illininurse

Thank you all for responses, more is welcome! I talked to my mom and it's gong to be more like 7 months until she can take care of the baby full-time. I also thought of my priorities. I think what I need to do now is to find any nursing job that requires short shifts, up to 6 hours, possibly on the weekend, maybe temporary work... Just something to keep me in the field (even if I don't get to relearn some skills) and earn some change :) I will pursue my full-time dream job when my mom can help out with babysitting. So it brings me to another question - what kind of positions/whre should I be looking for? I will appreciate any ideas.

Hi fellow nurses! I am in desperate need of good advice. I am a new nurse - just under a year of experience after school and a new mom - 6 month old. I went to work in a specialty right after school and found that I did not want to spend my entire career in that particular specialty. I gained some very specific skills but lost/forgot/out of practice most of general nursing skills from school. I would like to ideally start working in med surg and gain clinical skills and then think what specialty I want to be in. Or at least to start working again... The thing is, I am a new mom to 6 month old and I am the only caretaker for my baby. None of my family are willing to babysit for even 1 shift + commute time per week. They are fine with dropping by for a few hours especially on the weekend, but that's it. My mom will retire in 3 - 7 months and will be able to babysit full-time. I have very modest income that my family supports me with, but it would be nice if I could make some money. Also, I love nursing and I am itching to get back to that environment. My questions is - what do I do? Do I wait for my mom to babysit and then look for a job full-time? But I am afraid I become less and less marketable as time goes by, especially if I don't want to work in the specialty where I spent last year. Or do I find something/anything for a few odd hours/office hours a week when I have some babysitting help and then look for something else? If so, what do I look for? Any responses will be much appreciated. I don't know how to get out of my long "maternity leave" :)