ksc0723

No kids and no plans to have them anytime soon. Just a really supportive husband and pets. Thanks for your post :)

I don't pretend nursing was my first career choice. Now that I am a nurse, I know I chose this profession for the short term as a stepping stone to something else down the road. I am not sure what down the road is yet but I knew before starting nursing school I did not want to ultimately be and remain a nurse or in nursing long term. That being said, I knew early on if I were to be a nurse I wanted to work in NICU or mom/baby or something in women's health. I was lucky for the first two years as an RN to work in both. But the invasive hospital schedule led me to a clinic job currently. So why am I typing? I have an opportunity to go back to the hospital and work in the specialty I enjoy. My dilemma is I work the best schedule ever in the clinic. No w/e, no holidays, done at 5 everyday and no haggling over vacation or time off. I can take as much time off as I want when I want without worrying about seniority etc. But I do not like my specialty and do not feel challenged in my job at all. Plus, I would make more money in the hospital than in the clinic. So I am wondering what others would choose. Door number one we have the clinic with a schedule that is great and does not interfere at all with life outside of work and ability to take time off when needed. Door number two the hospital job I want which I absolutely love and would make more money. The catch is I give up great schedule in clinic for nights, w/e, every other holiday in the hospital. But the pay is better and in this economy we could use the money. I would love people's thoughts. I know it ultimately boils down to my choice but I would like other's insights. better schedule/job I have no interest or passion doing or crappy schedule/better pay/job I would love to have (FYI I have worked in this position before so I know what the job is). Thanks for your input!

I am done. Not officially because I need to figure out my next move, but I am done with healthcare, not just nursing. I have realized that my personality does not fit this profession. I am not a patient or tolerant person. I entered healthcare because I enjoy the knowledge base of the human body and teaching others about their bodies in an effort to promote personal health management. I am done with it because their is no accountability or responsibility in our healthcare system and it is not encouraged or fostered. Our system is built on encouraging people to go to the doctor and expect that they and the system will take care of them. Again, no accountability and no responsibility. And I am sick of it. I might stick around if our society actually fostered preventive healthcare and paid trained professionals to empower the masses to be responsible for their health. But I don't see that becoming the norm any time soon. I should have been a librarian. Any ideas of professions where you don't have to work with people at all???

I haven't had the interview yet but I will keep you posted.

Hi there. I have an ADN in nursing with an MS in psychology. At the encouragement of my nurse manager, I applied for a nurse educator position at my hospital. I didn't think I was qualified for the job but applied anyway and have an interview. I am a little nervous about how to go about the interview process since I don't have an MSN. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

I have been offered to train as a diabetes educator and become certified in the future. Just wanted to here from those of you that are and what a typical week at work looks like for you. What are the positives and negatives? What is the salary. Thanks

what do you mean assisted living?

Just wondering what an RN can do to start their own business or work from their home. Tired of working for corporate a** holes who suck the life out of you and make you continuously work with fewer resources for their bottom line. I would like to work from home or be an independent contractor but am not sure where to start.

Sounds heavenly.

I am really hoping to get a clinic job asap and get off of nights. I like my job and my crew on nights but I just can't do this hospital schedule anymore. I feel like if I could get off nights, I could then refocus my energy and start to delve deeper into what I am so desperately searching for. I think I want to stay in healthcare, just not as a bedside nurse working in a 24/7 hospital. Thanks again for all the replies. I feel less crazy since others have stated they have felt the same way!!!!

