's the right word? I don't think there is an area of nursing that doesn't involve heavy lifting or stress, but do any experienced nurses have suggestions for areas that should absolutely be avoided while pregnant or areas that might be a better fit for someone in that period of their life. Long term, I want to keep the possibility of PA school open (not trying to start a debate between PA or NP here). I LOVED the time I have spent so far in critical care and think I would enjoy that and it would prepare me well for becoming a mid level if I ever choose to do so, but maybe for my first few years as a nurse while I'm still getting the hang of basic skills and trying to grow a baby(ies) I could find contentment somewhere else? Someone recommended L&D or mother/baby. Typically I wouldn't have pictured myself there but now maybe I could? Granted, I didn't have a great experience during my brief L&D rotation so that might be making me biased against L&D. I'm also lucky that my husband has excellent insurance and benefits, so I have considered working full time as a new grad (not knowing how long it will actually take us to get pregnant) then transitioning to part-time or PRN after I give birth until they are toddler age. Is it possible for new grads to ever be hired in part-time or PRN positions? Since insurance isn't a make or break deal for us, I have also considered taking a part-time job, getting oriented to that, then depending on whether or not I am pregnant by that point could take an addition PRN job somewhere else so that I could have a little more control over my schedule? Is that even thing that people can do or am I being a very naive student here? Anyway! Apologies for the novel. Long-story short– What units would you say to absolutely avoid while trying to conceive/grow a baby vs units that might be slightly more conducive to that time period. Would also love any personal experiences, good or bad, from people who have worked as a nurse while pregnant. Thank you in advance!