TNnursejane

There are so many options in nursing. I spent 18 years in a small hospital in a critical care unit. I loved my job then we moved to another state with my husband's job. I have struggled to be happy since. I haven't found my niche yet but I have to say that no matter what I've done, I've always loved nursing. It's not the perfect job but then what is?? Be patient with yourself. Stay where you are and something will come your way. After almost 40 yrs in nursing I've decided to get my masters in nursing in nursing education. Something I've always wanted to do so we'll see what I find once I grow up!!

I love it meanmaryjean! Thanks for the encouragement! TNnursejane

Hi NurseSMS I won't be able to retire anytime soon. Actually, I'm in no hurry and if I don 't ever retire that's fine. That was one of the reasons I decided to go after my Masters. I have a lot of things going on where I am doing for my family and haven't done anything for myself in a very long time. It's my turn now! Thanks! TNnursejane

I had a pivotal birthday this year - 59 y/o. I've been an RN for 40 yrs and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I've spent most of my career in critical care nursing. Although, I've gone down some different paths - some that were questionable in my career but wouldn't trade any of it. Nursing is the best thing I could have ever done. Anyway my question is "Is it to late to get my Masters in Nursing - specializing in Nursing Education"? I'm planning on starting school in Jan of 2021. I've always been an educator of some type in my jobs - preceptor, trainer, patient educator, etc. Love teaching. I work at a teaching institution and really hope I can find my retirement job there. Any suggestions or advice are appreciated!

I have been a nurse for almost 40 yrs and I still have my emotional roller coaster with nursing. I've worked 28 yrs in Critical Care to 10 yrs in informatics. Now I am a triage nurse in a large teaching institution. I love my job but there have been times I wanted to change careers. I have changed nursing practices several times and done different things in nursing which has reignited my passion at every turn. I haven't always loved nursing but then do you always love what you do? I can't imagine doing anything else though. As they say variety is the spice of life and variety is the thing that keeps me going as a nurse.

Yes, Ms Vaught made a terrible error but the issue comes down to she missed all of the safety points that were put into place. My question is why did she override the med when if it was ordered should have been in the patient's profile. If she had given Versed in the past, she would have known if did not have to be reconstituted as was the Vercromium that she administered. My concern is that if she is convicted and sentenced then it will change the whole "just" culture that we have been working on since the early 2000s. Nurses will not report errors anymore because they are afraid of the repercussions. The bottom line is that it could have been any of us. It has to do with the processes that went wrong. I'm sure that Ms Vaught did not do this maliciously. She should suffer the consequences such as losing her license and/or paying a fine but to be put in jail is going over the top.

You know, nursing isn't for everyone. I've been a nurse for 30+ yrs and I've left the bedside several times throughout the years. I've left the bedside then went back. I finally left the bedside 7 yrs ago. There are so many options in nursing. I've worked in Risk Management, Education. Corrections, Endoscopy, etc. Don't feel bad. Being at the bedside is not all that nursing is about. You can care for people in different ways. You can make a difference in about anyway as a nurse.

I have been a nurse for 30 years and just took a job as a correctional nurse in a prison with 2200 inmates. I'm still on the fence as to whether I like it or not. We are totally on paper. When passing meds on segregation I find I don't have MARs and meds on inmates who have just been put in seg. It is the most frustrating part of my job. I'm the clinic supervisor on my rotation but have to pass meds on seg on the weekends I work. I'm praying they are hiring more nurses!! We are a fairly new prison so our staff is not quite up to where it needs to be. I run the clinic which means sick calls, emergency sick calls, pre-admit seg assessments, any suicide watches (with a CO of course) and any emergency calls on the compound. I'm trying to decide if I like it our not. I like the autonomy of the job and I don't think I'll ever go back to a hospital but there just seems to be more control in the hospital. Of course the inmates lie to you, call you names and cuss you out when things don't go their way. You really have to be thick skinned and ready to give it back to the inmate when they give you flack when things don't go their way. You still have to be professional but most of all, you have to be fair, firm and consistent. If anyone loves corrections I'd love to hear from you. I'm on the fence and trying to decide if this is something I want to stay with.

