HURN

Hello all. Here to get some advice from my nursing professionals out there. I've been an inpatient bedside nurse for almost 2 years now and I'm feeling a pull to change directions in my career. I love the rewards of my career and am grateful for the impact I have in my patient care delivery, however, lately I've been feeling clinical nursing isn't where my heart is. Shift after shift I feel this is not where I want to be 10 years, 5 years, or even 2 years in the future. My true interest lies in health, wellness, nutrition and fitness and my passion and love is food (culinary arts). I've been thinking about this constantly lately and feel now is the time to make some decisions. On the other hand, I've only been a nurse for 1.5 years now and I feel there is still so much to learn in what I'm doing now. I keep telling myself to give it more time but my heart is saying time is up! I truly believe in a situation like this, my intuition is really kicking in. With all that said, I was thinking I could become a Registered Dietician, study nutrients and nutrition then eventually apply my science background into my next career as a culinary artist! What do you all think? Any comments, tips, experiences, etc. is greatly appreciated and much needed!

Yes I do. Been an RN for 2 years now and already feeling burned out. Actually thinking of leaving nursing altogether to become an RD/nutrition and to pursue my ultimate dream in culinary arts!

Okay cool. And I'll keep you updated as well. Good luck!

What a coincidence! I'm am looking to do the same exact thing. I'm an RN with a BS and my interest has been shifting to nutrition, health and wellness recently. I've been working inpatient acute care for almost 2 years now and I can feel myself getting burned out already! Plus it's heartbreaking and depressing to care for patients who have so many chronic illnesses simply because they haven't taken care of their bodies for whatever reasons and circumstances. I want to educate patients on how to stay healthy and avoid the many chronic illnesses that is ravaging our country. I've mentioned transitioning to a nutritionist to some co-workers and everyone frowned and said I wouldn't make any money. With that said I haven't networked with anyone yet to help me navigate this transition. I think you should look into getting your bachelor's degree if possible, but if you could transition into being a nutritionist first then go for it. I guess it depends on your situation and whatever sacrifices you would have to make. Good luck. I'd love to hear what direction you plan to go to being I'm trying to take a similar road.

I'm in Hampton Roads also. Graduated Dec.07. Working surgical (med/surg dumping ground) currently. Have mixed feelings about what I'm doing. More bad days then good. Looking to transition into cardiology somehow. Have an interview this week on a PCU unit, wish me luck!

Okay so my next question is what are my chances of landing this position when I have no experience with cardiac/telemetry/step-down/pre-ICU pts? I'm 1yr plus out of school and work on a surgical unit (which lately has been the medical dumping unit). My time management/organization skills are my weaknesses. I've registered for ACLS and plan to break open my med-surg book and study the cardiac/resp. units again for refreshers...heck I may even break out the drug cards I made in school. I really want this job so I'm trying to be proactive and do what I think I should be doing to prepare.

Thanks for the input you all. In my hospital our PCU is like a cardiac stepdown pretty much how Eirene described it. The hospital I'm interviewing for PCU is more like our ICU here in my hospital.

I battle with doing adult focused nursing vs. peds sometimes. I see that nurse recruiter pointed out a good characteristic in you that would go well with the peds population. I like that she was honest with you about the type of environment you'd be facing in the adult OR. In a situation like this, it'd be good to do a self-evaluation and hypothetically place your self in realistic situations to see how would you manage. Could you see yourself working with rude obnoxious surgeons especially in emergent/trauma situations? I mean I'm sure you'd face that in both peds and adults, but really could you? Good luck on whatever you decide.

By the time I get home at night, I'm to tired to log on to rant. But on my days off I log on to see other posts that are going through the same exact things I did at work. This particular forum is a reliable source for me to vent and empathize with others. I felt all alone in my entrance to the profession until I joined allnurses!

Just wondering....I'm currently seeking employment on a Progressive Care Unit. In the hospital I work in, the PCU is like a cardiac/med-tele med-surg unit. The nurses sometime take up to 6 pt, the same that I do on the surgical unit I work on. I have an interview this week on a PCU unit so I just want to get an idea of what the unit is and what kind of questions to expect on the interview. Thanks all for any input.

Thank you all so much for your advice. I will definitely get with tele monitor tech in my hospital and look at strips. We did that in clinical in nursing school and it was helpful. Thanks for all the great websites too. I'm currently working med-surg but I want to switch to cardiology so I thought ACLS is a good start. Thanks again Donita

Hi all. I signed up for an ACLS class this summer. I'm really looking forward to it, what do I need to do to prepare? I have no cardiac background and am a 1st yr nurse. I plan to open up my Med-Surg book, but I didn't really understand rhythm interpretation when I was in school. Any advice would be great. Thanks, Donita

Scheduling sucks on my unit. Our scheduler for day shift turns the schedule in to the manager and she changes everything then put the schedule out a week before the current schedule ends. We're supposed to be on 6wk schedules but it's only posted for 3 to 4 weeks. Some of the other nurses and my self are talking of self-scheduling, any suggestions?

I would love to some day instruct a fitness class! I'm in shape and blessed with a fast metabolism but i'm not disciplined enough to hit the gym/trail the 4 days I'm off from the hospital. I need a day to recover from work, another day the catch up on domestic stuff, another day for me and my son and Sunday for church! Enough of my soap opera....

Congratulations! Welcome the Nursing!!!! That was the easy part, the real journey begins