Joyful68

Well, that's beside the point of this thread, but yes - I sold in a high market, eliminated the mortgage for a lease that is several hundred dollars cheaper per month (and more or less locked in), and so now I no longer have to worry about taking care of everything, replacing another roof, fixing the electrical, replacing another HVAC, worrying about when the water heater in the attic might Spring a leak, etc. Something breaks, I call the leasing office and they come fix it. They also take care of the lawn. That frees me up a LOT. In selling the house and downsizing into a townhouse I eliminated all debt, paid off my funeral pre-planning, and bought the opportunity to take the time I needed to BREATHE and to heal. Now I don't have to work full time if I don't want to, so I'm in school planning my "re-tread" (since I will never "re-tire"), and I'm enjoying this phase of life in the process. And I get to work in a lower-stress environment, which adds much not only to quality of life, but also to general health and well-being. Money isn't everything.

Hi there. I'm 35 years in, and thankfully was working remotely for an insurance company doing inpatient authorization reviews when Covid hit. I wasn't at the bedside, but I read all the horror stories in the clinicals every day in order to provide authorization for everything you guys were doing. Safe in my home. God bless you for everything you have had to deal with in the midst of that. I left it in the middle of '21 (covid changed every aspect of everything, micromanagement was insane) and sold my house and cut back to part time work in an outpatient wound clinic, which for me has been utterly life-giving. Sometimes what is needed is a change of pace. It's hard to know what's out there for you until you look around with a hopeful heart, doing something positive with all that experience. With 35 years under my belt, I think I count as "seasoned." I will tell you that I love those who want to learn, and the nursing students on clinical rotation gravitate to my "wing" which I am very happy to have them do. Precepting is my favorite thing to do, as long as the one being precepted is teachable and willing to follow instructions. High stress/high stakes spots like critical care, often understaffed and covered by overworked and exhausted nurses, as you know, just doesn't always have room for the kind of support that is needed by everyone, so folks running on empty aren't able to go that extra distance. It's sad that this is the healthcare world we live and work in, but it is the reality we have. You worked hard and sacrificed to become a nurse, this much I know. That RN-BSN behind your name didn't come easily. Why did you want to be a nurse? I will tell you that the reasons behind that for me have been ever-present in my mind when I was working remotely, and conscience conflicts nagged at me. I want to advocate for people, not check boxes and jump through hoops for a company that only wants to serve the financial bottom line. Now for the past 2 years I have been working with a doc who fights for his patients, prays for and with them, and I get to be a part of real healing and to see the effects of what we do week-to-week, getting to know these patients and enjoying them, working with a good team comprised of seasoned nurses who work together. I never would have imagined such a privilege just 3 years ago. So, I know the opportunities are out there even when you can't imagine that they are. I'm even paid better than I was with a big-name insurance company (which was always better than hospitals). Burnout is hard, but sometimes it's exactly what is needed to get us to identify that change is needed, to sort out exactly what change is needed, and to spur us on to make those changes. One thing I have learned over the years is that things on the other side of any given fence hit differently than you think they will before you jump it. Many blessings to you.

Hi there, With an immunosuppressed person in the home, have you considered remote work for an insurance company? There are several roles for nurses, and telephonic case/disease management or utilization management are possible options. You would have to be willing to deal with Big Brother in the work computer, and ever-changing metrics in an ever-changing industry which can be very hard to deal with, but you would not have Covid contacts at all and you can usually make quite a bit more than you would at the bedside/chairside, and usually be able to take pto when you need to. Just a thought. I did it for 15 years. It definitely has its ups and downs, but it gave me a much more normal existence with family in the picture.

It has made me into a tough old broad.

Late to this party, but you are asking a question I asked myself before the program I worked for went away (defunded). Now I work in Medicare and would give my right arm to go back to what you are doing, bad neighborhoods and all. Just to toss those two cents in.....

Just check the compliance policies. I work for a different insurance company and in our annual compliance training they tell us that it is a violation of Conflict of Interest to work for an in-network provider. So, theoretically I could do PRN for an out-of-network provider, or I could go to work in a coffee shop, but, nah. Our company doesn't pay for nursing licenses in our home state either, and actually in my 26 years of nursing I've never worked for an employer who did so I have never expected that. Overall, the law has covered as long as the nurse is licensed in the state from which she is physically calling the member, with a couple of states exceptions so they will cover licensure in those states IF my employment position specifically requires it, which so far has been limited to Arizona ( unless living in and calling from a compact state) and California, but they do anticipate that changing in the near future, and are planning to get us licensed for specific states accordingly though of course with the sheer volume that involves and at the rate things change, it will be put off until it is deemed absolutely necessary.