Guest382916

Yay!!! I am so encouraged to know that it's possible, given that the skill mix is so different. :-) What kind of position did you get? I have to admit I am a teeny bit jealous. :-D There are no positions here to even apply for, and I check our county and all the neighboring counties up to an hours' drive away every week. :-/

Thanks a bunch. :) I am keeping an eye out every day for opportunities, and need to start networking. I appreciate the encouragement.

Thanks goatmom! I'm not seeing much going where we are right now, and I'm considering trying to set up my own internship, just to get my foot in the door/get to network a bit plus add some experience. I really appreciate your support and enthusiasm. :-) Would doing the seasonal immunization type jobs be a plus?

I am in my second semester of a Grad Diploma of Public Health (which should lead into a research masters), doing really well, loving it. Currently working as an OR RN. I really want to transition to working in PH, as it's a much better fit for me. How did you get your start? I don't really care about pay rate...I want something I feel passionate about, and something that has more family friendly hours would be awesome. Ideas?

I am in a dilemma. *Sigh* I have a somewhat spotty resume owing to moving 4 times in 10 years for my husband's job, and will likely move again in the next year. I returned to nursing after a nine year break that was full of working in other jobs (including scrub tech), moving, going back to undergrad to do more general ed stuff (I have a foreign nursing degree), being a SAHM before finally sitting NCLEX in 2009 to get my first US license (even though I moved here in 2001 & graduated in 1994). Our last move was in August last year, and I had to leave my rather nice ambulatory surgery center job in our old state. Because of my foreign degree, it took me 4 months to get a license in the new state. A week after getting my license, I had a job working in Recovery (I was previously an OR nurse) of the local hospital. Did that up until April this year, when an opening in the OR came up & I transferred. I hated Recovery. Loathed it. Thought my stress level would go down when I transferred back to OR...but it hasn't. If anything, it has intensified & now I feel nauseous & am having intermittent heart palpitations thinking about work. I have come to the conclusion that I love healthcare but hate bedside nursing, and have felt like that since nursing school, but couldn't voice it. I want out of clinical nursing for good. I have a six year old daughter who is rather intense. I started grad school in January (doing a Graduate Diploma of Public Health via distance ed), and did very well because I worked really hard. I am considering maybe seeing if I can do a PhD instead of a masters, not sure. We have no family within a 12 hour drive (and all mine are on the other side of the planet). I have little social support network here. On the upside, we have no debts apart from what I borrowed from the government back home for my tuition, and we can live on what my husband earns if we have to without too much bother. My dilemma is this... Do I quit my current job now, or wait until we move? (Could be less than a year, could be more.) Would it be a good idea to try and line up a telecommute kind of job now, and bail once I have one, or wait until we move? December marks one year on the job at current place - I am thinking that one year looks vastly better than less. Am I correct? I'd like to think that I can juggle it all and keep smiling, but my current feeling of nausea and dread say otherwise. Ideas?

It seems that psychological support is not something that's done well in most hospitals. There is a lot of info online, and it's hard to wade through it all. Some thoughts: Do you have access to an Employee Assistance Program through your employer? These often cover counselling. Your employer should offer counselling if you have contracted any kind of illness from a patient, anyway. Are you in a major city? If you are, try seeing if there is a mindfulness based stress management program you can get to. Some online websites I love: Self-compassion - A Healthier Way of Relating to Yourself, Christopher Germer, PhD, author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion; clinical psychologist specializing in the application of Buddhist psychology and meditation to alleviate difficult emotions in psychotherapy and everyday life. This is something I'm really interested in pursuing in my graduate study - it seems like the general culture in healthcare (and nursing and medicine in particular) is one of "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen", "a good nurse/doctor won't let it get to him/her", etc etc...and you then get people either leaving the profession, engaging in less healthy stress relievers such as drugs and alcohol, or turning on themselves or each other. Healthcare by it's very nature *is* stressful. We all need better skills of managing that stress taught to us. Hang in there. You are not alone.