I here ya. I don't hate nursing, I hate bedside nursing and working in the hospital with a passion. My mental, emotional, and physical health has sufferred. Even now I sit here and want to call into work because I work a 12 and have only slept 4 hours in the last 36 hours. Awesome. At least you have school to look forward to. I am the breadwinner and have no options right now. I am thankful to have a job but working as a staff RN sucks the life right out of you. I have decided the schedule for nurses sucks and it was contributes to burn out. Nursing is the most demanding job of every part of you and yet there is no respite. Holidays, every other weekend, call. eves, nights and on and on. This job constantly interferes with my life outside of work. And that is the rub. I think if I just worked m-f 8-5 or even 4 10's with none of the extra BS of holidays, weekends, eves and nights I would love my job. It's the fact that I can't even enjoy my life outside of work because of how my schedule interferes. With how horrible nursing can be no matter how passionate, you need to be able to leave work and enjoy life outside of work and have that opportunity. That only comes when you have been doing this for 20+ years and don't have to do holidays, we, nights, call, etc. but by then more than half your life is gone. Screw this. Good luck in grad school

There is currently a clinic day position available that I have applied to. Is there any way I can talk to my NM or HR about being placed in this job considering I am having such difficulties with NOC's? Can they do that? I know seniority is seniority but this is a hospital wide and community wide position posting. What are my options with that? Any thoughts?

Pedicurn, you are a premium member. Can NOC's cause this? I mean I am not blind to feeling there are some other underlying issues I need to figure out, but when I was on orientation for on days I don't remember hating life this much. And, when I have a few days off in a row and get back onto a little bit of day schedule, I feel better, more motivated, just overall in a better mood. How much of what I am feeling can I attribute to NOC's?

Thanks!!! I am having a hard time determining if it's working NOC's that is causing this. Do you know if working nights can cause someone to feel this way mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Yes. I have a huge problem with this. I feel like I have all of this knowledge to share but feel more like a glorified waitress. Every time before I leave a room I always ask "Is there anything else I can do for you while I am in here. Or is there anything else that you need?" I swear I said the same thing when I worked as a waitress!!!!!

Thanks for all the great responses. I am just not sure what to make of anything right now. I think I need to see a professional. I have been in contact with my nurse manager (whom I had a conversation with about this maybe 2 months ago because I was struggling with my schedule then) and am waiting to here back from her because I don't know what to do at this point. I feel very lost, physically and mentally sick and as if I am wandering aimlessly. Thanks again for all the feedback.

Very interesting. I definitely have never felt content. I don't even know what that would look like. I almost feel like that is a bad thing. Like if I were content, I would see that as a failure because I am not working towards some new goal. I'm a virgo by the way. My mind over the past year it seems always goes to the negative. It's like my thought process has shifted and I automatically think of how whatever thoughts or ideas I have how is it going to make things more difficult for me or what kind of hardship or work is it going to cause me. I can't see bright sided anymore. Only more work, more stress, more negative. Ugh:confused:

I know I am depressed. I have felt my every day motivation slipping away. As much as I want to look for something else, I think working NOC's is a big culprit. Before nights I actually cleaned my house, ran errands, cooked things (sometimes) exercised, took great care of my pets. Now, not at all. I even considered hiring a cleaning lady to clean my house because I have no motivation to do so. I need to get the hell off of nights first and foremost and clear my head. Unfortunately the seniority list is 10 years long for days on my unit!!!!! What to do about that, I have absolutely no idea.

I have to go to work tonight and I am just dreading it. I wish I could call in. I wish I could take a fricken month off of work and take some time to sort through my head. Want to curl in ball. Maybe I should start searching out some restaurant jobs. Bartender sounds good.

I actually did that, went to a career counselor when I bailed on therapy after graduation. I learned a lot of what I already knew about myself. But, again, I could feel myself forcing my path because I was afraid of having no direction. Afraid of no direction, yet I keep choosing paths I am not fully committed to just to have something I am working toward.

Even now as I think about it, I can't decide if I just don't have the patience for any of it anymore. The more I have worked with people in a variety of settings the more I have become pessimistic about people in general. The bad and negative really stand out to me and I feel like it has ruined me as a person. Like, I have seen the absolute crap side of humanity in every sense of the word and I just have no tolerance or patience for the absolute stupidity of it anymore. I have turned into such a negative person. A very unhappy one. I can't see bright sides anymore. I see the cruelty, greed, entitlement, abuse, stupidity and so on that human beings on all levels inflict on themselves and others. It makes me sick. I need to be an accountant or go work at ups or something that has nothing to do with humanity. Ugh. I appreciate the feedback so far. I have no desire whatsoever to work in psych at all.

