WingsRN

Hi y'all! My story started similarly to a lot of others I've read on allnurses. -Went to nursing school because it's a great, stable, diverse field, not because I was passionate about it. I had the common mentality of do-my-time-at-bedside-then-NP-school-and-experience-ultimate-success. Got the bedside nursing job least likely to hurt my back, NICU, which I fell madly in love with. After 2 years, decided to go to NNP school to fulfill my NP goals, but got cold feet with the agonizing pressure of being responsible for tiny human life- and also I still didn't feel like I had enough experience to be a great NNP, so I went back to the bedside grind. Didn't expect this at all, but after a total of 5 years, got diagnosed with De Quervain's tenosynovitis in my wrists from working in the NICU. It hurt so bad that I had to quit the NICU and now I'm working as a community health NFP nurse- which is also quite amazing. This career change was mostly due to an injury and I never imagined it to be permanent. It did, however, open my eyes that there are other nursing fields out there, that was promised in nursing school, but fell on blind eyes as a new grad. I am looking, once again, to go back to school for a masters, but due to my useless wrists, patient care seem to be out of the picture. My question or inquiry to you is what jobs have you found outside of the normal-hands-on-nursing realm and what type of higher education (if any) has brought you there or could open more doors for you?

Hi! I was super lost as a high school/ college student, so when my mom pushed me towards nursing, I complacently agreed. During school, I thought I didn't like the typical nursing, but had that idea that every other nursing student did, do my bedside time, go to NP school and skidaddle. I was a NICU nurse for my first 5 years, fresh out of school. I did feel the same anxiety and dread, especially at the beginning. I LOVE the NICU, don't get me wrong, but that anxiety and dread never left. I recently found out about NFP, and now I am currently a Nurse Home Visitor with Nurse Family Partnership and it's a completely different type of nursing. Check it out! I had no idea NFP existed, and want to know what else is out there besides the usual bedside, management, educator positions.