I threw my resume out to every job board there was and a small hospital corporation finally took the bait and hired me into their quality and informatics department. Not only did I have 26 yrs of critical care nursing, I had a little quality and a lot of staff development. I just was in the right place at the right time I suppose. It hasn't been a bed of roses though. I've been through jobs like they were potato chips because of one thing or another.....luckily none where I was fired. Informatics isn't one of those jobs that you start in and stay forever. Since it's such a big push for the computerized physician orders and documentation, they are looking for all kinds of informatics nurses. I mostly have done implementation and training. I deal a lot with staff education. That has it's own set of issues!!! But I love it and love being away from the bedside.

Debuzz, I hate to tell you but you may have gone from the frying pan and into the fire! Case Management is a different type of nursing but you'll still deal with families and patients. Trying to satisfy them and find placement for them. Dealing with insurance companies is no picnic either. Congrats on getting the job and "away from the bedside" but you may have traded one stressor for another! I've been at this for much longer and have tried a lot of different things and have yet to find the perfect job in nursing. I love my profession though and stayed at the bedside for 26 yrs before leaving the bedside for a career in informatics. I still deal with patients, staff and physicians! Good luck on your quest to find the perfect nursing job.

I graduated nursing school in 1981. I worked in ICU so we didn't wear our caps and wore scrubs supplied by the hospital. We did get coffee for our docs and gave up our seats for them. We worked 8 hour shifts through the week and 12 hr on the weekends. It was not unusual to work all three 8 hour shifts in one week then swap up 12 hour shifts every other weekend. That was when nurses and doctors could smoke and eat in the "back" the med room. We socialized more then I think than now. It wasn't unusual for some of the doctors and nurses to go out and socialize after work. But all the social stuff out of the way, we still advocated for our patients and questioned doctors on orders. I remember actually telling a physician "no" when he told me to just "PUSH" the versed and it wouldn't hurt the patient. I pushed it like it was supposed to be pushed - SLOWWWWW! But that being said, we didn't speak up as much as we do now. In nursing school, we were taught to respect the physicians. That's where the "GOD" complex came from I guess. The patients weren't as sick as they are now. The ones that they put in ICU now are the ones that were shipped to bigger facilities back then. The patients on med/surg floors now are the ones we had in ICU. Things are much different now! Good luck on your research!

Great article! I have left the beside a couple of times in my career to pursue other interests in nursing. As you mentioned, we have all experienced burnout. I currently work with computers and electronic health records. I find this is where I will stay if it's possible. There are so many directions our degrees can take us. We are in a wonderful profession!

Give them your two week notice while checking up on other places where you've put in applications. Don't just up and quite even though that's what you feel like doing because you never know when that could come back to bite you. Be sure that when you do leave, explain that you were lied to in the interview and then the reality of the situation. I've been where you are when I took a position in nursing admin in a LTC facility. They didn't bother to tell me that I would have to take call or that staffing on the nightshift was terrible. I was expected to find coverage or cover it myself. When I was addressed by administration, I spilled the beans but in a professional manner but in my exit interview I let them have it. I don't care if I never see that place ever again or anyone who I worked with. It was a nightmare!

If I were in your shoes, I'd shoot for Hospital B. I was a critical care nurse for 20+ years and loved it. Saying that though, Beth is right. Business is business. I worked lots of overtime and even sometimes just out of the goodness of my heart would I do things for an employer and believe me when it comes to loyalty, it just doesn't exist anymore. I'd shoot for the stars on this one! Good luck!

My father committed suicide at 87 y/o. In doing the typical nurse thing of researching my dad's history, I decided that if a person really wants to take their own life, they will. They don't need anyone's permission either. There were no cues that my dad was suicidal. He was always a big joker so things that he said after my mom's death 2 years prior to his death, he laughed about. Even the psychiatrist in the rehab facility he was a resident of didn't pick up on his intentions. Now saying all of that, I feel like what my dad did was a very selfish act but he went out the way he wanted to. I believe in heaven and hell and believe that I'll see my dad in heaven one day. PAS is just another way of committing suicide with permission from whomever. It's a much more controlled setting. That's all.