This is a second career for me and I am a smidge over 30. First career was to be a psychotherapist. The BS and MS education in psych was amazing. But practicing as a therapist did not turn out well (didn't realize how chronic mental illness is and did not have the patience for it). The same has gone for nursing. I loved my education (got an AAS) and have been an RN since May of 2010. I have gotten jobs in women's health (right where I wanted to be in NICU and postpartum). But I am already looking for something else to do and I am not even sure I know what that is. I keep thinking it's my schedule (I work nights) so I am constantly looking for something else. But the more I think about it, the more I realize I just don't want to be a nurse. The only thing I have discovered about myself is that I like to teach. I don't want to teach kids or high school or anything, but I really enjoy knowing a lot about the body and mind and teaching patients (or anyone for that matter about it as it relates to their own health or a family member or friends health). My problem is I don't know what to do with this knowledge. I already have 3 degrees and was contemplating a BSN because I only have a few classes to take and my hospital would pay for it. But, now I am not so sure. The state of the economy does not help either. 5-6 years ago I would have thought nothing of dropping my hours as an RN and pursuing some other path, but now...not so much. For one, education is ridiculously expensive and I am not 20 anymore so the idea of going further into debt for another career change is daunting. I don't see a lot out there that I can do with my current education and experience. I dread going to work not because I hate my job necessarily but because I keep feeling like there is something else I am supposed to be doing with my life and this is just something to do in the meantime. I chose nursing not because I have a great passion for it but because I seriously didn't know what else to do and thought since I had the psych degrees doing something in healthcare would be a great bridge. Again, I am glad for my education and work experience (I worked as a CNA since 2003 while going to school) and the area of healthcare is fascinating to me. I am just really depressed and not sure what my next move should be. BUt, I must admit this is how I have felt since I finished with my BS in 2002. In whatever moment I am in since I graduated college (the first time) I keep looking ahead for the next best thing or what can I work on next or what goal or area can I move onto down the road. I have never been satisfied with whatever it was I was doing. Even when getting my MS, I was already planning on a PhD or a PsyD. Then during nursing school, I was already thinking I'll be applying to NP or PA programs as soon as I can and only planned on getting a year or two of experience at the bedside. It's like no matter what I am doing, I am thinking or looking into the next step I can take. I have discovered this about myself but am not sure what my next move should be. I keep choosing things I know at the time are only a stepping stone to the next best thing and are things I know I don't want to do for a career. I can specifically remember doing prereq's for nursing and complaining about how I did not look forward to the crap hospital schedules and all the other BS that goes along with being a bedside nurse. I don't know if I am asking a question here or just rambling (probably rambling) but if anyone cane pick up on something in this post and see what I am obviously not seeing...I need help. I am miserable and not sure what to do. Thanks

I meet with the nurse manager next week so I will get the particulars. I swear when working in the hospital, no shift is a good shift, except per diem :)

I currently work straight NOC's 8's and 12's. I just got a job offer on a unit I want to work on but it's day/night rotation. Any thoughts on rotating like that or should I just stay on stratight NOC's? I have rotated eve/NOC and loathed it but it was because I would work eve's at the beginning part of the week and NOC's at the end...brutal. I've never worked that rotation so I wanted to get feedback from those who have. I don't have the particulars about what the schedule looks like yet. Thanks!

Wow! How vile and crude. What a fricken idiot. We'll see how anti birth control he is when some girl who will obviously be hallucinating at the time, let's him have sex with her. Ugh. I think I lost a few brain cells processing that idiot's thoughts. Either way, oh let him graduate and get his first floor job. He will be crucified.