Thanks, TTA. I know I probably will eventually feel more comfortable...I just worry that I will inadvertently do something to jeopardize my license in the meantime. Or a heart attack. :-P Good to know there are others who have made the transition. Every OR nurse I've talked to about it basically said "Heck no. I'd never work in PACU."

Long story, but I have been working for the last three months in PACU after being an OR RN most of my career. I had 9 years away from nursing - worked as an OR secretary, scrub tech, went to school for performing arts, then SAHM to my daughter, returning to nursing after passing NCLEX in 2009 (I trained overseas but have lived in the US since 2001). I was working in an ambulatory surgery center as a circulator & occasional scrub, loved it. Then we had to move. Through a misunderstanding with HR at the hospital where I now work (they told me I was interviewing with the head of perioperative services), and me getting no response from anywhere else, I am now working in PACU. I feel like a fish out of water. My stress levels are through the roof. I suspect I may have a gastric ulcer. Oh, and I might mention I started distance education graduate study in Public Health 3 weeks ago. :-/ The staff have been good to me, very patient and (mostly) understanding, but I always feel like there's something lurking waiting to bite me in the butt (I never felt like this in OR nursing.) I'm not starting to feel more comfortable like I thought I would, just stressed and anxious all the time, even at home. We have to go in on days off for compulsory staff meetings every 2 weeks, and they're really getting onto us about doing lots of continuing education, which is also not helping my stress levels. I've only started about 3 IVs in my life (on reorientation program), have never taken bloodwork before, and I am terrified of making a mistake. I feel fairly useless. I talked to the periop director about transferring to the OR, but they have nothing part time open right now (can't do FT because of grad school). So do I stick it out a bit longer? Or do I start sending out resumes again? Or do I start looking for something in the Public Health field? Or quit altogether and do grad school full time? I really loved OR, but the PH thing is for the long term view - can't see myself doing OR nursing into my 60s. Working in PACU just makes me feel like a square leg in a round hole.

That's a great point re funding. And yes, I am in the US, but grew up & was educated in Australia. I'm trying to figure out where exactly I am going careerwise - it looks kinda foggy, though I have a general idea. I have a particular interest in mental health, occupational health & safety stuff (including stress management & infection control), and nutrition. It's entirely possible I may have to create my own opportunities and get great at grant writing, and it may not be that I end up employed by one place in the traditional sense, but hire myself out with travel. Eventually I would like to get involved in academia as well - looking long term, that's something I can do into my 60s & even 70s if I wanted to, whereas that just isn't physically sustainable working shiftwork in a hospital setting. I am *very* fortunate to have such a supportive other half - he has a career he loves, and we live simply & frugally - no debt (apart from my upcoming school loans, which I hope to pay off ASAP, part of the motivation to stay working) gives us more freedom of choice. He definitely is a keeper. :-) It just kills me to see a captive audience of patients sitting bored in hospital rooms watching TV & drinking soda while they recover from illness or surgery - what a golden opportunity to talk to people about how they can eat a healthier diet (and overcome the barriers they have to good nutrition such as food deserts), adapt exercise so it's accessible to them & achievable, stress management techniques, etc. But floor nurses are absolutely slammed with too many patients and too much paperwork to be able to have the time to do those things. What if we were able to present programs via the hospital's TV system? Or create partnerships between organizations such as the YMCA for appropriate exercise programs for different age groups and abilities, adaptable for disabilities, or partner with organizations willing to coordinate fruit & veg cooperatives so that people could have access to affordable fresh fruits & veg. And cooking demo classes that do basic healthy cooking skills - so many people don't have those skills anymore, or think cooking has to be this big intimidating thing that's gourmet or go home. Yes, I'm an idealist. I can't help myself. :-)

Can I swap with you?! I am about to start my MPH because I want less direct contact with patients.

I started a new job in a Recovery Room in December, 2 days a week. I have been an OR nurse all of my career so far, and I really feel like a fish out of water in this new area. I didn't intend to apply for a PACU/Recovery job - HR at the hospital said I was interviewing with the director of Perioperative Services, but I was actually interviewing with the PACU charge nurse. So...since it was the only offer I got, I accepted the job, thinking that I like learning new things, and it would be good for the resume. But...I find it really, really stressful, & I don't like it at all. I kinda miss the OR. Also...I have a good friend/neighbor who is a physician with friends in high places at the hospital where I work. I have talked with her about ideas for potential programs the hospital could start in order to be a top notch place in our community as far as wellness/health resources, not a just a place to go if you are sick. So...potential there. Next bit of the picture...I start my work toward a Masters of Public Health at the end of February. At the moment I am going to do part time study while continuing to work part time. But...my husband said I can do full time and not work if I want to. This would mean two years of study versus four, which is very appealing. So...do I stick it out in the unit where I am ion the hope of being able to transition elsewhere in the hospital, and keep studying part time? Or do I chuck it and go full steam ahead into my masters work, THEN find/create a job for myself in the area of my main interest which is public health/health promotion/health education?

I would hardly call it a small fee. I have an active Mississippi license (compact state), passed NCLEX in 2009. We are moving to Missouri (another compact state), and to get my license there, they have to have a CGFNS report before they will issue me an RN license. Since the format of the CGFNS CES reports have changed since I had my Mississippi one done, CGFNS won't even do it as a re-evaluation...I just had to pay them $335 (plus another $100 for one to be sent to Oklahoma, who I am also applying for a license with) for a grand total of $435. Neither state will issue me a temporary license, because I am foreign trained, despite having an active license and having passed NCLEX. CGFNS takes 10-12 weeks to issue the report, so I am stuck not being able to work until they've done it. Want to know the *really* stupid thing? Because MO is a compact state, I can legally work there for as long as I want to on my Mississippi license, as long as I don't reside there. But since I actually want to live there and transfer my license over, I have to go through all this crap...AGAIN. Grrrrrrrr.

I am paying for my own to boost my chances of getting a job. I have heard of employers paying, though.

Got your private msg! (Couldn't reply as I don't have enough posts here yet.) I have not done my ACLS/PALS training yet, BUT..... I have talked with a guy from Acadian Ambulance back in December, and they offer training MUCH cheaper than the online versions. Here is a link to a listing of training providers in MS: http://www.ce.msstate.edu/ceu/pdf/Public%20TC%20List.pdf I am in the middle of doing a reorientation to nursing program through Hinds Community College: http://www.hindscc.edu/Departments/health_related_professions/ST_Cont_Ed.aspx Good luck! Hope this helps!!!!!

I am SOOOOOOO EXCITED to read this thread!!! It's a long story, but I am an Aussie trained nurse, been out of nursing practice for a while, but just passed boards to be able to practice here in the US, since I live here permanently (I had thought we might go back to Aus, but it's not going to happen.) I was an OR nurse, but I always felt in my heart that midwifery and women's health is the place I really want to be. My Bachelor of Nursing degree is not recognised as a Bachelor's degree here, either (no liberal arts focus in Australia - I have 3 years of purely nursing content), so I am glad that Frontier has a ADN bridge program. So.....I am doing a refresher program in January. I have had people tell me that I needed to work in L&D and a year in med/surg (which I did before I specialised in OR - I didn't really like it then, and really didn't want to do it again now.) I have also been told that I would hate working in L&D here by some of the people who know my personal philosophies...which I was worried about. Once I finish my refresher, I will be looking for ANYTHING I can find in the women's health area. This thread has put some of my fears to rest that only L&D would suffice (no jobs going right now). Also, I am mama to a nearly 4 year old, and possibly might have another. It is really heartening to know that I can have my cake and eat it too. :-) THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the info in this thread!!!!!!!!! *Runs off to find Frontier page on FB. :-) *